Garden!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Davey Crockett]

I planted peas in the garden this year and I believe the sparrows are eating the plants.
Anyone else have this problem?
If so, what do you use as a deterrent? (other then bird netting and an air rifle)
Thanks

I doubt that it's sparrows but anything is possible. Are the plants gone or just chewed off and laying there ? I'd set a camera out and see if you can catch them in action. We used to have cut worms, they would cut tomato plants but I haven't saw one in years .

 

[Davey Crockett]

pwobably a wabbit .

 

[wslayer]

Squirrel very possible, they've cleaned me out before. All fenced so know its not rabbits.

 

[measure-it]

Yep, it's the hoppers and tree rats, i'll bet.

 

[tikkalover]

Not rabbits, as I have fencing around the garden that they can't get into. Hardly see any squirrels in the neighborhood.

No bugs or slugs as I have been giving them a drink of malathion.

Used to plant leaf Lettice but I actually watched the sparrows demolish that.

 

[johnr]

Why would my honey crisp apple tree not even bud for the last 4 years?
Its not that it isn't getting pollenated, it isn't even budding.

 

[CAH]

Why would my honey crisp apple tree not even bud for the last 4 years?
Its not that it isn't getting pollenated, it isn't even budding.

Prune that sucker. Make it scared it is getting cut down and it will throw some fruit.

 

[49994]

Prune that sucker. Make it scared it is getting cut down and it will throw some fruit.

my grandfather told a story of driving a nail into an apple tree that was not producing for several years and the next year he had a ton of apples...said you have to stress the tree. i bet CAH is right

 

[Retired-Guy]

Prune that sucker. Make it scared it is getting cut down and it will throw some fruit.

A friend's father said that apple trees need to be pruned to the point where birds can fly unimpaired through them.

 

[Allen]

There are a couple of possibilities. 1. Did you get a frost when the tree was flowering? That will for sure clobber your harvest, but 4 years in a row seems unlikely. 2. As mentioned above, fruit trees of all kinds really benefit from aggressive pruning. Yeah, it sucks to have to put in the effort every year if you have a lot of fruit trees, but clearing out up to 25% of the smaller limbs should do it.

Note, one should probably wait until late fall to do this in order to help prevent bacterial infections.

 

[johnr]

Thanks guys, I have all sorts of other fruit/berry trees that produce oodles without really any work, but this new little fella is growing, just not producing. I will prune the shit outa her this fall.

 

[Davey Crockett]

Thanks guys, I have all sorts of other fruit/berry trees that produce oodles without really any work, but this new little fella is growing, just not producing. I will prune the shit outa her this fall.

Did it produce fruit in the past and then just quit ?

 

[Allen]

Now that I remember it, I planted a Honeycrisp back in 2004. By 2010 I was threatening it with the chainsaw and tordon combination because while it was a great looking tree, it wasn't bearing fruit. I finally trimmed the heck out of it and it was loaded with apples the next couple of years.

 

[Lycanthrope]

some varieties take longer to start producing than others. Is there grass up to the trunk or do you have it mulched? I would try killing the grass out to the dripline and put down 2-3 inches of manure with 3-5 inches of wood chips over the top, if you have them available. Have you gotten a soil test in your area to know what your baseline is, are you fertilizing?

 

[johnr]

Did it produce fruit in the past and then just quit ?

put it in the ground as a little stick essentially with 2 apples on it, then nothing since the following seasons

 

[johnr]

some varieties take longer to start producing than others. Is there grass up to the trunk or do you have it mulched? I would try killing the grass out to the dripline and put down 2-3 inches of manure with 3-5 inches of wood chips over the top, if you have them available. Have you gotten a soil test in your area to know what your baseline is, are you fertilizing?

It is up by a maple tree in a rock garden area of the house. It has a ring around it with open soil, then a tiered rocky area until it hits the main level grassy area. There are 4 other trees in this area, one being a chock cherry tree that produces like a banshee.

 

[Lycanthrope]

It is up by a maple tree in a rock garden area of the house. It has a ring around it with open soil, then a tiered rocky area until it hits the main level grassy area. There are 4 other trees in this area, one being a chock cherry tree that produces like a banshee.

it crazy how different some plants needs are than others. My sour cherries out at my land do well with no irrigation and not much fertilizer, where my apples werent growing for shit till I started dumping some nutes on them. Soil in my area is naturally low on N and P but has plenty of K, I got 1500lbs of this custom mix this spring from farm supply in New Salem.

 

[Lycanthrope]

Here is my 2023 soil test before amending

And 2024 after putting down some chems last year and again this spring early....

Last year I just dug samples using a trenching shovel, this year I bought a soil probe that takes samples down about 8 inches, so should be more accurate that way. Took samples from 5 or 6 different spots in my orchard area.

 

[BDub]

I have an Apple crisp tree with the same problem.
I have pruned it heavily and hit it with a bat. Still not productive.
Always prune apple trees in late winter... March is good.
I am going to really trim it next year. I've read you should be able to throw a football threw it.
I am going to whack it hard. It's ticking me off.

 

[Lycanthrope]

if your trees arent growing relatively quickly, likely you have a nutrition issue, you should be getting 1-2 feet of new growth / year, if you are getting less, hit it with some food.