We have had a consistent colder than average winter. We had back to back 10 degree nights with a high of 32 in between. These temps usually do a lot of damage to my citrus figs and pomegranates but I have had almost none this year. Zero damage to figs and pomegranates and Arctic Frost satsuma was defoliated but no dieback. These plants had no protection. I think because we had consistent cold the plants were fully dormant and were able to take more cold than in previous years. I also got plenty of chill hours and had a great bloom on my plums and the rest of my plants that are starting to flower also look great.
In short I have had great winter but I am now 2-3 weeks ahead of schedule and worry about a late freeze.
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just saw one of our pak mulbs and evidently many of the new growth didnāt withstand the howling windchill last night. Seen here as limp and lifeless brownish foliage and berries. Really feel sorry for those who grow fruits as livelihood
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Drew, you still get frosts there into May? Is that common?
No, itās not common, can happen. About once every 10 years.
We had a freeze in the middle of May of '16, got down to 28 on the 16th I think. In zone 6b. We had corn and potatoes already sprouting green shoots at the time. Corn was about 6in high and taters about a foot tall. Pretty soon after that a lot of the tater greens looked damaged. We didnāt get any taters that year and we planted lots of them. The corn never really produced anything either that year, that freeze seemed to stunt their growth.
If I remember correctly we also had a freeze in May last year, but we we didnāt plant anything until the first of June. So, Iām kinda gun shy about trying to plant anything before May. But I will say the previous two years our freezes were over by April. Those winters were below normal cold, but the last two were very mild, with little snow. This winter had been brutal in Dec and Jan, but this month has been mild, but also very wet. Long range forecasts are calling for it be colder in March.
I was outside today cleaning up some fence rows and saw a few wild blackberry canes with very small green buds on them. Apples and pears have nothing new on them, but peaches have a lot of buds swelling, I think theyāre leaf buds, though.
The flower buds swell first. On peaches, where there are three buds clustered together the round one in the middle is the flower bud- leaf buds are pointy. Iām sorry, but it is your flower buds that are swelling and Iām afraid by the end of next week they will be swelling here as well (in NY). This year is shaping up to be a disaster, but 28 is not a critical frost for fruit trees. I fear temps below 25 once flowers are about to open and beyond. Vegetables can be replanted but you only get one shot a year with fruit trees.
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Yes, but veggies are small at this stage and can also be easily protected by covers so one can help them through the frost, certainly, and cold, usually. If the tree height is kept managable, you can improve your chances of getting fruit - which may be the only way I get fruit off my Anna apples.
Or my Sweet Treat
Or the infamous Nadia
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Ok thanks. My peach trees I donāt think are big enough to support any fruit production yet, my tallest one is only 4ft tall, even though itās been in the ground for 2 years. From what Iāve read thatās how much it should grow in one year, but I suspect the soil is really poor and acidic where theyāre at, so Iām going to have to hit it with more fert and lime this year.
Even if the 4ft treeās fruit buds survive any freeze, do you think itās big enough to be allowed to produce any fruit? I know apples and pears shouldnāt be allowed to fruit when small, because they may runt out, but what about peaches?
True, but I start all my tomatoes, peppers, and herbs indoors in mid-spring, and plant out about a month later. They are about a foot tall by then, and if they get zapped by a freeze, then Iām out of luck for the year.
I planted out 70 tom and 30 pepper plants a couple years ago, at the end of May. And thatās only because we had a freeze a couple weeks before. The two years before I planted out the first week of May, but got away with it.
Everything else is sown in the soil. So, Iām at the mercy of the weather. Last year everything was either planted out or sown the first week of June and they all did well. Except the potatoes, which were hit with a lot of rain soon after planting, and rotted in the ground.
Looks like Iāll be joining the club soon too. Lots of bud swelling and some green tips on stone fruit and berries. The one that surprises me a little is the Romance Series Cherries. I figured theyād be later bloomers than they are.
The two outer buds are the flower buds, the one in the middle is a leaf bud. Easy to get these things backwards.
If the trees trees have two growing seasons, you might get a good taste of fruit this season. It can be really variable here. They can produce peaches the third season (not a lot). By the fourth season, peaches will generally produce quite a lot. They are pretty much in full production by the 5th season.
I let peaches crop as early as they want to, but just donāt over crop them - ever.
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Easy to misremember when you are medicare age, but the flower buds on peaches are very obvious for their roundness.
Thanks for the correction- I hate to add to the overall confusion.
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Thanks. Weāll see how they do this year, Iām not really expecting them to fruit due to their small size, and that assumes the blooms survive.
What do you mean by this? Are you saying if they produce too much this early, theyāll runt out?
Most peaches set more fruits then they can support. Fruit size is diminished, fungal diseases spread and branches break.
No, early cropping wonāt cause peaches to runt out if on peach rootstock. Peaches wonāt runt unless there is some associated issue (roots too wet, nematodes, etc.)
The problems with over cropping are what Kiwi mentioned - small fruit, fruit w/ lower sugar, broken trees, poor vigor.
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Iām a big fan of thinning peaches, I found it makes a huge difference in taste. It may have been a fluke, but the peaches I grow had higher brix, were bigger and just tasted better when I thin the crop heavily.
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Good to know. When do you thin yours? When the fruit is very tiny? I had peach trees many moons ago - but didnāt know āsquatā about how to manage them. Iām learning from scratch - 20 years later.
Yes, and usually a couple rounds. I remove 60-70% it is really hard to do!
After the first pass when i look, I see I missed a lot I should have removed.
On my 2nd year grafts I will remove all the fruit except a couple that grew 3 feet the first year, the wood is thick, so I will leave 2-3 on there. Also going to be really hard to do as I have never tasted this fruit yet!
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I take care of a neighborās peach tree in return for peaches. His wife saw me out thinning their peaches one afternoon a few years ago. She threw open their back door and looked at me like I was peeing on their couch. Years later I still think she is a little mad at me despite my explanation that it had to be done. Now I wait until she isnāt home and I hide the evidence.
I got a similar look after pruning their pear trees. Pretty sure she thinks Iām crazy and trying to kill their trees.
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LOL! I used to work in the hospital and have these cheap hazmat type suits (not really hazmat, the real deal is too expensive to use for spraying trees) and if I wear a respirator people really give me strange looks!
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I hear you, I get the same response so I started thinning the flowers that way no one knows.
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