There’s 2 canes looped around from one plant on the trellis. We had a long hot summer and I gave the plant all the water and fertilizer it could want. The canes just seemed to keep growing and growing, they’re probably 15-16 feet long. Next year should be even better since the primo canes coming up now are even thicker (5/8"?) than those from last season.
Here in the Fraser Valley Black berries grow wild and thrive so it makes sense that it would do good in this soil and climate.
Isn’t your part of BC prime apple growing territory?
We have wild brambles here on the farm, and they are quite prolific. The rasps are black and small but are pretty tasty, but the blackberries are small and quite sour, unless you pick them at the point of falling off. My wife likes them, but not me. But these new ones ought to be much better and bigger.
Abbotsford is actually “the Berry capital of Canada”, we grow an insane amount of blue berries, cranberries, raspberries and more around here. The Interior which is three hours east of me is the place to be for Apples. The Okanagan Valley is littered with Apple orchards and Summerland, BC is a real treat to drive through when the trees are in bloom and also full fruit.
What does grow like weeds are Nut trees, Hazel nuts, Walnuts, Chestnuts. They all thrive in this climate which has constant rain and mild winters.
As Drew mentioned, they were probably damaged while the flowers were closed. They will go ahead and open up (making you think they are healthy flowers) but the ovary is dead. The ovary is the most tender part of the peach flower, and is the first to succumb to cold damage.
We ended up having lots of damage to unopened flowers this spring when it got down to 18F at the pink stage, but the flowers all opened up.
I think this is why I have such a hard time determining whether frost has damaged my blooms or not. I’ve seen the photos and read the descriptions about how you are suppossed to be able to see the black center within hours of damage, but I just can’t. I honestly don’t know if my peach blooms have been ruined by frost or not until several days later. Are there any tips besides looking for the black center that you can offer me, @Olpea (or anyone). Thanks
Cityman,
If the weather is cool, I’ve not been able to see the damage on the ovary very quickly either. For myself, it always takes about a week (unless the weather is very warm before the flowers start to shrivel, and that’s if the flowers were damaged while open.
You can generally see the damaged ovary sooner, but I’d say it still takes several days, depending on the temperatures.
Thank you SOOO much for telling me that! Just this year on some university web site (forget which one) they had a photo that showed a healthy bud or flower split open. Then beside it was one that it said had been killed from frost. The caption said the dead one had been killed just 24 hours earlier-maybe even less- and the photos did look pretty clear-I could see the black pistol or center on it. SO of course I rush out to my trees and start cutting buds and flowers open with a razor blade, but I never could see it like it was in the photo.
Anyway, nice to know I’m not just blind or completely an idiot!
Olpea and Drew thank you both. Upon closer inspection I did notice stem drying up as well. I sprayed copper at delayed dormancy. I thought that would take care of fungal issues. If I see edge of twigs drying up and blooms drying up, is it for sure blossom blight rot? I guess too late for this year.
Can anyone tell me what copper photo-toxicity damage looks like on peach trees. You see, almost all of my peach trees are shedding a lot of leaves this year and I’m trying to figure out why? Many of them turn slightly yellowish, but a lot just stay green and fall off. I can shake a limb and a very large number of leaves fall off. The ground around my peach tree is covered with leaves.
The only thing I can think of that I have done different this year is that I sprayed a 1/2 strength copper spray after my peaches had started to leaf out…maybe at 1/2 inch leaves max. I read that this was ok if I reduced the strength of the copper, but I’m not certain I reduced it as much as I should have. I have also read that copper can be photo toxic to leaves, but I don’t know how it manifests itself if I did apply too much copper too late. Anyone know what it would do to the leaves if I did overdo it? Would they drop like mine? Would they turn brown or deep yellow before dropping (mine haven’t done anything but a barely noticeable yellow tint or none at all.
Thanks
I think you’re fine on the copper. Copper damage causes shot hole on the leaves. I can’t imagine you’d have any issues apply it at 1/2" green. Imo, it’s fairly normal for peaches to lose leaves (at least mine do). I have times when quite a few leaves turn yellow and fall off. It can look alarming, but I haven’t noticed it affects performance. The trees continually put out new foliage all summer long.
OK, thanks for the reassurance, Mark. About 3-4 years ago I had a few trees that dropped almost ALL their leaves. I panicked of course and was certain that those trees couldn’t possibly sustain all the fruit they were carrying with almost no leaves at all to help produce food for the tree and fruit. But even in that drastic case, the tree ended up pushing a whole new set of leaves, never dropped any fruit, and it all worked out. So between that experience and your comment above, I am feeling much better now. Thanks again.
I’ve heard of copper levels building up to toxic levels in soil. Can this be a problem in a fast draining potting mix? Can the potted plant be flushed to avoid this?
Are you free from squirrels?
Not free of squirrels but they don’t come around my yard for this reason. He has 3 rodent kills this year so far, doing far better than the cat and his brother. He has a ratter temperament and is constantly on the hunt.
Ah! Not many cats are good at squirreling
I have a couple of dwarf trees that are very well shaped. They have limbs where I want and the angles are good up to about 6-7 ft. Then they have about four foot or more of “stick” headed to the sky. It looks like you mounted a cane pole fishing rod on top of a normally shaped tree. Should I cut them back?
If so… Now? Later?
These Euro Pear grafts to a Callery tree,were done about 2-3 years ago.Should I leave two fruit per cluster or just one?Thanks,Brady
I think they could be cut back any time now. Brady
What variety? Some pears like Duchess or Potomac are large. You can leave to now just in case you might lose one to bugs or something and thin it off later. It also depends on how strong is the branch/graft.
In the 2nd poc, I am tempted to remove the fruit with damage stem.
I’m giving a coworker a potted dwarf Peach,that is in my greenhouse at work.Today,after checking the moisture with my fingers,there were tiny ants all over my hand. So,they probably have a nest in the container.
She wants to take the plant home in her car,but not with the bugs crawling around.They most likely won’t harm the roots.
After checking online,Peppermint oil seemed to be something to repel them.Another way mentioned to pull the whole thing out and wash off with water.Will that cause transplant shock?There are fruit forming about quarter size and am wondering if they will drop if that is done.
Maybe someone knows of a better way.Brady
