Nexus - 0301 - New Times Magazine-pages

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grower. His capsicums grew so well that he actually had to stop _ before Mother's Day, so the greenhouses were filled with a sca of using Sonic Bloom for a month while he increased the height and __ striking colour: thousands upon thousands of chrysanthemums strength of the growing frames to handle the extra growth and _and carnations all waiting to be picked and packed for florists. weight of the fruit! At the time of filming, Barry's yields were Since using Sonic Bloom, Brian has reduced the time it normal- already up 50 per cent and the plants showed no signs of slowing _ly takes to raise the plant'from seed to cut-flower stage. His previ- down, even though it was late in the season and the glasshouses _ ous ten-week cycle is now down to only six weeks. By treating were not heated. Wherever there was room for a flower or a fruit seeds. with the organic nutrient and running the sound unit, germi- on the plants, there were some. The fruit were large and really _ nation is speeded up to the point where he is transplanting large sweet-tasting, and Barry found that the vigour was such that he _ seedlings after 17 days instead of four to six weeks. Not only has was unable to leave the green capsicums on until they tumed red _ turnaround time been reduced dramatically (therefore more crops before harvesting. At the time of filming, the price for red cap- _ per season) but also the plants are yielding twice as many blooms. sicums versus green ones was almost double. Instead of two plants making one bunch of cut flowers, one plant We then travelled further north and filmed Brent Baldwin on his _ will now make one bunch or more of cut flowers. persimmon orchard. There we witnessed and filmed first-year Before leaving, Brian showed us some nine-month-old eucalyp- persimmon trees bearing fruit, something which Brent and his . tus trees which he. grows for decorative foliage. These six-inch foreman of 15 years’ experience had never ever seen before. seedlings had grown to 14 feet in nine months after only five Persimmons normally do not bear fruit until four or five years, sprays. That's pretty amazing in my book! His established trees were looking great, too, and Brent estimated Queensland then became the focus of our attention, and we that his yields were up considerably on last year’s and were per- _ found ourselves on top of Mount Tamborine with Evelyn Green, a haps two to three weeks earlier in maturi- : delightful lady growing ty. This was a big factor for persimmon organic produce for the growers where frosts just prior to harvest neighbouring Songbirds can wipe out a year's work and income. Restaurant, set amongst Last year, without Sonic Bloom, Brent the rainforest and visited lost NZ$40,000 worth of produce to by many overseas frost. tourists. The vegetables A ridiculously early morning flight are hand-picked from saw us in Christchurch on a cold Sunday Evelyn's gardens by the morning where we were greeted by Colin chef and his helpers and Marshall, a successful organic grape served at the tables with- grower. The sight of his vineyard soon in an hour or two. made amends for the temperature, how- Evelyn is now able to ever, and we filmed many different wine grow tomatoes outdoors varieties absolutely loaded with delicious | = right throught the winter bunches of grapes. Colin has two-year- with Sonic Bloom. old plantings loaded with fruit, when pro- From the lush rainfor- duction would not normally begin occur- est we journeyed into ring until the fourth year. Normally | drought country to visit slow-growing varieties were rocketing Alan McDougall, a sil- away and Colin noted that his vines have had hardly any disease _ ver beet, zucchini and exotic vegetable grower. The only grower problems at all this season since he began using Sonic Bloom. __ in his area, Alan's property has very poor soil and a dam that has Colin and his wife Norma are keen home gardeners, too, and we _—run dry owing to no significant rainfall for the past four or five were shown potatoes and carrots which they had never previously years. Despite these adverse conditions, Alan has been able to been able to grow there, as well as beans, silver beet and zucchini. grow exceptional quality vegetables, and much of his success he The Marshalls couldn't believe the amount of vegetables that they _ attributes to Sonic Bloom. He has never seen silver beet grow and have been able to grow with Sonic Bloom, and their neighbours mature so quickly, nor zucchinis continue to produce so heavily and friends are reaping the benefits from the surplus grown, some _for so long. Interestingly, zucchini virus, which used to plague his of it out of season. Their silver beet, for instance, was enormous! _ older plantings, has miraculously disappeared since Alan intro- I pulled one stalk out of the ground which must have been at least duced the method. 1.2 metres high, and it fed six of us for lunch. The taste of the sil- We called in at Noosa to view some strawberry plants which ver beet and the carrots was sensational. You just can't beat a had produced for nine months of the year outdoors, and with no chemical-free, Sonic Bloom-treated carrot for sweetness! sprays other than Sonic Bloom. Though the only leaf damage we Northern New South Wales was our next stop, and we had the —_ witnessed was the result of a recent hailstorm, the plants and their pleasure of meeting Stephen Fueglar, sugar cane and soybean _ new runners were growing vigorously. What is normally a pale, . grower. We counted up to 260 soybean pods per plant where 35 _ fleshy, bland-tasting strawberry transforms itself into a rich, red, to 40 is normal, and his crop was estimated to be one month earli- juicy and flavoursome fruit. Bowls of these strawberries were dis- ¢f.in maturity compared to his neighbour's. The sugar cane was _ played at various agricultural shows in 1995, and most samplers -stiH months away from harvest but early indications looked could not believe these fruit were the Parker variety because they promising. . were so sweet and juicy with excellent colour. Many commented From there we travelled by road through the picturesque town that this is how they remembered strawberries tasting when they of Alstonville to meet Brian, a commercial flower grower. Very were children. experienced and successful, Brian did not think that Sonic Bloom An hour or so out of Noosa brought us to a citrus orchard and could improve on what he was already doing, but luckily for us he Kurt, an organic grower who had trialled Sonic Bloom and cited a was astute enough to try it at least. We had arrived the week triple yield-increase despite several months of drought. From 26 * NEXUS DECEMBER 1995 - JANUARY 1996