North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Del Stubbs <northernlights2n@yahoo.com>]

We have had two drought summers in succession, my orchard is made up of 5 to 
10 year old
trees, mostly seedling rootstock. Because of its location and layout there is 
no easy way
to irrigate. Shallow top soil, with 340' of pure clay underneath. They have 
never been
irrigated, and yet showed virtually  no drought stress either summer, even 
when the
ground cracked open 1". This makes me think that forcing roots to go down and 
out they
way they have is the healthiest thing I could have done. The orchard is on a 
SE facing
slope with quite varied pitch, so gravity drip is  near impossible anyway - 
and would
have concentrated roots within the drip cone. Also, I did no fertilizing the 
first few
years and little major pruning - all to promote root growth over top growth. 
Looks like
it's a success, the apples this fall ( 55 kinds) were overall quite large and 
juicy in
spite of no rain for 2 months mid-summer.
Del, z 3a   MN


> -- Sue Christensen  wrote:
> All this talk about how the microclimate or soil conditions in 
> various state affects how fruit tastes has me wondering. What  is the 
> effect of a dry year on fruit quality versus a year that is overly 
> rainy from the norm? ( I'm not sure I would know a "norm" if it hit 
> me between the eyes.)
> 
> Sue in  Adams County, PA
> 

> 
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