| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Cindy Young |
Posted - Jun 07 2005 : 06:10:40 AM
Hi all,
I am new to MJ's Farmgirl Connection, but so far have been enjoying the topics. I live on 1 and 1/2 acres in Michigan, and enjoy my flower gardening the most. My question tho, has to do with 5 apple trees we put in last spring. Home Depot has already replaced 3 of them (I am so thankful for their 1 year warranty on perennials and trees!!), but now what do I do? My husband thinks I have to spray them with something to keep pests away, or whatever it is that destroys apple trees. I would rather use something organic, but have no idea what kind of homemade potion will do the trick. One of the new trees we just put in has tiny, and I mean tiny, apples already on it. Anyone out there have any ideas? Also, how do you keep the bunnies and other rodents from chewing the bark? I have 2 flowering Dogwood that my family bought me for my 50th birthday two years ago, and they look pitiful. I also think that is part of the reason the 3 apple trees didn't make it.
Thanks so much in advance for your input!
Blessings,
Cindylee
ps...in case anyone is interested, my "byline" is because of my new found love for running...never ran more than a block in my life...even in phys ed way back when, I was always chosen last for everything, being only 5 ft tall, no one wanted me on their team of any kind!!!! BUT 5 months ago I started running, and haven't looked back since...I ran my first 5k (3.1miles) race 3 weeks ago and finished in 34:14!!!!
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." 2Timothy 4:7 |
| 12 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Horseyrider |
Posted - Mar 26 2006 : 04:52:04 AM
Laura, what a dynamite site! Thanks! 
BamaSuzy, I encourage you to be sort of 'in your face' about the organic culture, without being rude, of course. Organic gardening has every right to as much respect as any other sort of culture. We used to get some of that here when we first moved here 23 years ago; they assumed I was criticizing commercial agriculture. I'm not; I just want information on how to do organic best. When told that there's no way large volumes of food could be produced without chemicals, I remind them that food has been around for many thousands of years; it was not invented by Monsanto, and people still ate before Monsanto existed. Chemical agriculture has really only been around for 50-75 years.
Organic is commanding a larger and larger share of the marketplace. It would be good if they had an understanding of how it works. |
| OregonGal |
Posted - Mar 25 2006 : 7:08:30 PM
This is what I do. I make 5' tall cages out of cement reinforcement wire. I roll out the wire using approx. 6' maybe - cut it, then roll it into a big circle. I put it around a fruit tree. Then, I get some 2 foot chicken wire and put it around the bottom of the cage. Then I stake the cage with a t-post. The chicken wire keeps the rabbits out, and they certainly do chew. And deer will not put their heads inside anything wire - so if they chew it will only be when a branch grows thru the wire. I hang dial soap in onion mesh bags on the cages to help repel the deer - and the deer (so far) don't chew on any branches growing up over the top. On occassion, I have made tree guards out of black drainage hosing, like the 4" size, about 2 1/2 foot tall. I have used the dormant oil spray, I have used lightbulbs painted red then apply a thin coat of sticky trap(for apple maggot fly), and hang plastic milk jugs in the tree branches with stuff in them (to attract coddling moths - they go in it and drown). Those are some of the organic methods I use because those two bugs do the worst damage on apple crops. I have used an all purpose spray, but I used it the minimal amount of times so the bugs get some apples and I get some apples. If you'd like the recipe for the stuff to put in the jugs, let me know. Good luck - home grown apples are the best - I hope you have some Jonathans - there isn't anything like a home grown Jonathan apple for flavor - that alone makes a great cider.
"...a merry heart does good like a medicine, it has the power to cure." |
| brightmeadow |
Posted - Mar 25 2006 : 06:46:03 AM
My husband and I have an old orchard in Michigan that has not been farmed in about 15 years. He doesn't want to raise apples, but I do - he says if I do, I will need to spray - and I say no, we are going to do it organically....
Well we haven't come to any decision yet, primary because we actually live about 5 hours away so we are not around to do the seasonal chores when we need to do them.
However, in the course of the research I was doing on how to have an organic orchard I found these two resources:
http://www.herbsandapples.com/orchard/list.php?PHPSESSID=73e3300865a5274a04b445ddd095f809 and
http://doityourself.com/fruits/growingapplesnaturally.htm
Good luck! Let us hear what you do and what the results are!
You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands - You shall be happy and it shall be well with you. -Psalm 128.2
Visit my web site store at http://www.watkinsonline.com/fish or my homepage at http://home.earthlink.net/~brightmeadow |
| LJRphoto |
Posted - Mar 23 2006 : 7:54:43 PM
I found this article on organic spray schedules for apple trees. i thought it my be helpful.
http://www.canr.msu.edu/vanburen/organasp.htm
"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect." -Mark Twain
http://ljrenterprises.blogspot.com/ |
| Rosenwalt |
Posted - Mar 21 2006 : 3:42:30 PM
A book I have ("Carrots Love Tomatoes" by Louise Riotte) says they like a soil with a pH of 6.5 to 7. You can get a soil tester at a department store for about $3.50.
It also says mice and rats are repelled by fresh or dried leaves and the oils of mints, by camphor, and by pitch pine. Mothballs repel rabbits as well as mice but should not be used where food crops are grown or where children can pick them up.
Sea onions, white lavender, wormwood, and spurge repel mice, while everlasting pea is useful against field mice, and leaves of dwarf elder protect against mice in granaries.
Rose Marie,
Central New York
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| Mari-dahlia |
Posted - Mar 21 2006 : 3:17:56 PM
Cindy,
I attempt to grow apples and other fruit organically in upstate NY. I learned in master gardener training that 99% of the time, the loss of a tree or plant, is due to human error or environmental conditions, not insects or disease.
First check the tree trunks, did the animals chew through the outside thin layer of bark? did the tree crack due to water then drought or visa-versa? did hubby cut the outside layer with the weed wacker? or did yellow belly sapsuckers peck through the thin bark with their beeks? All of these will kill the tree.
PLanting too deep, planting too shallow. Bad soil due to dumping ash, drywall,cement, oil etc.
For insect control I use dormant oil in early spring before leaf out or flowering. After fruit develops I use Neem oil every 2 weeks and sulfur in between. The sulfur is for all of the fungal stuff and the neem is for insects and is also a mild antifungal.
Good luck, I struggle with apples every year.
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| HorseyNut |
Posted - Mar 21 2006 : 11:09:43 AM
Here in the Midwest many people have problems with bunnies and deer nibbling bark on fruit trees. Here's an idea that might work, but some plastic type screen and wrap it around the trunks. Staple it together or tie with twine. You could even cut slits for the branches to fit in if you need to run it higher up for extra protection. This will allow the tree to breathe and not provide a haven for bugs, but still protect the trunk. Apples are yummy, the deer and bunnies will thank you when they can sample yummy apples that have fallen on the ground  |
| LJRphoto |
Posted - Jul 21 2005 : 01:33:29 AM
Hi Cindy,
My husband and I are in the process of moving to Michigan (Hickory Corners is near Kalamazoo, so we are just south of you). I knew that Michigan being the apple growing state it is, there had to be an organic apple producer there and I found it! Here is there website, http://www.evergreenlanefarm.com/visitourfarm.htm
I bet that if you e-mail them they would be happy to give you growing tips for your trees.
Laura |
| BamaSuzy |
Posted - Jun 17 2005 : 8:31:45 PM
most of the extension agents I've talked with (and those who've graduated from our state's land grant university) kind of look down on anything organic.....
You can bury a lot of troubles digging in the dirt! |
| Nicol |
Posted - Jun 07 2005 : 08:49:38 AM
Hello and welcome Cindylee. There are several places on the web that have products for organic gardening. Try www.gardensalive.com www.gardeners.com or www.territorial-seed.com. You can use a red ball slathered with an organic sticky product that you hang in the trees to attract maggots. I also agree with brambles advice about checking with your local extension office to see if you can find out why those trees died. They are very helpful.
P.S. Way to go on the running! |
| Clare |
Posted - Jun 07 2005 : 06:48:49 AM
Hello and welcome! Our community has an organic supply store for those that are interested in those type of products. It's tucked away in an -out-of-the-way place, but those that need it - find it. You might look in the yellow pages, or as Bramble suggested, your extention agents might be able to refer you too...
****Gardener, Stitcher, Spiritual Explorer and Appreciator of all Things Natural****
"Begin to weave and God will give the thread." - German Proverb |
| bramble |
Posted - Jun 07 2005 : 06:33:05 AM
Hi Cindylee and welcome to MJF.
About your appletrees...first you need to determine what is killing them, insect, environmental conditions, bacterial disease, etc...
Apple trees are prone to many things including sunburn and winterkill! You might want to take a branch to your local extension service to have the horticultural/ag agent evaluate the problem for you. There is a spray called dormant oil that can be used but it's application is for very specific times or it is not effective and a waste of time. As for the bark , there are such things as tree wraps that go around the trunk but my experience has been that this just gives the insects a place to hide while doing the damage and causes further problems when they aren't removed or loosened in a timely manner. Hope that helps a bit. |
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