1. I got 6 Kiowas last spring and 3 of them have very thin canes. Is this because they r still immature and should I just remove the canes this spring before they flower or go ahead and let them produce fruit? Im just not sure if u treat these plants like other fruit and let them mature before producing berries? Yes To first Question let them go ahead let fruit because there now Floricanes and don't take away from plants growth in 2012 which are primacanes. Floricanes has energy for fruiting allready so pruning will just loose fruits. Im just not sure if u treat these plants like other fruit and let them mature before producing berries? You do all pruning on Primacanes none on Floricanes until after fruiting prune hold cane from plant base. 2. I tipped the canes at about 4 ft and they only produced 1 or 2 branches and just keep growing up to 7ft. Should I cut the branches back to 18 inches or so, or just leave them be? The branches r now 3 to 4ft long. The growth change in 2012 to Dayem that plant growing on new primacane. Tip changes in south from north mountains Tiping use what called long cane practice in south because longer growing season I see V trellis in you future so hold up plants. Prune main new canes of 2012 six foot tall these fall over without V Trellis allow as grow lean onto wires this tighten wires there no need fight wire to be tight canes do that just install with slack out. Laterals use 36 inches not 18" hanging over wires this give wall berry fruits out side wire. 3. I planted them to close for comfort, 2ft apart so its a jungle in there. I also planted them next to my fence so getting behind the plants is impossible. When would be the best time to transplant them with out sacrificing a years crop from stress or that even possible? I would move half plants from fence now when new site ready mix with mature chicken litter is best out broil houses Kiowas 4 foot is tight over 8 foot loose between hedge rows 14 foot tight over 22 foot loose I've had only 4 to 6 foot alley way between Kiowa at 22 foot rows. Thin canes are from infertile soil and small crown on plants this grow out plants in one year if fertile almost impossible to grow from root cutting to thick cane in one year but after 2 years no different than big crown transplant. The reason grow long canes in South is fewer cane come up from crown like one to 3 in north mountains there 7 to 9 canes from crown so 18" applicable for lateral pruning and shorter canes at 52" top out. Just remember 2011 does not apply to practice for 2012 are 2013 after that 2014 will be same old same old etc.

Interesting reading. For ME that is! I learned something from it. ------------------------------------- Early in our cooking-baking life, we learned firsthand the enormous difference between making chocolate chip cookies with butter that is essentially melted, with room-temperature butter, and with butter at refrigerator temperature. The temperature of the ingredients has a lot to do with how the cookies turn out. If you put a warm, melty dough into the oven, your cookies will spread before they begin to set up. Too often they'll run into one another, becoming a single crisp, crunchy mess on your cookie sheet. The cooler the dough when it goes into the oven, the less it will spread. Another reason that cookie dough is refrigerated is that it gives the gluten time to relax. You don't want to mix a cookie dough containing wheat flour any more than absolutely necessary, as the more you mix it, the more gluten develops, and the more rubbery your cookies will be. Letting the dough rest in the refrigerator for at least half an hour does wonders for relaxing the gluten and letting you produce cookies that are soft or crunchy (depending on your preference), but not tough and rubbery. Finally, letting the dough rest in the refrigerator also gives the flour more time to absorb the liquid more fully. This allows the dough to become drier and firmer, which produces a better consistency in the finished cookie and also better taste. Even Ruth Wakefield, creator of the Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie, said she chilled the dough overnight. A writer for The New York Times recently conducted an experiment with a batch of chocolate chip cookie dough, where he baked a portion after chilling the dough for 12 hours, for 24 hours, and for 36 hours. The 12-hour cookies were fine; at 24 hours "things started getting interesting," with more even browning and better flavor; at 36 hours, the cookies browned still more evenly, and had "an even richer, more sophisticated taste, with stronger toffee hints and a definite brown sugar presence." In an informal taste test among his colleagues, the 36-hour cookies won conclusively. We have been speaking mostly of chocolate chip cookies � the dough of which we generally can't muster the fortitude to store in the refrigerator for even a few hours � but the rules can be applied to nearly any cookie.

For those in warmer climates worried that their fruit trees may not get enough chill, I found an excellent explanation of chill hours here: "As soon as the minimum chill requirement is reached the bud will begin growth with the next warm spell. It is the bud itself, not the trunk or roots, that must experience the chill. Researchers have determined that 'chill' involves the number of hours of exposure to temperatures below 55°F and above 33°F. (Apparently there is no chill value for time spent below 34°F.) The minimum chill requirement is the minimum number of chill hours (accumulative) that the tree must be exposed to during the winter season for proper flower bud development and subsequent fruiting. Hours spent above 60°F are subtracted. The value of chill varies with the temperature. Maximum chill is received between 36°F and 48°F. Maximum negative chill occurs above 65°F. Many authorities will explain that the year’s chill value is determined by summing up all the winter’s additions and subtractions; however that total is normally quite low. In my opinion the minimum chill requirement is like slowly adding water to a cup with a small hole in the bottom. The water is the chill hours accumulating and the size of the hole that water leaks out is the negative chill. The height of the cup represents the variety’s chill requirement. During periods of intense cold the water adds up very quickly. Once the water spills over the top all bloom and growth systems have been switched on. Growth begins during the next warm spell. By the end of winter the cup’s hole enlarges and the water is no longer near the top." http://www.lagunahillsnursery.com/gary-deciduous_fruit.htm

Fruitnut, Thanks so much for your input. I always look forward to your comments & posts as they are so informative, especially to a newbie like myself. After I posted my question I figured how to find my chill hours (pic). Looks like we got 665ch between 45 and 32 last winter. (All though I know every year is different.) I also see that ACN's catalog shows Honey Royale nectarine, I'm going to give them a call and see if they sell them to homegrowers. If so I'll pick up two of them as well after reading all your comments on them. They sound great! Thanks again Fruitnut!!!!