Almond tree growth studies
Plant Growth Enhancement Field Trial 1
Plant type:
Baby almond trees, two species, Padre and Butte.
Application
Hand drilled holes surrounding each tree, simulating direct injection of solids. All monitored trees were planted on the same date in Jan ’23, and the soil was treated on 26 May ‘23.
Location:
A commercial almond orchard in Turlock, California
Results:
Height and trunk diameter were measured every 2-3 weeks; soil moisture readings were also taken for the first few months, but this orchard lacked the ability to reduce the irrigation water to test trees. Photos taken on 1 September ’23.
After only 3+ months, on average,
- the Butte almond trees grown in the treated soil are 20% taller,
- the trunks are 40% thicker,
- and the trees are much bushier, compared to trees grown in untreated soil.
It is premature to make any claims re: increased crop yields, but this farmer was surprised and impressed.
Image to the left shows control tree, to the right almond tree treated with John's Blend.
Plant Growth Enhancement Field Trial 2
Plant type:
Baby almond trees, type Butte.
Application
All monitored trees were planted on the same date in May 2023, images were taken on June 18, 2024.
Location:
A commercial almond orchard, Rapp's Ranch, Central Valley, California
Results:
See hight of untreated tree (left image) and treated tree (right image) ompared to Mr. Rapp's size.
After about one month:
- much taller tree compared to control,
- thicker trunks compared to control,
- treated tree much bushier compared to control.
Image to the left shows control tree, to the right almond tree treated with John's Blend.
Plant Growth Enhancement Field Trial 3
Plant type:
Baby almond trees, type Butte.
Application
All monitored trees were planted on the same date: May 28, 2023, images were taken on July 20, 2024.
Location:
A commercial almond orchard, Central Valley, California
Results:
See height of untreated tree (left image) and treated tree (right image) ompared to person in front.
After about two months:
- much taller tree compared to control,
- thicker trunks compared to control,
- treated tree much bushier compared to control.
Image to the left shows control tree, to the right almond tree treated with John's Blend.
Plant Growth Enhancement Field Trial 4a
Plant type:
Baby almond trees, type Padre.
Application
All monitored trees were planted on the same date in May 2023, images were taken on June 18, 2024.
Location:
A commercial almond orchard, Rapp's Ranch, Central Valley, California
Results:
See height of untreated tree (left image) and treated tree (right image) ompared to the size of the person in the photo.
After one year the treated trees are:
- much taller compared to control,
- had thicker trunks compared to control,
- treated tree much bushier compared to control.
To the left control tree, to the right
tree treated with John's Blend.
Klick on image for next study
Plant Growth Enhancement Field Trial 4b
Plant type:
Baby almond trees, type Padre.
Results:
The trees in this photo were planted in different years. The tree planted to the left was planted in 2023. The tree to the right was planted in 2022, but without our soil amendment.
These images indicate that we might be able to shorten the time by a year the farmer has to wait for the tree to produce its first almonds. That is a major adanvtage for the farmer.
In our field trials this year (2024) we have monitored 100 trees, with 21 different ratios of our soil amendment "John's blend". This helped us to dial in the right mixture and ratio of our soilamendment for this application (Padre and Butte almond trees), the ones being mostly used in the Central Valley of California.
To the left tree planted 2023, to the right
tree but planted in 2022.
Klick on image for next study
Plant Growth Enhancement Field Trial 5
Plant type:
Baby almond trees, type Padre.
Location:
A commercial almond orchard, Turlock, California
Results:
The trees in this photo were planted in 2023. The tree planted to the left was treated with our soil amendment, to the right was control.
The largest leaves of the treated tree is over 4 times larger than the largest leaf of control and the trunk was thicker. The photos are scaled, so the hight of the man is the same in both photos, to visually show the proportions of the trees.
The images we adjiusted in size so the person show the same hight for better comparison of the trees.
To the left tree planted 2023, to the right
tree but planted in 2022.
Plant Growth Enhancement Field Trial 6
Plant type:
Baby almond trees, type Padre.
Location:
A commercial almond orchard, Turlock, California
Results:
The trees in this photo were planted in 2023. The tree planted to the left was treated with our soil amendment, to the right was control.
The largest leaves of the treated tree is over 4 times larger than the largest leaf of control. Also the trunk of the treated tree was thicker.
To the left tree planted 2023, to the right
tree but planted in 2022.
Click on image for next study
Drill and Fill 2025
Plant type:
Almond trees, type Padre.
Location:
A commercial almond orchard, Turlock, California
Summary:
On 29 April 2025, we performed a “drill and fill” on 1 tree planted in 2023, and 3 trees planted in 2024. Their growth will be compared to an adjacent tree of the same initial planting conditions.
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The 2023 trees are in Row 3, and both were “control” (i.e. no SAI treatment); they are “runts” of that vintage. The two trees are adjacent; the smaller one was “drilled and filled”.
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The trees in Row 5 were control (i.e. no SAI treatments. The trees in Row 17, were the two best performing trees which received “John’s Blend”. The question being asked is, “if we treat the best performing, or worst performing trees, with D&F, can we accelerate growth in Year 2?”.
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The D&F trees got a pink tag.
The pattern of the drill and fill is one that can be done in the future by a machine. It consists of 8 holes/tree, 3” diameter, 12”, 4 holes to the left and to the right of the tree trunk, 2 holes at 24” from the trunk, and 2 holes at 30” from the trunk. Each hole was filled with 2 cups of JB (biochar, plant compost, animal compost, microbes, and mycorhizzae fungi + the starter food for the fungi).
We know that the roots ended up about 30” from the trunks (5’ diameter), so that is about 125 sq ft/tree of roots; likely to grow a little larger in 2025. 125 sq ft = 18,000 sq inches (at least) per tree. A hole of 3” has a surface area of 7.065 sq inches. At 8 such holes per tree, this disrupts at most about 0.003145 of one percent of root surface area per tree.
Drill and fill, Row 17, tree tagged Par 1 P, and D&F #4. The black biochar is visible at the holes.