Hello,
At our orchard this past year we received a small grant from the
USDA-SARE program for on-farm research to evaluate organic methods for
promoting branching in nursery apple trees. As part of the project we
are sharing our results with other growers - hence this email.
Very briefly, we were looking for a way to raise well-feathered trees.
Commercial nurseries often use synthetic plant growth regulators to
promote branching. We tried tearing off young leaves near the growing
tip as well as spraying an OMRI-listed seaweed extract high in
cytokinins. Tearing off the leaves did have a small effect and produced
about one extra feather per tree. The seaweed extract spray actually
decreased branching slightly.
You can read the full report of our project here:
http://www.twoonionfarm.com/research/. I'm happy to answer any questions
by email.
Regards, Chris McGuire
--
Chris & Juli McGuire
Two Onion Farm
www.twoonionfarm.com <http://www.twoonionfarm.com/>
19638 Cottage Inn Road
Belmont, WI 53510
(608) 762-5335 (office)
(608) 726-2550 (cell)
far...@twoonionfarm.com <mailto:far...@twoonionfarm.com>
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