Here's a few references which attempt to quantify potential cropload. Keep in mind that all of these articles are for high-density plantings, so I'm not sure how the numbers will vary for a home orchard. FruitGrowersNews article on Tall Spindle: "âÂÂVarieties differ in their biennial bearing tendency, and this must be incorporated into crop loads allowed on young trees,â he said. âÂÂFor annual cropping varieties like Gala, we recommend crop loads of 15 to 20 apples per tree in the second year, 50 to 60 apples per tree in the third year and 100 apples per tree in the fourth year. For slow-growing and biennial bearing varieties like Honeycrisp, crop loads should be half that used with Gala.âÂÂ" Last year, my best trees were at about half their number in the 2nd leaf and several dropped all their apples. This year, I can see 50-60 being reasonable in 3rd leaf. Given that you had only 4 last year, you may want to aim for 50-60, rather than the 100 they list for 4th year trees. UMASS and Cornell recommend 3-6 fruit per square CM in cross sectional area. That would work out to 3.14*((2.5/2)*2.54)^2 = 95-190 for your tree. This same formula would give me 40-70 per tree (on the 4 largest trees). I had been shooting for 30-50 (depending on tree), based on the the blooms and how much space I had planned to leave between apples (I'll try for 8-12"). Yes, I counted on each tree and wrote down my predictions :)

The plums from seed will not be true to the form of the parent. I don't know how close it will be having never grown plums from seed. In general most fruits do not come true from seed since the seed will be a cross of the parent and the pollinating plant. If you want an identical tree you need to take some wood of the original tree and graft it to a rootstock. If you wanted to avoid buying anything you could grow out a few of the seeds and then in a few years graft the original tree to your seedling trees. Scott

Each plant should send up a bloom stalk, then die and produce two or more new rhizomes that will bloom the following year. Some of the new varieties may have been hybridized in areas with different climates than yours and the irises may not do well as a result. Irises that do great in Minnesota rarely do well for me in California, for instance. They need six hours of full sun minimum and should not be overcrowded. Most people divide every three years. The rhizomes can be slightly below the soil surface, but no weeds should be allowed to grow over the tops and block the light. I get baby tears and oregano that grow too fast and cause me problems sometimes. Finally, if you are not satisfied with the amount of bloom, toss them! Who needs a variety that won't bloom well? If I don't get great bloom by the third year I get rid of the iris. By the way, there is no way to force an iris bloom, so the two new fans you see in the nursery can are just the new plants set out by the blooming rhizome. That should mean two stalks the next year. Good luck! Renee

I'm a hydro grower and am usually on that forum, but I love growing tomatoes so much that I spend a lot of time here too. Anyway, to my point: go vertical! I grow strawberries and tomatoes and I grow UP! I grow the tomatoes in perlite and use the "static" method. All this is explained on my Web page. I'll throw a link in below. I grow 100 individual strawberry plants on a "growing station" that takes up 8 square feet in my greenhouse. It is 6 feet tall and grows 50 plants per side. I also grow tomatoes, which are tethered on a rope suspended from a rod anchored 5 feet off the floor. Each plant is indeterminate and I both "super-crop" the trunks as well as use the "single-truss fruiting method". The plants put out tomatoes like there's no tomorrow and all the fruit is at waist height! I don't see why it wouldn't work in an outside garden as well. In fact, you could use the "static" method of hydroponic growing in a pot outside on the dirt. I grow most of my tomatoes outside on concrete! Hope this spurns you on! My Web site motto is "Grow On -- I Dare You!" Here is a link that might be useful: TenGreenThumbs