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Cultivation Problems / Re: Pest Problem
« Last post by Robert on June 29, 2022, 08:52:42 PM »Hi Arnold,
Thank you for taking the time to supply so much useful information. Squirrels are a huge problem in our Sacramento garden. I have read about how the Japanese use little netted bags to protect their ripening fruit. Where do you purchase the remay sacks? It is extremely frustrating to make hand pollinated crosses and have squirrels (mostly), raccoons, or birds run off with or destroy some of the crosses. Are there larger remay sacks that might be useful for large clusters of table grapes. I use lettuce bags in my breeding work, but the material is not strong enough to keep squirrels out.
Cornell University is right in your backyard. As I remember they have conducted extensive field studies of apple rootstocks. Unfortunately they are more geared toward agri-business. U.C. Davis is 10 miles from our Sacramento home. They too are geared toward agri-business. They basically they know nothing of natural pest control. Organic has been subsumed by agri-business, so the advice is generally just as toxic and destructive as the chemical version.
A lack of chilling hours for fruit trees (some ornamental species too, such a lilac) as well as the disappearance of pollinators is becoming a huge problem in California, especially in the Central Valley and other areas of intense mega scale commercial agriculture. Almond growers are desperate for honeybees or any other pollinators they can find. Ground water over draft is so bad that in many Valley location the surface of the ground has dropped 30 feet, sometimes much more. In addition, the well water quality has declined so much that the water now contains high levels of salts. The food grown with this water, it is often cut with fresher water so the plants do not die, contain toxic levels of heavy metals such as arsenic, selenium, and other heavy metals. In the super market these foods are labeled with warnings. Crazy isn’t it! Don’t believe me? I will take a photograph of one of the labels.
I bought a Magness Pear from Arthur Wiebe, owner of Vallombrosa Gardens, Chico, California, back in the late 1970’s. Arthur died in 1983 and his amazing little nursery died with him. He grew all sorts of usual, heirloom, and rare fruits. I still have one of his ”Chinese Easter Cherries”. I have never been able to ID the plant to the species level. It is compatible with both Mazzard (Prunus avium) and Mahaleb (Prunus mahaleb) cherry rootstocks.
Thank you for taking the time to supply so much useful information. Squirrels are a huge problem in our Sacramento garden. I have read about how the Japanese use little netted bags to protect their ripening fruit. Where do you purchase the remay sacks? It is extremely frustrating to make hand pollinated crosses and have squirrels (mostly), raccoons, or birds run off with or destroy some of the crosses. Are there larger remay sacks that might be useful for large clusters of table grapes. I use lettuce bags in my breeding work, but the material is not strong enough to keep squirrels out.
Cornell University is right in your backyard. As I remember they have conducted extensive field studies of apple rootstocks. Unfortunately they are more geared toward agri-business. U.C. Davis is 10 miles from our Sacramento home. They too are geared toward agri-business. They basically they know nothing of natural pest control. Organic has been subsumed by agri-business, so the advice is generally just as toxic and destructive as the chemical version.
A lack of chilling hours for fruit trees (some ornamental species too, such a lilac) as well as the disappearance of pollinators is becoming a huge problem in California, especially in the Central Valley and other areas of intense mega scale commercial agriculture. Almond growers are desperate for honeybees or any other pollinators they can find. Ground water over draft is so bad that in many Valley location the surface of the ground has dropped 30 feet, sometimes much more. In addition, the well water quality has declined so much that the water now contains high levels of salts. The food grown with this water, it is often cut with fresher water so the plants do not die, contain toxic levels of heavy metals such as arsenic, selenium, and other heavy metals. In the super market these foods are labeled with warnings. Crazy isn’t it! Don’t believe me? I will take a photograph of one of the labels.
I bought a Magness Pear from Arthur Wiebe, owner of Vallombrosa Gardens, Chico, California, back in the late 1970’s. Arthur died in 1983 and his amazing little nursery died with him. He grew all sorts of usual, heirloom, and rare fruits. I still have one of his ”Chinese Easter Cherries”. I have never been able to ID the plant to the species level. It is compatible with both Mazzard (Prunus avium) and Mahaleb (Prunus mahaleb) cherry rootstocks.
JohnnyD
