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nafex - [NAFEX] Delaying blooming/breaking dormancy

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  • From: "William C. Garthright" <billg@inebraska.com>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [NAFEX] Delaying blooming/breaking dormancy
  • Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2007 09:11:51 -0500


Use an latex interior paint diluted 50-50 with water and paint the trunks up to the first limbs. ... One offshot of this is that your trees will bloom a little later as the white color reflects the sunlight and cools the trunks.


Are there other tricks to delay blooming a bit? Or to keep a plant from breaking dormancy too early? I've tried using micro-climates where possible (planting in locations that get some shade when the winter sun is low, but full sun in the summer), but that's much easier said than done. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever done it successfully. It would be a lot easier if trees leafed out for the winter and then dropped their leaves in the spring! :-D Perhaps I could rig up some kind of temporary sun-shade (that wouldn't just blow away in the wind)...

Also, would a thick mulch over the roots delay a tree or vine from breaking dormancy or blooming too early by keeping the roots cooler? What really affects this, the air temperature, the ground temperature, or direct sunlight? Or all three?

I've planted a few things that are unlikely to crop for me every year, and it's no problem if that's the way it's going to be (I assumed it was when I planted them). But there are also some interesting plants - such as hardy kiwi or edible honeysuckle - that are supposed to break winter dormancy easily in our fluctuating climate. So I'm curious if there are ways around this.

Thanks,

Bill
Lincoln, NE (zone 5a)

--
The freethinking of one age is the common sense of the next. - Matthew Arnold




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