Oh, it's definitely trial and error. I've spent the past 17 years working the kinks out of growing flowers (perennials, mostly... there are actually a few that seem to thrive here), and this is my first year with a kitchen garden. Our adult kids finally moved out a few months ago (love 'em to pieces, but they're in their early 20s. It was time to go!), and that seemed to free up a fair amount of time, space in the house and yard, and money for us. So I bought myself a little greenhouse, along with frost blankets, row covers, etc. to extend our season out a bit. Hubby built me 3 nice 4' x 8' raised beds, and I started a number of the edibles early indoors. Now I have strawberries, lettuces, carrots, onions, a sweet yellow bell pepper, tomatoes, sweet corn, cucumbers, broccoli, basil, and rosemary in the beds. Also a dwarf blueberry in a big pot in the greenhouse (and 2 more cultivars of dwarf blues being shipped to me now, with their pots filled and ready for them). So far, I've learned that strawberries and onions tend to do pretty well here. No problems so far with the lettuces, either, of course. The corn is growing nicely, and no complaints from the broccoli so far, either. Tomatoes can be tough here, but I'm giving it a go. I'm having trouble with a Sweet 100 cherry (think it may have spotted wilt virus, but I'm watching and waiting for the time being to see if it comes back for me... it has flowered, so we'll see what happens). And of course the pepper plant may or may not ever fruit for me. Cukes are also probably hit or miss. But I've tried to watch the weather predictions and put out the frost blankets whenever needed. Depending on how things go this year, I'm thinking I'll try peas and potatoes next year, which should do just fine. Melons are very tempting... I suppose if I get one of the early cultivars, I might be able to pull it off. Of course, we could very well get one (or any number) of our sudden summer snowstorms, hailstorms, thunderstorms with torrential rain and killer winds... and it could very well wipe out most or all of my efforts in a matter of hours or even minutes. But since we're here, and we're not going anywhere (hubby's job... no moving at least until he can retire, a good decade or so away), I decided to make the best of it and give it a try, at least. Greenhouses and frost blanket are wonderful inventions! :-)

Thanks All. Harvestman, I checked back on my notes and last month's weather (from the Weather Channel- I don't keep notes on temps :) ). The tree opened first blooms on 5/2, and was likely at full bloom when we had 4 days of rain starting on 5/7. The first 3 days were mostly in the 50's, while the 4th day heated up to almost 80. I'm hoping for this to explain it, but it is also possible that the cold/wet conditions encouraged FB. I should also note that the Hudson's Golden Gem tree less than 10 feet away bloomed within 1 day of the Red Boskoop (they were two of the first trees both this year and last) and HGG is covered with apples (I've had to thin quite a bit). Sharppa, I haven't seen any other signs of FB, so I am crossing my fingers. I did a quick check for cankers and didn't see any earlier today. I'll keep an eye out for it though. Scott, how do you normally deal with blossom blight? Does it normally spread into the trees? I'm not sure how much I need to prune off, given it seems to be pretty dry and not spreading further (that I can see).

It's hard to know. Sometimes they're very lax and sometimes they'll hunt you down. I just don't want to push it. I was talking to someone in Louisiana who had some gingers shipped from the Big Island and they forgot to put the certified stamp on it. He said the inspectors came to his nursery and not only destroyed all of those plants but everything else that was in his greenhouse because he couldn't prove that they were from a certified source either and they apparently figured he was up to something. All it takes is one guy who's having a bad day, or a bad life, and you end up paying for it! I've also had seeds interdicted and confiscated because they didn't come with a phyto. I didn't think seeds required a phyto, but I guess they do if they're coming from overseas (in this case South Africa). I also didn't think they'd go into an unmarked envelope LOOKING for them, but again, I guess they do if it's from overseas. Hawaii tends to be pretty strict about things coming in. You need a permit and a phyto and you can't have plants sent directly to your home or business, you have to have them sent to the Dept. of Ag. and they'll notify you to come pick them up. I can't keep up with all of the rules and regs for every different location so I tend to be a bit paranoid about the whole process. And that's not even getting into the whole subject of delays and things getting lost in the mail......

Do you really not notice any differences between varieties? No, you misunderstand me, sorry. I notice lots of difference between varieties. That is why I say you can't or shouldn't try to compare varieties and draw any reliable conclusions. Every spring we get all kinds of posts on what is wrong with my variety X plant? It won't set fruit when all my other varieties a, c, f, and k are fruiting. I'm saying that is not a valid comparison. Each variety is genetically different and may be affected by different stress factors than the other varieties. So the fact that 4 of them set fruit and 1 didn't is little more than coincidence for those 4 and doesn't mean anything is wrong with the 1 that didn't. Comparing them is an apples to oranges. Different DTM, different soil provisions even if right next to each other, different size plants, different clustering of blooms, different size fruit, different stamen and/or pistil size, etc., etc. Now if you have 3 Bloody Butchers growing side by side and 1 of them refuses to set fruit while the other 2 are loaded you may have a problem. But you can't validly compare BB to Cherokee Purple. ;) Does that help clarify what I meant? Dave