DEAR ENGLISH APPLE MAN READERS - After last week's blunder, this week the Journal is complete!
Page 1
The world of foliar feeding has come a long way from the 'far off halcyon days of my youth' back in 1958 when I left school, I remember Dad swore by application\s of "Bone Meal" applied by hand casting under our apple trees. Then all of or trees (predominately Cox Orange Pippin) were grown as 'Standards - around 25 feet high or 'Bush trees' around 18ft high!
Bonemeal is an organic fertiliser high in phosphorus. Phosphorus is one of the three major nutrients that plants require for healthy growth and is represented by the chemical symbol 'P' Unlike liquid fertilisers, bonemeal releases nutrients slowly, making it ideal for providing long-term nutrition for a wide range of plants.
Apple trees need a balanced diet of nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus, with nitrogen being the single most important nutrient for both growth and fruit production. How much you feed, and when, depends largely on whether your tree is young and still growing or mature and bearing fruit. A newly planted tree gets as little as half a pound of balanced fertilizer per year, while a full-sized mature tree can handle up to 10 pounds.
It was only in the late 1970's that we started growing on the 'Centre Leader' tree - closer planted in the row and circa 8 feet in height.
I remember well an old school friend of my Dad (they were both at Judd School in Tonbridge) visiting Dad regularly in that decade, 'playing on their boyhood friendship, while lauding the benefits of MAXICROP - liquid seaweed.
Eventually Dad gave in and once used, we were committed to using this foliar feed. The 'proof in the pudding' was when after a very wet winter, in spring as the trees came to life and the fibrous feeding roots were killed off, and very quickly a hot very dry early summer as the young leaves were developing, where Maxicrop had been applied the leaves were green and healthy; where it had not. the leaves were yellow and stressed!
Our venture into Foliar Feeding had started!
Page 2
From their website: Hortifeeds is uniquely dedicated to the development, manufacture and supply of fertilisers for horticultural professionals. We manufacture in the UK and distribute across the UK, Europe, and further afield.
Below: Mike Wainwright: Hortifeeds
In his presentation, Mike Wainwright highlighted the various liquid feeds available to 'fine tune' the nutritional needs of many plant species. "The company is large enough to provide quality insurance but small enough to have flexibility"
Mike revealed a new product: HortiSynthesis
PGA is a powerful enhancer of nutrient uptake to increase growth and yield
Below: HortiPhyte slide - a fast acting Phosphite Biostimulant
Below: Ametros slide; mobilises Calcium within crops boosts - fruit firmness and marketable yield
SUMMARY
That is all for this week, next week the Journal will report on the MFS AGM & the BAPL AGM
Take care
The English Apple Man