Entry 6: Setting up irrigation, Training Trees, Adapting to the weather

 This past week, much of what we have been working towards is trying to keep the plants well watered during the rising temperatures and training the two year old apricot trees in the Variety Trial. 

New irrigation lines were set up. We ran the tubing along the edge of a row of young apricots. I worked on poking holes on the tube between each tree, and the wire connected to the irrigation system were inserted into each hole. Once this was complete, we staked them between each tree and placed the irrigation sprinklers on each one. The final step was to turn on the irrigation line and check to make sure each sprinkler ran smoothly. 

The nemaguards that were moved to the outdoor nursery have grown rapidly. Now that temperatures are rising, these plants have been drying out very quickly. We have altered the watering schedule to deeply water each pot once in the morning, and two times in the afternoon. Below is a photo of the nemaguards before we began watering more frequently. They have perked up significantly since then. 

Throughout the week, we also worked on training the two year old apricot trees on a  three leveled trellis. The goal is to train the branches to grow at a 45 degree angle. This is accomplished by bending the branches as much as they allow without straining them, and tying them to the trellis.

See you next week🌳