Lou,

What an interesting question. I was always told it is the fruit buds and leaf buds that sense the "chill hours" not the roots. You already know your current trees can survive so you are ahead of the game. The only question I have is the use of the limbs, why not just graft the entire tree and just leave a nurse limb until you are sure the graft took?

That is a lot of trees you are planting. Think they will handle the humidity and all that comes with the humidity ok?

I am adding 20 more blueberry bushes today from that commercial source I sent you the email on....will bring my total to about 70?? lol.

Bamboo-rabbit,

If you keep buying blueberry bushes at the present rate you will have to change your name to bambooberry-rabbit. lol

I was thinking of having the different branches having like different apples on the same tree. On a tree up north I had grafted seven different apple varieties growing on the same tree. The spring flowering is very pretty with all the different shades of blossom color and the cross pollination was great. I guess it will just depend on what I have time for.

I bought the small sized nut trees (2 to 3 feet tall that are not too expensive) but I was surprised on the size of the chestnut trees that came. The smaller size trees will tell me more closely what does well for here rather than depending on what the growers say as they are mostly interested in moving their stock. That bunch of nut trees only cost me $88 bucks including the shipping, not bad for 15 nut trees.

The hard drive that my email was on crashed and I lost everything. Could you send it to me again? TIA

Lou

Lou,

Sure will send it again now, sadly she is getting out of the nursery biz and is just going to have the commercial BB farm so if you like any of the varieties call her soon. The plants I am getting are field dug, will be dug when I get there, 20 BB and 10 black berry so I am going to have a VERY busy day getting them in the ground, but the ground is already prepped.

I was thinking about your question some more and if you try to mix low chill hour limbs in on the high chill tree the tree would have to break dormancy twice OR because most of the limbs will be the native high chill I wonder if the tree will break dormancy when the low chill limbs call for it? It is not all controlled by chill hours as day length plays a crucial role in the process. It is like the chill hours rack the shell into the shotguns chamber but day length is actually what pulls the trigger. Please keep us imformed of how it works, I for one am curious about the outcome.

Why not contact your local Ag. Agent and see what they say abt. the grafting ? sally

Bambooberry,

It's so sad to see these little markets, stores, and farms that we all depend on keep folding up in this horrible economy.
My ground is not prepped at all and won't be ready until spring so I guess I will miss the opportunity to buy from her. Bummer!
The small nut trees can temporarily be potted up while I prep the planting holes for them but I'm pretty much at my limit of work with the "fruiting size" fruit trees that I also have ordered for my fall orchard planting.
You've posed a good question of the different chill times on the same tree, I didn't take that into account as I was musing about grafting the different branches.

Sally,

"Contact your local Ag. Agent"?? You can't be serious! That is way too easy and it's too much like asking for directions when I'm lost. HARUMPH!!

Just kidding.... good idea.
Thanks, Lou

Lou, I noticed that you ordered hazlenut trees, something I've been wondering about myself. At the FL/GA border, my guess is that there would be enough chill hours for them. My Dad said they grew wild in southern Indiana. Was there any climate requirements or information provided with your young trees? Just the thought of having a peck or two of hazlenuts makes my mouth water! ;o)
cora

Cora,

This is the writeup on the Hazelnut;

Hazelnut (Corylus spp.)
Also known as filberts, hazelnuts are great large shrubs for the landscape. They grow 6 to 10 feet tall and wide and are hardy in USDA zones 4 to 8. Some varieties have purple leaves and the contorted hazelnut (C. avellana) has crooked branches that add fall and winter interest to the landscape. The nuts are produced 3 years after planting and the foliage turns a brilliant orange-red color in fall. It's best to plant two varieties for pollination.

I realize I'm pushing the zone on hazelnut but I have an area of my farm that always gets frost every winter when other areas here do not get any. I even notice the coolness there as compared to other areas in my yard, so I'm going to give the hazelnuts a try. It's at the bottom of my hill where all the cold seems to 'puddle up' and the frost stays much longer before warming up. It is shaded in winter by a clump of huge pine trees but gets the sun spring & summer. Just as people speak of small micro climes for little warm areas in the yard, there are also micro climes for little cold areas too.

I hope that helps, Lou

Lou,

She is just getting out of the selling nursery stock, they still have 10 acres of some of the most gorgeous blueberries you have ever seen and produce 100,000+++ pounds of berries a year. Some of the emeralds had canes thicker than my wrist and the bushes were taller than I am.

As a side note....I know you propagate some, would you happen to have any mulberry available for sale?

Thanks a bunch Lou! I think I would have to find a cool micro-climate too, even at the northern edge of zone 9. Next, I'm going to look for the ideal spot for a morell garden. YUM!
cora

Bamboo,

I'm in process of rooting a few black mulberries and if all take I will have extra, my white mulberries are very young starters and I will let you know how that one goes too. Hopefully I should have one of each for you. I also have a variegated short growing bamboo, probably grows around 6 feet.. I've no clue the name of it. In fact I know very little about bamboo, but I cut up the corm and propagated a few. Do you call that root thing that looks like a ginseng a culm? I can also give you one of those as a starter if you like. It originally was a volunteer that sprouted up in a pot with something else I had bought. I don't sell anything, I give it or swap my extras. I just bought 3 Black Elderberry Fruit Trees this summer and will probably try to propagate those too later this fall or next spring if you are interested.

Lou

My nut trees that I ordered from different growers have started to arrive. The two Chinese Chestnut Trees were delivered Friday, the two Texas Paper Shell Pecan Trees came in Saturday and six Tropical Almond Trees came in today. I had only ordered three but she said they had so many left over due to slow sales, she packed in extras, in fact doubling my order. I have been busy potting them all up in temporary pots waiting for them to go dormant so I can plant them later in my orchard. This way I can watch over them in my screen-greenhouse fussing at them like a mother hen :>)

I also received an email today saying my apple trees were just shipped today, the Ein Shemer (350 chill hours) Grafted Apple Tree and the Dorsett (250 chill hours) Grafted Apple Tree.

A little trick that may be helpful in growing fruit trees in Florida and having them set fruit in very low chill areas;
It's important as soon as the trees drop most their leaves, to go through the trees and take off the remaining leaves so the tree doesn't have any photosynthesis going.
This helps a lot with getting them to go fully dormant sooner and have a longer time to collect the required chill hours.

Lou

Lou,

Do you have a picture of the bamboo? You can email it to me if you prefer. The culm is actually what the up right "stem" is called. The below ground part is called a rhizome. If it is still in a pot the size can be misleading because bamboo will dwarf itself in a pot but place it in the ground and it zooms.

I appreciate the shot at the Mulberry trees it is about the last tree I want that I have yet to plant. Since you won't take money...Do you like Grouper? Always have a ton of fillets vacuumed sealed or if you want to try the tame rabbit.