Soil Qualities to Optimize New Orchard Growth
Mike Basedow, Tree Fruit Specialist
Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture
As a follow up to our soil health session at the 2022 Cornell Tree Fruit Conference, I thought I would briefly discuss what I consider to be some of the key characteristics of a high-quality orchard soil. I think a good way to think about this is by thinking through what some of the key functions of an orchard soil are.
Soil Qualities to Optimize New Orchard Growth (pdf; 303KB)

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