Re: [nafex] solitary bees, new graftlings & weed control

[Sam Franc <franc@oregonfast.net>]

tugger@netreach.net wrote:

> Three seperate/related subjects.
> Some of us in SE PA as part of the Back Yard Fruit Growers are now
> using/raising solitary bees.  I have mine out near the orchard in
> their tubes which I've put into several 12" long capped pvc holders
> mounted on several poles that are up prevaling wind from my trees.
> The bees are now out and seem ok but some wasps have found the
> containers and are making nests in with the bees. So far no problem
> but I presume that, even if the insects don't have a problem, that I
> will when the bees return to their tubes and mud up and from what I
> have read I am supposed to put them away til next Feb. Any ideas on
> how to get rid of the wasps?
> Re new trees and "graftlings"(is this the proper term?). I have
> grafted about 150 scions onto rootstocks over the past several
> weekends and have them now in cool, dark-ish area "callousing(sp?)"
> til I see some sign of growth- last year that took 3-5 weeks. My
> questions deal with why not plant them directly into their permanent
> sites in the orchard versus putting them into a nursery?  It seems
> like double work and possible more harmful to their root systems to
> have to dig them and move them yet from what I've heard and read the
> conventional wisdom is to put them into a nursery for a year or so
> and then move them.
> Finally I had problems with my computer- never enough memory- and
> only picked up a bit of the conversation about straw mulch stunting
> the growth of young trees. I have used straw "doughnuts" around my
> trees, possibly to their detriment I gather, for the past several
> years for moisture and weed control. What is the alternative?  ( I see

I graft and plant directly into the orchard and it works for me.
I suppose some people use a nursery because they don't know how many
will fail.
Sam


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