Elaine: These have both been keepers for me. Understand my trees are in a greenhouse so YMMV. Cot-N-Candy has small fruit but it is very sweet plus has an excellent flavor. Last year was my first crop and I really liked it. I've grown Tomcot in central California and the last five crops here. It's not the greatest apricot or the largest but my friends and I never pass one up. My apricot with the highest eating quality potential is Robada. It has more tartness than Tomcot so may not be as good as Tomcot under some conditions. But if thinned well and grown with lots of light on the fruit, it has been the best cot I've ever eaten. My nectarines are sometimes sensational even when grown down under a lot of foliage on pendant wood. My experience says apricots need to be grown out in high light conditions. This means heavy thinning to leave sun exposed fruit. The tree also needs to be pruned to an open canopy. The Fruitnut

My hunch is that it's toast, just wanted to see if anyone has had any experience with this happening. Its a big tree, so no moving. It has to be root issues. I'm on almost pure sand here...right next to the Mississippi River (If i dig down a few feet, its more or less beach sand). Drainage has never been a problem. Maybe a combination of extreme heat, drought, long winter, deep frost and very wet/cloudy spring :)

Yes, it probably depends on variety and environmental conditions. The statements I've seen are broad and don't help understand the situation. It's like the research community is aware of the issue, but the rest of the world is mostly oblivious or not concerned. I found two places I saw this: https://ecommons.library.cornell.edu/bitstream/1813/5108/1/FLS-100.pdf "The best rootstocks for apricots are apricot seed- lings. Myrobalan rootstocks have been used quite extensively, but apricots on this rootstock are subject to delayed incompatibility and frequently break off at the bud union three or four years after planting. Peach seedlings have also been used as rootstocks for apri- cots, but trees on peach seedlings are not as long lived as those on apricot seedlings. " http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/facts/02-035.htm "Myrobalan Plum Seedling - These are not normally recommended for use with apricots for several reasons. The graft union between apricot and myrobalan plum (Prunus cerasifera) is weak and may break in a strong wind. Slow decline of apricot trees on Myrobalan seedling rootstock has also been reported. Apricot trees on Myrobalan seedling normally come into bearing later than trees on apricot seedling. Myrobalan seedling rootstock is only recommended for areas where drainage is imperfect and apricot seedling will not perform well. " I think it is a warning to plan your orchard with the expectation of shorter life expectancies and higher losses if you use myrobalan. It should be manageable with a good plan for replacing losses. However, the stakes would be higher for the homeowners that only want one or two trees.

No opinion yet but I planted a cot-n-candy last September and am eager to see what it will give me this summer.