Advice On How To Support Nectarine Tree Branches Heavy With Fruit
velvet_sparrow
15 years ago
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jellyman
15 years agolast modified: 9 years agovelvet_sparrow
15 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
How can I get my 7 fruit trees to be what I want?
Comments (16)You do not need to be above the tree to prune. You could have a branch that is 10' tall and cut it at 4'. You certainly wouldn't need to get on a ladder to make the 4' cut just because the branch is 10'. All the trees you mention except for the cherry, which you will probably kill doing what you want because they don't handle constant or heavy pruning well (and it sounds like you are going to cut a large central leader to make an open vase, which is why my old cherry tree split about 15 years after I had that idea), and the guava (which I just don't know about) fruit on last year's wood. Once you get your basic tree structure down your pruning will be replacing old branches when they get too big and heading back new branches to encourage fruiting and strength. You can bend the branches down to do the heading back and the branch replacement will be done at whatever level you decide your fruiting branches will come from. That level could be radiating from a central leader or it could be a system of scaffolds. I see a lot of overgrown "new wood" fruit trees and the reason is people didn't train them with the idea of branch replacement and to continue getting fruit they need to let the tree continue to get larger and larger. Let's say you decide your base will be cut at 4' and you will allow the trees to go no more than 10'. If the trees grow 12" a year or you head them back so they grow no more than 12" a year that means you will be replacing branches every 6 years. I don't know about zone 9 but 6 years is not a unmanageable branch. If it is you could decide to replace every 4 or 5 year branch and have an 8'-9' tree. If you are really stuck on having your trees only be 6' (which like I said above, there is no pruning reason to have to have them at head height to prune them since you will be removing well below the final height and can bend whips down to head them back) you would be cutting them off after every 2nd year. I'm not sure your trees would go for that, they may decide they don't have enough tree compared to root to bother trying to populate and growing tree is more important. I have a McIntosh that hates being espaliered to 5' and it's always trying to grow more tree instead of getting heavy with fruit. You may have to do some root pruning to make them satisfied with 6' of tree or do some other stress/extra dwarfing techniques to cause them to bear heavy so they don't have the energy to make more tree....See MorePlanting fruit trees in heavy clay in MD and apple/pear rootstock
Comments (20)Lind, I'm pretty sensitive to drainage because I've lost so many trees to it. A few years ago I got tired of pulling out dead trees, so I installed a field tile in most of the orchard area. It drains a lot of sub-surface water into a neighbor's pond. The tile stopped trees from dying but many trees still weren't thriving, so I've been slowly converting more trees to mounds. It's just what I have to do here. When I pull one out, I build a mound if I plan to go back w/ a peach. In my area, which may be different from MD, the soil stays wet from about Nov. thru June of the following year. It's the months of April, May, and June that the soggy soil does the trees in. In the past I've made my mounds out of regular native soil because it's free. This has worked very well for me. Below is an old photo I took this Spring. The tree directly to the left of my son was just starting it's second leaf/year. The tree in the mound on the right was also starting it's second leaf. However, the one on the right was not in a mound the first year and suffered stunting. So last fall, I dug it out, built a mound, and replanted. This picture was taken before either tree had put on any appreciable second leaf shoot growth. Both trees were the same size at purchase (bout 3/4"). My other trees in mounds perform similarly. Lately, I'm running out of places to dig, so I've been experimenting using wood chips as a base and putting soil on top as the growing medium. By the textbooks, this is a no no. But like I say, this is an experiment. This week I just got through building 10 more mounds for more trees. Rented a Dingo to build the mounds. Have 18 peach trees coming for next season, and have a mound for every one....See MoreNectarine Espalier Tree advice
Comments (3)That's a sticky situation because trees such as apples and pears will sprout from severe pruning but generally stone fruits don't, and it's even less likely with peaches and nectarines nevertheless if you can't return them or plant them elsewhere I would definitely try, to avoid wasting a perfectly good tree another thing you could do is head off the existing branches and tie them down horizontally (or slightly below the horizontal) so that when they branch out the laterals will be in a better position to form the espalier...See MorePeach/nectarine tree Ooze clear gel-like sap
Comments (0)I've examined the related posts on this topic, and seek additional advice from growers with that experienced the same thing. Sorry for length, but want to give detail to precisely describe the situation. Situation: - Arctic Star nectarine. It is spring 2016, it's 2nd year in the ground (planted spring 2015). Sourced bareroot from a retailer who sourced from Dave Wilson. - Oozes gel-like substance (not sticky/tacky, but more like hair gel) on pruning cuts on branches - I've also seen ooze at the base of where new (3" - 4") branches begin to form. The young branch wilts and dies. - I see no evidence of borers. No sawdust. No holes. There is no oozing or any unusual circumstances at the base of the tree. Ooze happens in the branching of the trees, on pruning cuts or new branches trying to grow. - This is not the fruit oozing, as I've seen other threads on that topic. Fruit is still small and the tree has lots, despite being only 2nd leaf. - Tree look very healthy and vigorous. There are a few leaves here and there with curl, but that should not be a big deal, I'm told. - Ooze seems to pick up when it rains. We've just had a day's rain, and the attached pics are after the rain. Prior, there was not ooze at these points. Actions - When I first saw ooze, I talked to my local nursery and he said that my best bet is prune out wood where I see the ooze. Better safe to hack the young tree than let the disease live on. - My tree had two main leaders. I cut off one entire leader (half the tree) well below where I saw the ooze. As I said, better safe than sorry. I placed tar on the cut because it was a 1" branch or larger. Check out one of the pics. Despite this low cut, I see a little ooze flowing out of the tar. - On the other half of the tree, I would cut off any branch where I saw ooze, at least 6-8" below the ooze. Now, even those pruning cuts are oozing today after the rain. Again the tree looks totally fine other than this. Questions: - I'm thinking of potentially taking out the whole tree before it infects nearby ones. Is that too harsh? One poster said it's normal for young trees to have high sap pressure, especially after a rain, and it will "take care of itself". - Does anyone have the same experience and tried to wait it out? What happened? - Would it hurt to see how the fruit forms and tastes? Will that be any sort of indication? - I'm a home gardener with high-density planting. If I take this out, I'd want to put another peach in the same spot. Would that be unwise? Again, looking for someone who has this experience, instead of general advice of not planting the same tree in a diseased location (for a tree only a year in the ground). Thanks! I know it takes a lot of time to read and respond, so it is much appreciated! Nectarine Ooze Pictures...See Morejellyman
15 years agolast modified: 9 years agovelvet_sparrow
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