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Post by benmnwi on May 14, 2019 11:52:35 GMT -6
Pocket gopher #5 fell to a box trap last night near the orchard next to my house. I have no idea where these gophers are coming from, but it is pretty irritating. I've been lucky enough to catch them before they get to my apple trees, but they are close.
My recent orchard walks have been trapping expeditions. I think I've killed them all now, but I thought that before.
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Post by smsmith on May 14, 2019 15:37:51 GMT -6
Pocket gopher #5 fell to a box trap last night near the orchard next to my house. I have no idea where these gophers are coming from, but it is pretty irritating. I've been lucky enough to catch them before they get to my apple trees, but they are close. My recent orchard walks have been trapping expeditions. I think I've killed them all now, but I thought that before.The bastards keep showing up in my main orchard. Poison a mound/tunnel or two, and they stop. Then, a few days later another shows up in a different area of the orchard. I do notice a bunch of mounds on the other side of the road, so I'm guessing they are running over ground from that area to my orchard. Then they set up shop there.
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Post by smsmith on May 14, 2019 18:05:45 GMT -6
Not an orchard species for me, but the serviceberries started to bloom today. The Am. plum can't be far behind
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Post by daydreamer on May 14, 2019 19:12:25 GMT -6
Not an orchard species for me, but the serviceberries started to bloom today. The Am. plum can't be far behind Granted I’m farther south than you but my svc berries are going full tilt bloom and my am plums are only a few days behind them on size. I pruned up my plums to take some of the heavy load off from last year but it looks to be a bumper crop again on those. Hopefully the size increases this year.
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Post by Catscratch on May 14, 2019 20:20:18 GMT -6
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Post by benmnwi on May 14, 2019 21:22:07 GMT -6
Pocket gopher #5 fell to a box trap last night near the orchard next to my house. I have no idea where these gophers are coming from, but it is pretty irritating. I've been lucky enough to catch them before they get to my apple trees, but they are close. My recent orchard walks have been trapping expeditions. I think I've killed them all now, but I thought that before.The bastards keep showing up in my main orchard. Poison a mound/tunnel or two, and they stop. Then, a few days later another shows up in a different area of the orchard. I do notice a bunch of mounds on the other side of the road, so I'm guessing they are running over ground from that area to my orchard. Then they set up shop there. It's pretty crazy how they seem to be exterminated from an area, then show up hundreds of yards from the nearest sign a day later. It is irritating when the gophers seem to head towards my apple trees, but im happy that my two young boys like trapping them with me. They can do the dirty work shortly. After planting some plots today I checked some apple trees and it looks like my dolgo and all winter hangover will both have a good crop this year. Hopefully in the coming days some other trees will fill in the gaps since I'd really like some apple trees by my stand to stop during the rut.
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Post by benmnwi on May 14, 2019 21:24:43 GMT -6
Not an orchard species for me, but the serviceberries started to bloom today. The Am. plum can't be far behind The wild plums in se mn are starting to bloom good now. It's a great time to find a few plums that are hidden behind junk trees and shrubs. If I was smart i would go out and mark a few of the hidden ones with orange tape so I can kill off the competition this winter.
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Post by smsmith on May 15, 2019 12:44:08 GMT -6
Goddamn pocket gophers. Another two mounds showed up in a different area. Sooner or later I'm sure the little bastards are going to nail some of my fruit trees if they haven't already.
My Early Gold pear has a few blossoms nearly ready to pop.
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Post by Sandbur on May 15, 2019 19:12:39 GMT -6
Goddamn pocket gophers. Another two mounds showed up in a different area. Sooner or later I'm sure the little bastards are going to nail some of my fruit trees if they haven't already. My Early Gold pear has a few blossoms nearly ready to pop. I have a few blossoms on a graft I did to a pear tree and gave up on it until I noticed the leaves looked different. Also a few blossoms coming on another limb.
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Post by nhmountains on May 15, 2019 19:45:59 GMT -6
Goddamn pocket gophers. Another two mounds showed up in a different area. Sooner or later I'm sure the little bastards are going to nail some of my fruit trees if they haven't already. My Early Gold pear has a few blossoms nearly ready to pop. Do you use the smoke bombs on them or just the poison bait?
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Post by benmnwi on May 15, 2019 19:55:22 GMT -6
My beiershmidt pear is loaded with blossoms now. Hopefully I get to try one this year. Last year they were almost ripe when a coon climbed the tree and ate them all.
Looks like I have 2 franklins with blossoms for the first time.
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Post by smsmith on May 15, 2019 20:07:45 GMT -6
Goddamn pocket gophers. Another two mounds showed up in a different area. Sooner or later I'm sure the little bastards are going to nail some of my fruit trees if they haven't already. My Early Gold pear has a few blossoms nearly ready to pop. Do you use the smoke bombs on them or just the poison bait? Just strychnine grain. I'm about ready to start trapping too
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Post by smsmith on May 16, 2019 6:53:35 GMT -6
With the cold, rainy forecast for the next 10 days I have a feeling fruit tree progression will slow back down.
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Post by Sandbur on May 16, 2019 13:03:57 GMT -6
I see a big naturalized pear tree is in bloom, SE of Little Falls.
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Post by smsmith on May 16, 2019 14:25:37 GMT -6
My Early Gold and Ure pears are now looking not so awesome. I fear root damage from gophers may be the reason. Bastards
Court Pendu Plat is still at silver tip. If they bloom, it will be in June I bet
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