Joe-

Do you have any tropical fruit that you've harvested or will harvest? Pineapple, guava, papaya, mango, or anything along those lines?

Sounds like your in fruit heaven! I'm jealous :(

Frank, last year, I harvested plenty of tropical guavas. If they will recover fully from the arctic blast this year, perhaps there will be a chance this fall. Bananas and Avocadoes were harvested last year. The mangoes and Papayas all died in the arctic blast. My bananas survived the arctic blast and I am hoping for two sets of blooms soon.

Citruses are practically year round for me. I have ripe grapefruits, calamondins, lemons, mandarins (clemenules), pummelos, mid-season valencias, limequats and mandarinquats ready for the pickings anytime I want until they're all picked out.

Joe: My best fruit so far has been the Robada apricot. They are the best apricots I've ever grown. Much sweeter than the last two yrs and vastly better than my Flavorella. Tomcot has also been good. The Flavor Supreme are very good but suffering some, I think, from overwatering and too cool greenhouse. I tried running the greenhouse cooler this yr than last. Have just recently gone up to highs in the 80s. Next yr will plan to get into the low to mid 80s by March. Also need to do a better job on getting the irrigation right. Want to get into a state of steady slight water stress. I believe that highs in 80s to low 90s and slight water stress are conducive to the best quality on apricots, plums, pluots, and sweet cherries. Grapes and some citrus probably need even warmer temp. and I do have them on the warmest end of the greenhouse. I still don't have the right formula for nectarines.

Most of my summer fruit is swelling and some showing color. Even the Flavor Grenade which should be 7-8wks from ripe is getting huge and starting to color.

The Fruitnut

The Fruitnut: Is the Robada Apricot patented? I only heard it from you. It would be interesting to have. It seems like it is an early season type.

I purchased the 4-n-1 Pluot from one of the DWN outlet, but the Flavor King and Flavor Supreme branches were always outgrown by Dapple Dandy and Flavor Queen. So I regrafted the two slower growing types unto some of the vigorous sprouts of Dapple Dandy and Flavor Queen. Hopefully next year, I will have more Flavor Supreme and Flavor King than this year. Will try to experiment with summer grafting on that tree. Grafted many plum pollinators 4 years ago, so the tree is always loaded.

Most of my nectarines have superficial scars on their skins and am puzzled as to what caused this? I did not spray anything on my peaches and nectarines and have no PLC, perhaps about 5 leaves out of several hundred thousand. Anyway nectarines could be tricky too.

Mid 90's in the early summer (just after Memorial day) would bring the best flavor out of my early season plums.

Do you keep your greenhouse stone fruits potted or in the ground inside the greenhouse?

My greenhouse trees are planted in the ground although I have a few in pots. The fruit on the potted trees is only half the size of the inground trees. I am switching my trees from Citation to Krymsk 1 as fast as I can...about 5-6 trees per yr. This is partly because the K1 is more dwarfing but also because peaches and nectarines aren't working on Citation. I don't think Citation is accepted in the commercial trade for peach/nectarine but it is a pretty good stock for apricots, plums, and pluots..from my understanding and experience.

Flavor Supreme has been my most vigorous pluot. The only thing I have that might overgrow it is Flavorella. I have a new Zee Nuggets tree this yr with the Splash, Emerald Drop, and Geo Pride pluots. Hope to get Flavor Finale next yr and any other new Zee Nuggets varieties. My understanding is these are the best tasting pluots that might be too small or ugly for the commercial trade. So Zaiger is looking out for the home gardener.

I'm always amazed how much heat CA summer fruit needs/tolerates. It's hard for me to let the greenhouse warm up that much, just doesn't seem right. But I am going to run warmer next yr: 70s during bloom, 80s for apricots, and low 90s for summer fruit. Grapes and citrus 5-10F warmer than that.

The Fruitnut

fruitnut-

How large are your pots? Do you thin (fruit) your potted trees at all?

Today's fruit bowl:

{{gwi:110632}}
Assorted cherries...

{{gwi:110633}}
Pluots, apriums, apricots, white-fleshed peaches, nectarines...

Nope! not mangoes... these are heirloom type of plums. Golden Nectar, still a long way off:
{{gwi:110634}}

Am dying to taste these new Zee sweet nugget collections...

Ripen... ripen.... ripen....!
{{gwi:110635}}

Too enchanting Flavorosa pluots.... They're bigger than the regular plums.

Perhaps this one over the weekend!

{{gwi:110636}}

What are the little green plum-looking-things in the secong picture in this thread? Are those apriums?

Those are some of the zee sweet nuggets that fell off before they have ripened on the tree. Amazingly, they are somewhat climacteric and continue to ripen. Will compare taste later.

What the heck is a zee sweet nugget?

Zee sweet are the collections of various "Z"aiger genetics trees which don't have formal names yet, at least that's what my label says. I bought those several multi-grafted Zee-sweet nuggets a couple of years ago from one of the Dave Wilson Nursery outlets. Some have formal names now like Splash, Emerald Drop, ... I haven't kept track of the names of the others, so I simply call them Zee sweet nuggets, but they are various hybrids. So I don't have straight answers... And you can't blame me! LOL.

Frank: I thin all my fruit, potted or otherwise. Sometimes not enough. But I try real hard to get them thin enough so that fruit quality is not affected, mainly sweetness. Found out this yr that some of my fruit in the greenhouse has been delayed in ripening and lower quality on the bottom, most shaded portion of the tree. Need to open up those trees and thin more. I'm opening up those trees after the fruit is harvested. Leaving only that wood that I want fruit on next yr. Will have to summer prune the new growth several more times on the apricots that I've already cut back. Summer pruning is a continous process for my greenhouse trees that are planted 6x8ft with 8ft hgt.

Pots are 15 gallon. Fruit size is way less in pots. Not sure how to correct that or if you even can. But I think you need vigorous trees with large leaves to get large fruit. My greenhouse fruit has been the largest I've ever grown. These trees also have the largest leaves I've ever seen. Apricot leaves 5 inches across and sweet cherry 8in by 5in.

Murky: Check Dave Wilson's site about Zee Nuggets. Think that is a generic name to designate pluots that are selected for eating quality; not size, appearance, etc. So these are selections for the fruit lovers like us...thanks to Zaiger!!

The Fruitnut

Joe, It sounds like you are back to having a smile on you face after the fruit drop from those winds. Good for you!
John

Joe-

What does your spraying schedule look like? What do you use. I've got 2 plum trees WITHOUT fruit and i'm having problems! A Superior and a Alderman. Great pics.

Looks like your ripening season is just a bit ahead of mine here along the coast.

The boysenberries are so loaded, I may need to find some new recipes - and so good.

Most of my established trees are looking good - Valencia orange, Eureka lemon, Satsuma mandarin - (the latter just putting out new growth/bloom for midwinter crop).

Last year, after harvesting, I noted a bit of mold formation around the area that usually pulls away when they are picked - if not consumed in a few days. Wonder if they need some sort of spraying -(sulfur perhaps??). Also the peels appeared to be a bit bumpy - which I'd not noted before. The fruit did not seem affected as to taste but disconcerting nonetheless. (We did have some very warm weather around X-mas - when they ripen??)

The Bonanza peach had at leat 100 settings - and only about 4 feet tall - thinned vigorously, but the tree and fruit look fine - waiting for the first ripe one - any day.

The new Cavendish banana planted this summer, really enjoys its setting next to a concrete block wall - but will get afternoon shade this summer - doing very well, still in its pot - but considering amending the sandy soil around it and rescuing when it grow a bit.

Would appreciate any input on my kiwi - they are fuzzy types - I moved them to a new arbor, with more direct southern sun, and thought they wouldn't make it, but this last week, there are new buddings on both male and female. The female is Sanicheton (or something like that), and the male standard fuzzy. Would appreciate input from anyone in zone 10 Ca., coastal as to success with these.

My "Royal Blenheim (2 trees) both loaded. Last year I picked them at just about 1 or 2 days before complete ripeness, thereby managing to harvest most of them, before the squirrels/foxes. Was happy with that and will do so again.

A Mission fig is beginning to "pop" now. Can't say it is in the best location, as a very tall "unwelcome" castor bean tree is shading badly - must get chainsaw out and "do it."

Also - very happy with Fuju persimmon - as the tree is loaded this year (I waited so long). I credit the fact that we had more chill hours ??

Just my 2 c's. (for zone 10 - but we are having a lot of May "gray" here).

Bejay

Johnny: Apparently, strong winds were not enough to thin out most of them. Others were thinned out perfectly, but more than half were not. For fear of more strong winds, I didn't thin out at all. Now they are ripening.

Frank: I didn't spray my stone fruits this year! Got very tiny problem spots, to just about 5 leaves out of several hundred thousands. The only problems were minor bird bites.

Bejay, those molds can induce bloom rot and lower your fruit sets. So I always have pruning shear to pluck my citruses away. Hoping to taste 25 kinds of persimmons this year. More than half of my persimmon fruits have fallen off. This is quite normal for me.

Thats amazing. It must be your desert climate?

Frank, it was the dry winter and dry early spring. If it was wetter, like during the last six years, I would have sprayed religiously (3 times).