[MassChestnutOrchards] fertilizing question

[Roy]

Yvonne,

I just got in from the orchard. This afternoon I stopped by Lowe's and got a jug of Miracle-Gro Shake 'n Feed continuous release 10-10-10 and applied it as Charlotte advised. Very handy container and I'll save the empty jug to dispense Osmocote in a few months. The Miracle-Gro says it feeds for three months.

I checked the old Osmocote shells on the ground at the orchard, and yes they were hollow.

The nuts you gave me at the New Hampshire meeting I couldn't use at our orchard. The area just isn't ready yet to plant more nuts. So a few weeks ago I gave them to Talley Bailey, a fellow Cons Comm member, who planted them in a bunch of pots, tubs, etc..that he has. They are now sprouting.

While we were weeding on Saturday, Paul Gale stopped by and wanted to know if I had any nuts that he could plant. Paul is the guy with the 60 acres on the Foster/Glocester town line who wants to start a Chestnut orchard. If I had known Paul wanted nuts I would have given Talley's to Paul. Next week I'll ask Talley to dig a bunch up for Paul.

I haven't seen the gate open at Cataldo's apple orchard, so I haven't stopped in. I'll be away until next Tuesday, when I'll stop by his orchard and take a look. Also Peterson's tree farm in Harmony supposedly has a bunch of Chestnuts. I'll stop by next week and check on those. orchard in 

Roy 
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Yvonne Federowicz 
  To: Roy ; masschestnutorchards at masschestnut.org 
  Sent: Sunday, June 13, 2010 10:47 AM
  Subject: Re: [MassChestnutOrchards] fertilizing question


  Hi Roy, old Osmocote pellets will hang around and take a while to decompose, but don't have any fertilizer left in them after a while.  The shell is not plastic, it's some soybean concoction.

  This should be a reasonable time to use it again, since you last fertilized 9 months ago.  There are websites about their products; your bag may say what longevity it has.  The release is temperature-sensitive so the September use probably helped the plants this spring.  Application now will help summer growth.

  That is great that you have the area cleared.  Lots of work!


  I just spoke with Charlotte about the nuts for your second line.  How long are the radicals now?  She says that if you are going to be able to irrigate extremely regularly, the nuts can still go straight in the ground.  If not, we should get them started in some sort of potting system - she will look to see what she has available.

  Also - can you please take a  look at the Cataldo American chestnuts, as we might want to pollinate them this summer?  Everything has developed quickly this year and some catkins are already popping.

  Thanks, Yvonne








  On Sat, Jun 12, 2010 at 4:13 PM, Roy <Roy at najecki.com> wrote:

    Today the Glocester (RI) Conservation Commission weeded the orchard (see pictures).  We were pleased to see that most of the seedlings that looked dead two weeks ago with their shriveled brown leaves are showing new growth. Now that the area is mowed and weeded, we were going to apply Osmocote fertilizer. However as we weeded and removed some saplings that didn't survive, we noticed tiny yellow Osmocote fertilizer pellets that I applied last September. I thought by now that these would have dissolved. The guys think they really aren't fertilizer, but plastic, and that's why they didn't dissolve. Should I go ahead and fertilize, or hold off?

    The photos also show the southern part of the field (left side of photo) where we have cut down lots of white pine to double our available orchard space. The area is not yet ready for planting as we need to move branches and pull the smaller stumps, but we are making progress. On the right side of the photo near the road you can see the sign board that has the three ACF panels.

    Roy Najecki
    Glocester RI

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