Re: earthworms being recycled by Robins
there are large flocks of robins in sonoma county for the last 10 days or so and they are enjoying our large earthworm populations Bob
Re: Help with Our Feathered Friends
what kind of feathered friends? Bob
Re: Gary Zimmer, Jerry Brunetti on the OZ/NZ Three-Up Tour
dry peat heads in the right direction in this case. Soils formed in ash, especially in sub tropics, have the clay species Allophane as the majority of the colloids in the soil. The Allophae along with SOM has worked out this sort of extreme aggregation and has actually hardened the aggregates to the point of removal of the nutrients from plant availability. The lab technique for measurment of "humus" breaks the aggregates and measures the surface area and minerals. But in the field, the minerals and surface areas is reduced due to the extreme nature of the aggregates. In these types of soils, it is even more important to add high quality and organic matter and to protect the soil surface from baking. Compaction from farming can skew the apparent "good numbers" on soil analysis. Yes, p in some clay species and sulfur especially in high rainfall.
Re: Gary Zimmer, Jerry Brunetti on the OZ/NZ Three-Up Tour
send me your "albrecht" soil testsand quite a bit of interesting talk can be had, but the report can not tell you much about soil stucture. Even with excellent calcium and magnesiumI often find soils with very poor structure. Have taken thousands of soil samples...my self, and watched the correlation between crops performance and the analysis. Here is a riddle for you...I have soils with 9-15% "humus" as listed by perrry ag lab/Kinsey, yet (some) of these soils are "infertile". Why?
Re: Other considertions on Flaming
Here are some of my observations and other comments on flaming: The flame engineering pull behind flamers are finicky machines. The Suburban Propane dealer in Sonoma County has not sold a unit in 2 years. I bought 3 of them (with my clients) 3 years ago and there no been many sales since. As the dealer in So. Co. said "you need to have someone who likes to tinker with propane equipment to make these work right." There are mechanical issues with their operation that need maintenance on a regular basis. I gave a flame weeding field day, 2000, at which there was no flame weeder present due to the company being unable to get the thing to work before the workshop! Sounds like not much has changed. However, there are units working in So. Co. and I assume that it can be done...with mechanical skills. With a good quality cover crop in the tractor row (middles) then reentry after rain is less likely to be damaging. We typically use one side (every other row) as the driving row, and have cultivated a wear resistant cover crop and residues to resist compaction. Light vehicles, ATV, are most often used for flaming. Tire pressure should be checked to aid non compaction concerns. In that the best, and only, time to flame weeds is when they are very small...and by the nature of flaming, there is no residues left. Not only has there been limited or little root foraging to create channels, little deposition of carbon from a small plant and lack of residues...this leaves the soil under the vines bare and lacking carbon. Hey, is flaming weeds paramount to ashing!? Naw, just kidding. ? Anything that removes the plant from under vines/trees reduces the health of the soil in that area. Persistent use of a flame weeder, herbicides or mechanical tillage results in poor soil structure and resultant soil compaction. I have investigated old vineyards that have never used a herbicide in which the soil under the vines is as hard or harder than the "tire tracks" in the tractor row. We dug pits and examined how deep the compaction was under the vines2-3 feet, with few fine roots, small pores spaces and poor structure. Earthworms were not present under the vines but were isolated in the "strip" of soil in between the vine row and the tire track area, that was not compacted. Loss of the plant(s) from under vines/trees also creates the loss of beneficial insect habitat, and the loss of a physical "bridge" which acts to enable beneficial insects to gain access to the vines/trees. A bare strip of soil under the vines discourages spiders, others to get over to the vine from the cover crops in the tractor row. Take some time and watch them...its clear that more insects access the vines if there is cover under them. Removal of plants from under vines/trees might be considered as a (occasional) part of a weed management rotation including cover crops. I see a tendency to think of the flame weeder as an ultimate toolwithout consideration of the plants role in soil health. Often times the "under the vine/tree" soil space can represent 33-75% of the total soil surface area. Having that much of the soil surface bare, on a consistent basis, results in soil compaction. I know...we need all the help we can get managing weeds. It is a day to day learning process. I just know where I have under the vine cover crops...I dont have weeds. How about a rotation over 3 years (with site specific timing) like this...also does not have to be the same in each row. We have some routines with every other row...some with every 3-4 row, that allows for more on site learning. Hoe plow Flame Vinegar Cover crop Mow under vines Mow centers and blow under vines Weed badger Hoe plow Bob
Re: Back on the AY Soundfiles
Allan, I have been able to listen to the York interview, however, I cannot save the file to my hard disk in order to listen to it offline. Any tips? I did download the latest version of realplayer, but I do not see any option for saving sound files. Thanks, Bob Shaffer
Re: Kaolin or Surround? Sprayed Tree 'Paste' Did you use it? (Dave??)
Allen, we have sprayed Surround for a copula years with good results on grapevines. Thrips and variegated leaf hopper don't like leaf surfaces covered with Surround. I think we missed the chance to save fruit shriveling from severe heat by not applying Surround, late last summer. There is large scale use of Surround on the North coast appellations. Bob Bob
Re: COMPOST TEA was Re: Perry's recnt posts
Is there no level or no amount of S that is not "gross"? There are times that we apply 3 pounds per acre of dusting sulfur to beautiful hillside vines that have been certified organic for 15 years. Its only on occasion, not even every year. These vines produce grapes that are very high quality, composted, cover cropped, fed soil minerals, fed foliar minerals and respectedloved by those who work with them. What's is so horribly gross about this practice? These are 20-50 acre fields. Our training, pruning and manipulation of the canopy and crop during the season is a primary prevetion of PM. I seen first hand some of the drawbacks of sulfur. But there are trade offs in not using sulfur. Low rates of sulfur, used early in the season does not end up in wine, as a general rule. Bob
Re: Radionics and scientists
Higher brix in leaves of plants does provide some frost resistance. How about ice nucleating bacteria? We try to keep the ratio of legumes to grasses higher in frost prone vineyards due to the lower numbers of ice nucleating bacteria present on broad-leaved plants. Do compost teas lower or raise ice nucleating bacteria? Bob
Re: COMPOST TEA was Re: Perry's recnt posts
GA, it is interesting what you have...what variety of table grapes do you raise? Bob
Re: COMPOST TEA was Re: Perry's recnt posts
Peter, Am curious if you use a degree day model for knowing when the PM pressure is greatest. Also, do you have good mineral balance in the soil and in the vine? Having good levels of soil/vine calcium, boron, zinc and phosphate (in addition to others) has been a very, very important part of keeping PM under management with my clients/vines. Bob
Re: COMPOST TEA was Re: Perry's recnt posts
Allan, Your question, "Do you know of anyone using compost tea and failing to control powdery mildew?" lacks a critical component to be of most use. How about taking into account the rest of the farm plan. In other words, if you are using compost tea to manage PM, is it the only management step being taken? Is it white grapes or black? What is the environmental pressures? Humid/cool climate? Is there a nearby vineyard (other) that has PM problems? What is the soil/vine health plan and does it address the need for B, Ca, P K and Zn? Why think that using an external (from the top down) application of anything is going to be sufficient to address a problem as complex as PM infection? I never approach PM from the top down, only. There needs to be an integrated approach that includes soil/vine nutrition, cultural controls and additionally topical applications. Where the particular vines are grown are very significant in this question. Are you comfortable/healthy standing in a polar zone? Are you comfortable/healthy standing in the Sahara desert. Likely not. I dont thing that vines planted in the wrong spot (a spot with environment not to the vines liking) are going to be conformable and healthy enough to defend without something as strong as suffer? Most vines that are easy to defend from PM, defend themselves. If you have bad PM, the question is why? Bob PS I still have been unable do get AY presentation off of real player. I get to the real player screen and then nothing works? Must be me. Bob
Re: COMPOST TEA was Re: Perry's recnt posts
Neither Alan nor myself have seen much from radionics. There are significant use of radionics in N. California and I work on jobs where its use has been very well practiced. Maybe its me...I just cant find results...to date. Looking for the wrong thing? Maybe. Bob
Re: electron resonance
field broadcasting might well be focused at ice, crime, poverty, human attitude and rodents in many farming systems, if you really want to help. The plant health and crop qualtiy is easy if you have food and lack of crime. Bob
