Planting Trees….
It’s that time of year again when we plant new trees. Ideally, it would be better to plant trees in the fall to give them a head start, but we have a few other things going on in the fall. So, we plant in the spring. I’ve been patiently waiting for good weather and it has arrived. The soil is dry enough so that when I dig the holes with the mechanical auger the sides don’t seal over with wet soil and make it more difficult for the roots to spread out.
Getting the tree planted and growing as soon as possible is very important, so good quality growing conditions are needed.
All of the trees I purchase are grafted. A scion (young shoot of a certain variety) is grafted to a rootstock. The rootstock does many things including determine the tree size. We grow semi-dwarf trees, which grow to a maximum of about 8 to 10 feet. I like to keep the trees within reaching distance from the ground, so there isn’t a need to use ladders.
In addition to size, rootstocks can provide disease resistance, more or less growth vigor, differing degrees of cold hardiness and drought tolerance. Certain varieties of apples grow more vigorously than others so it is important to match the rootstock to the apple variety and with the growing conditions it will be exposed to. Some of the rootstocks we use are hundreds of years old (M9 (Malling 9) – was originally a chance seedling in France, but then reclassified by East Malling Research Station, England around 1912). Some have just been recently developed (G30 & G41 (Geneva 30 & 41) – developed at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva, NY).
The training system we plan to use will determine how the tree is planted. The rootstock must be planted with the graft union 3” to 4” above the soil line. If we cover the graft union and allow the scion to grow I will lose the purpose of the rootstock, most importantly the dwarfing characteristics. If planted too shallow the tree will tend to have reduced growth. Each tree is planted and watered with starter fertilizer. Once the water has dried they are then raked in and pruned accordingly. The type of feathering of branches on the tree will determine how the tree is pruned. My Dad, John, and I have several different ideas of how things should go, and we often cannot decide which idea is the best. So, with the new Winesap/Stayman we have two different systems one in each of the two rows we planted.
The most dependable training system on our farm is what we call the V Trellis. The trees are planted and the trellis is set up to mimic the “V” shape. This allows maximum sun exposure. We’ve had great success with this program, and continue to use it in most of our new plantings. When planting the trees, one tree will lean towards the west and the next towards the east and so on. They then fill in the trellis with horizontal branches on the lowest wire and vertical branches growing up from the horizontals.
In some areas of the orchard the rows are a closer together and we’ve tried an alternative to the “V” system, which can be very wide and take up space. In tighter rows the trees are planted straight up, and spaced farther apart within the row. We are simply utilizing one side of the “V” instead of the two. This allows us to continue to plant in tighter areas. The tree is grown exactly the same with one set of horizontal branches on the lowest wire and vertical branches spaced and growing up to fill the entire space.
This year we are replacing some older trees and increasing acreage of other varieties. The list for replacement is: Jonagold and Winesap/Stayman for apples and John Boy, PF 17, and Glenglo for peaches. We are increasing apple acreage of two of the newly released Cornell varieties, SnapDragon and RubyFrost, and also Milk Pail 35 (another Cornell variety). There will be a separate blog devoted to the new varieties being developed at Cornell at a later date. Stay tuned for that one because these apples are amazing.
Now that the trees are planted we paint their tiny trunks with white paint to help prevent “Southwest Injury,” which occurs during the winter months. The sunny or southwest side of the tree trunk can thaw on a sunny day in the winter and is susceptible to cracking if the temperatures plummet during the night. The cracking then leaves an injury site for other problems to develop. Insects and fungus like to find cozy places to live.
The next step is to lay out the drip irrigation tube so that I can continue to water them and also fertilize them with liquid nitrogen. I fertilize a small amount each week so that the trees can utilize all the fertilizer, and it’s not leached farther into the soil After the irrigation is set up the posts and wire will be installed for the trellising system to support the trees.
Once everything is installed it is extremely important to keep the trees growing efficiently. I will not see a return on the investment for several years, and as everyone knows a faster return on your investment is important to maintaining a successful business.
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