Ace, my basic spray program only goes to 4 if you use Sevin. I don't need to control fireblight in any of the 100 orchards I manage, I only get small strikes that run their course innocently enough (I don't use full dwarf rootstock). I often have to do more sprays with stonefruit to control BR but on many sites we get adequate control with just 2 sprays if we forsake oil or add it in one of the insecticide sprays. Brown rot control can be maintained most efficiently with Orbit, Indar or Pristine and you can experiment with a single spray in early July to control BR on all your stonefruit. Sometimes this will solve the problem entirely up here. Mark has recently drawn my attention to Assail which I don't think is restricted in NY and he mentioned research that would indicate that it could protect for as long of intervals as Imidan. Thank you Mark! Don, it's crazy that you posted within minutes of my last post here and had some similar but more detailed advice. I wouldn't necessarily recommend using composted manure in large amounts however. If she has a deep rich soil with a lot of organic matter already she might want to go easy on enriching it further. I get the best fruit from soil not overly rich. It really depends on the sight, the species and rootstock as I'm fully aware you know.

I will try to grow just about anything. I have plenty in the ground and way too much in pots that I drag around the yard during the summer and shove into a makeshift greenhouse for the winter. February marks my second year in this new house (which is actually an older house) so a lot of what I have is still too young to fruit. Even things that normally were not my favorite flavor ended up growing on me so now I can't imagine gardening without them (guavas come to mind). I guess the oddest thing in the ground is my Arbequenia Olive which is planted right up against the brick wall of the house and doing just fine. They are rated zone 8 and I am a warm zone 7b. In its entire life (most of which was in a pot) it has only made ONE tiny olive that made it all the way to maturity. I joke that I could have squeezed one drop of oil onto one tiny crouton with that crop. This year's lack of winter is making what looks like bumper crop of Loquats - we'll see. They don't ripen til April. I have the best luck with the small pomegranate sold by Plant Delights as 'State Fair'. It is a small bush with half sized fruits that are more brown than red but the flavor is great and the bush is very very very prolific. It pretty much blooms from early spring til December and sets more fruit than you can pick. It even self sows, the ground under it is covered with babies. I have good luck (sort of) with the bush cherry series: Jan, Joel, and Joy. The bushes are way cute when in bloom but they do catch every plum disease out there and the fruit is often disfigured. But right about when you think they should be starting to rot is when they finally taste like regular cherries - otherwise they taste more like wild plums. Some people don't like the flavor of Goumi's but I flat out love them and plan on growing an entire row of them this year. Sweet Scarlet is very prolific but Red Gem has better flavor (with only a fifth of the fruit). They taste kinda like a cranberry and more berry like than their cousin Autumn Olive which is highly invasive. Years ago I stumbled upon a very tasty form of native passionvine. I have allowed it to escape into my yard and so far it has behaved. The fruit is nasty looking but tastes like Hawai'i to me. It makes a great smoothie mixed with orange juice and guava. I have European pears which do fine but lack any great flavor. I have two Asian Pears but only one of them has produced so far and the raccoons got all the fruit. I have apples which do ok - I haven't sprayed in the past and the fruit really suffered. I have peaches but they didn't care for the high heat and drought of the past two summers. I have no problem growing raspberries and blackberries and elderberries. I am growing but so far have not gotten any fruit from: fuzzy kiwi, hardy kiwi, pawpaw, wineberry, pineapple guava, service berry, cornelian cherry, shippova, quince, che, medlar, mulberry. I've already ordered sea buckthorn, aronia and honeyberry to plant this year (they should show up in early April). The greenhouse is full but worth all the hassles to keep it warm - guavas all fall and citrus all winter - yum.

As a child, our front yard was bordered by Surinam Cherries...The only thing with them is that they DO get wormy if not treated, but make the most amazing jellies! I'm also a huge fan of figs. I do have a Loquat tree that I LOVE! I've learned (on here) that they can be pruned not only to allow sun through (I have pineapples growing around mine) but you can do the "bonsai" thing with them as well. I also love my dwarf bananas. I chose RajaPuri because of the compact size. I started with one sick little plant that someone at ACE hardware was throwing out...he said it was dead. Well, no it wasn't, but it WAS almost dead...waterlogged. Six months later, I now have 9 banana trees! I'm really glad to hear about the nuts that grow here. I used to have pecans in Lake Wales, but they never fruited heavily and the goats got most of the ones we could reach anyway! One should always have a citrus tree. They're fantastic for more than just fruit. I keep a pineapple orange (my favorite) and a Meyer Lemon (dwarf) that does beautifully. I also use the rinds as a disinfectant (I use everything for everything, lol) in my kennel, as well as a deodorizer! One thing about figs: They're pollinated by wasps, so if anyone grows them, cut them in half before biting into them...or you'll never eat another one! Just like Surinams, figs are used by the pollinator to lay their eggs.

A mulberry that didn't survive? Wow. Was it a red one? Those are naturalized here. Are there mulberries in wild areas or neighbors' yards around you? Maybe you have a microclimate that's unfavorable, or perhaps you just had a dud. As for the blueberries, do you find you need to acidify the soil every year, or just upon the initial planting? I'm considering planting them near a cedar tree, hoping the droppings will provide some acidification, though I'm not entirely confident about the science of that. I know pine acidifies- not sure about cedars, though they seem they should. Theresa 2, can you remind us what dioecious means? Athenainwi- what variety of plum do you have that you have to bag? I was hoping for something a bit more self-sufficient, but still reasonably edible. Found it interesting that you use nylons. I wonder if cotton or muslin would work too. It's popular to use plastic bags, which doesn't at all appeal to me at all, for several reasons.