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Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Apple Advice for Robert Macfarlane

Dear Dr. Robert MacFarlane:

You ask why Roger Deakin's tree from a seed
refuses to flower.

How to make your apple tree dance:

I'm not certain where the subject tree is planted.
USDA hardiness zones are similar to the UK.
I assume you are 8 -10. A ten being poor for wild apples.
I pray you are not a ten.

Is this Malis Sieversii an ancient Central Asian cultivar?
How old is she? Some varieties will come to their girlish
maturity at three, and some late as fifteen year old from
first grafting.

We cannot change your climate with ice blocks sledding
or keep the soil from excessive rain as apples do not care
for soggy feet.

You can improve the soil.
Have you had it tested for ph?
To raise the PH add SMALL amount of lime or wood ash.
To lower the PH add small amount of sulfur.
Don't know is soil is acidic or alkaline? 
1/4 cup dirt mix with 1/4 cup distilled water (equal parts you do the metric math) to make  "mud" and pour white household vinegar over top. If the mixture fizzes, it's alkaline.
Dry dirt and distilled water as above and sprinke baking soda over top. If the mixture bubbles, it's acidic.
If neither test produces a reaction, you have fairly neutral soil
Not sure- get a ph tester kit at Amazon or some garden supply place

Dig in any amendments three inches or 8 centimeters and
drip water.

Do you tend a compost pile?
Apples thrive on mycorrihizal fungi - that which found
in composted dry leaves, small sticks, and straw (not hay).
These fungi appear as silvery white zig zags in dark soil.
Do not compost any apple leaves or fruit (careful not to
encourage pests and disease).
I suggest kelp tea. Oh, yes, a funny brew.
A teacup of kelp meal with water added to create
a toothpaste texture. I use teacup rather then metric
.00023, as this is not necessary to be exact. Keep the
paste in the refrigerator. Add a spoonful, a heaping
stir of honey (yes, no gentleman adds honey to
afternoon tea, this is only a phrase)
- to a gallon of water,  0.1558 meter.
Spray this on the leaves and soil AFTER it rains.
Kelp adds: NPK , 50 micro-nutrients, alginic acid, mannitol, 
cytokinins, indoles, hormones, auxins and gibberellins.
No I didn't say to add gnomes, and all living creatures
have chemical hormones even for your lady apple.
There are seaweed sprays and fertilizers if you can't
find the kelp meal, but far more dear.

Soil deficient? 

I believe in composted chicken manure, bat guano, bloodmeal,
bonemeal, and azomite.  (Azomite is a volcanic dust with a
million years of 67 trace minerals that apples enjoy.) Just
saying the word azomite three times, gives the tree magic.

Location?

Apples do NOT like to be crowded. They prefer full sun.
They like a breeze to circulate around all the branches.
Tell me the graft is above the soil line, if not correct this 
ASAP.
You cannot change the chill hours; 
however, you can play the tree music.

So you tried these remedies?

Three years of springless joy?
Weather conditions changed?

Get drastic with this fickle girlfriend,

this advice is not currently politically 
correct but I would never suggest 
you should girdle her.
Root spade now in the spring. 
Use a clean spade and from the reach of
the branches shade on the round you will
slice directly vertical to cut any sucker
roots. Draw a circle at the drip line
where the branches end and about four 
inches or 10. 1 centimeters deep.

No fertilizer from a plastic bag.

No nitrogen kicks in the roots.
No heavy pruning this Fall.

Have patience. 

When she delivers,
please advise when the flowers
fade to white.
If she refuses,
accept her beauty
as she stands.

C G



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