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Asked by trinitypro ·March 8, 2024 ·10.4k readers

Orchard Managment

Does anyone have a good resource for managing a fruit orchard?  I wanted to manage mine with all KNF. I was uncertain when to put the cal phos out, since you are supposed to put the nitrogen out as the leaves are growing and yet that is when the blossoms are also coming out.  So which do you put on in what phase? e.g. green tip, pink tip, blossom, baby fruit, mature fruit. etc. I was  also trying to find out more how to keep the trees from getting too big to manage.  We have semi-dwarf trees and they are quite big still. Thanks!  

orchard

Top answer

From the KNF library

From the KNF library Drafted by Claude from Office Hours and the books · Sep 2026 · 5 sources

The library gives a rule for nitrogen and a few mineral timings. It gives no full calendar.

Cho calls FAA rich in nitrogen. It assists growth in the vegetative period (Cho, Recipe, p. 51). He advises against FAA during reproductive growth, because it may induce overgrowth (Cho, Recipe, p. 51). Drake's answer for your overlap: nitrogen goes with leaf growth, and Cho says to avoid it once the tree turns to reproductive growth (Cho, Recipe, p. 51).

  • At flower bud differentiation and flowering, Cho sprays Mineral D on fruit trees, diluted 1:1,000 (Cho, Recipe, p. 89).
  • Two weeks before harvest, Cho uses Mineral E on fruit trees (Cho, Recipe, p. 89). Drake's harvest formula for sweetness also runs the last two weeks and includes calcium (Office Hours Ep. 17, 54:08).
  • Cho ties water-soluble calcium phosphate, minerals and green grass liquid to the nutritional cycle and season (Cho, Theory, p. 112).
  • Drake says to cycle the Leaf, Bloom and Fruit formulas to keep the plant balanced (Office Hours Ep. 50, 53:46).

The library does not give a cal phos schedule for green tip, pink tip or baby fruit. The blossom timing above is for Mineral D, not cal phos. It also says nothing on keeping semi-dwarf trees small.

Sources

1 more answer
trinitypro · Mar 12, 2024
I will review the video thank you! We have apples, pears, cherries, peaches, filberts, english walnuts and northern pecan trees

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