Hi everyone, We are developing a ~2.5 ha commercial agroforestry project in eastern Spain, in a Mediterranean climate. The farm was formerly agricultural land but has been largely abandoned for ~15 years. We are aiming for a productive system centered on fruit trees. Two experiments we're considering implementing a small intensive cut-flower area and eucalyptus for cut foliage. The attached design shows our target/productive crops. The support species are not shown yet. Its AI generated and not very true to the actual design but we think it gives a general idea of what our vision is. We started a support-species laboratory in March 2026. Our current shortlist of longer-lived support species includes: - Paulownia - Melia azedarach - Wild olive / acebuche - Mulberry - Acacia saligna - Leucaena - Lentisco - Teucrium We also have a broader pool of pioneer/early secondary species that we are testing for biomass, establishment, soil cover, temporary shade, nutrient cycling and biodiversity. So our main question now is not which species exist, but how to turn this into a practical production system. We'd particularly appreciate experience on the following questions: 1. Support trees before or together with fruit trees? --> Would you establish support species 6–12 months beforehand, simultaneously, or use a staged approach? 2. How complex should a commercial consortium be? --> How many support species per productive line have worked for you in practice? 3. From pilot to production: After one year of trials, how do you decide which consortium is good enough to scale? As we planted the whole laboratory on the same weekend, we feels that some failures might not necessarily mean that that species should not be planted at all. Perhaps it was just not the right moment for it or the seed or plant material we used wasnt great... 4. Simplification: Have you simplified your system after several years? Which species did you eventually remove? 5. Spontaneous vegetation: How do you integrate existing vegetation rather than simply clearing everything? We have lots of Hyparrenia, Lentisco, Fennel, Pine and Wild Olives growing on our land and feel that it wouldnt make much sense to remove it all just to have a bare piece of land to start with. 6. Has anyone combined commercial cut flowers with agroforestry/syntropic systems? Experiences from conventional/ecological floriculture are also very welcome.

The Fava Bean Trick ! Fava beans are great for smothering weeds, and they sprout easily with the first rains. In this video, I show how I use them - and how much easier they make the work. No need to get on your knees pulling grasses in the first year. You get 2 cuts with them, and each cut took me 20min/100m/1 person. It's really not that much work - about 2 and a half hours for these 3 rows of 240m each. By the time they phase out, it’s already Summer here in the Mediterranean, so there’s basically no need to weed anymore. Then when the rains return, your rows should be established enough that weeding becomes a minimal task. You might need a bit of weeding in year two if your trees haven’t grown enough - but in my experience, one more pass is usually enough - cutting them, not even uprooting them. After that, the trees outcompete the grasses and take over. What other plants do you think could do a similar job? I’m thinking artichokes or cardoons could work really well - but they’d need to be started as seedlings.

For the past while with the help of a couple of friends I've been developing an community based, open source and free website that allows you to plan your syntropic system by compiling data from an open source and free database (the info is taken from different sources but we have also added several plants ourselves and you're welcome to do so as well). The plan is to find a handful of people that already have experience in Syntropic design and give us some feedback/opinions on how such a software should be. The goal is to create a free tool for everyone so that syntropic planning can become easier and accessible to most people. If you want to participate in the alpha testing phase please let me know. Your help is greatly appreciated.

As most of Europe is sizzling I'm wondering about people's opinions on irrigation, In Brittany, the region where I live, there's the reputation that it's always raining, when the last two years we have had drought during summer. This year especially there's only been 3 or 4 millimetres of rain since April. Most of the newest tree rows are completely dead, and the moisture meter readings are 2 to 3 % . It's in an area that's difficult to pump water to with any pressure and the sandy soil looses it quickly, even with the addition of compost and mulch. One interesting thing is that the Scots broom, our strongest Pioneer is almost thriving. So when I replant at the end of the season I'll use Pioneer plants and only add productive trees when I'm sure the soil is improving enough to hold moisture.

My first syntropic rows were too wide and not enough space between the rows, it's much more adaptable to have 4m between the rows, and then if you choose it is still possible to alley crop, run animals or cut hay/bio mass . The width of the rows should be as narrow as it is practical to cultivate, I now choose 60cm width because my broad fork is 55cm wide . Narrow rows save time weeding and can always be widend after a few seasons of mulching. My planting density is about 40cm, which again saves on weeding, economising on planting density is tempting, but in the end slows the system and makes more work, if there's not enough to fill the row, push cuttings in the gaps after a bit of experience you get an idea of what roots easily. There's always comfrey or something similar to fill gaps where plants fail . Making a mother row of plants to propagate from is a good investment, when you become experienced in multipling these, the extra plants can be exchanged for new members of your mother plant community or sold to raise revenue. My first experiments in syntropic planting were more of a hybrid between traditional landscaping and forest gardening, both of which I know well, now I find it pays to be committed to getting the planting correct because the speed of establishment is considerably better/quicker when you get it right .