Growing stone-fruit

My Japanese Peach tree, whose fruit was inedible, died of peach borers, but the apricot tree has such a bumper crop I gave half of the ones now ripe to a friend, and a woman who makes apricot jam is coming over this afternoon to buy more. I had a cherry tree that died a long time ago and I had no idea why and am thinking of getting another down the road.

P.S. Am eating the apricots while I speak. They are delicious - miles ahead of the mass market apples and oranges in the fruit bin, and light-years ahead of supermarket apricots.

Hi there,

Stone fruits are really great. But they need to be well- cared. I suggest you try apricot and peaches. Aside from that, stone fruits need lots of fertilization. You should also see to it that the soil is right. The soil should have a good moisture drainage in which oxygen can freely come. You also need to do pruning and training. This will shape the tree for it to become more attractive and stable.

I got this tips from my grandfather because when I was a young boy I visit his farm during summer. I have also tried this one and it looks great now.

Hi,

Peat is not appropriate for growing fruit trees. It holds too much water which will cause the root rots. It is also probably too acidic for the fruit trees. Peat is quite dense too and as such not much air will get into it so it will favour plants that like their roots growing in an anerobic enviornment (ie. not much air) and these are the types of plants that grow in swamps.

As a general rule of thumb for soil, use whatever materials as soil additives that you are trying to grow.

This means if you are trying to grow fruit trees, add woody mulch materials (ie. chipped up and decomposing trees). Just make sure it is a mulch that comes from a diverse range of chipped up plants - don't just bang on pine chips and expect it to have a huge / diverse range of nutrients; or

If you are trying to grow vegetables, add compost which is really just decomposed green vegetable matter and manures with a bit of woody mulch added in.

If you follow the above basic guidelines you don't have to worry about expensive soil tests or put much thought into soil. It is simple and the materials and bugs / fungus does the work for you and you end up with healthy happy trees!

PS: Stone fruit trees are very hardy once established and well worth the effort.

Regards

Chris

   When we planted our plums we started a guild around them and they've thrived. We didn't test the soil but imagine it would have been fairly acidic, and it's sandy and with little organic matter. However, by lifting all the sod that was around the drip lines of the trees, we eliminated the competition from the grass.

  We mulched heavily with hay, which keeps the grass from coming back, helps the soil retain moisture and stay cool, and breaks down rapidly, feeding the soil. We also planted nitrogen fixers (legumes, in this case red clover),and some comfrey to keep the soil loose, draw nutrients up to the surface and for 'chop & drop' mulch a few times in the season. Nasturtiums and chives to deter pests. Ground ivy now spreads over the hay and the tiny flowers attract pollentators in spring, as well as crocus and a few tulips.

  Watering was done as an overnight drip only when it was very dry for a couple of weeks.

   One of the trees was a little shaky at first, so I gave it a feed with a seaweed solution. That was simply a handful of kelp soaked in a bucket for a few days, then watered in to already slightly moist soil. It perked right up again.

   Hope this helps

Mos6507 - Here is a link to the North American Scion Exchange ... 

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/scionexchange/ ...

We are still a young group, but you will probably be able to find what you are looking for from someone on the exchange.  There is also a ton of info on growing, grafting, propogating, and other general info on all different kinds of fruit.  I didn't know that about sweet-pit apricots being dual use, I will have to check those out.  I am in MN, and I know of atleast a few people growing apricots, but I am not sure what kinds, I will have to find out for next year.  Good Luck!!

Grow on a well drained compost mound with a ditch around it.
Mulch heavily with chipped woody material - as it is attacked by fungi that break down cellulose the cellulitic enzyme produced will leach down into the soil and also help to control the Phytopthera (main root rot disease) as it has a Psydo-cellulitic coat around it.

I'm in New England and apples are all that is commercially grown here that I'm aware of. Ornamental cherries are commonplace, however. I'm in zone 6, probably headed for zone 7, so I think it's warm enough for all the stone fruits.

Hiya, I've never grown apricots but we have some other stone fruits here.

One thing that springs to mind is to test the soil pH - if it's peaty than it might be too acidic for the trees.

There's a pdf here I found about fertilizing stone fruit that might provide some routes for investigation, for example adding lime to the soil if you can get it.

Can you get in contact with other people who grow apricots of any kind or any similar fruits in your area of the country? Old old professional gardeners?

What about the climatic factors - what's your hardiness zone? Are there other people who grow these plants successfully in your zone?

I know here in the UK cherry-growing is mostly limited to the warmest southerly parts of the islands; nectarines and apricots I think of as special tender plants that need fussing over - frost covers, a situation against a heat-retaining south-facing wall and so on - because the developing buds on fruit trees tend to be very frost-sensitive.