Do you have any recs for apricot variety that ripens after Blenheim?
I’ve never found one. I am testing summer delight next. I’m sure there are good ones I just haven’t come across yet.
The Wednesday santa monica farmers market is the best way to learn and sample. Go there in mid July and see what is there if you get a chance.
Moorpark apricot this year had abysmally poor chill confusion. I think there were about 40 flowers on the tree in total.
However, every single flower seems to be carrying to fruit set. Thus I am seeming to get the same few dozen fruit every year. The tree is not that strong and I might graft a new one on an apricot seedling for more vigor to see if that helps.
1 Like
Kaweah peach is setting fruit on 100% of the former flowers. Normally I would leave them longer for a good picture. But it was literally 100%. So my son and I started thinning them.
Kaweah does seem to match the Dave Wilson tag, that it may be lower chill than previously believed.
2 Likes
Cal Red peach is setting again on a very small tree. It seems to be lower chill. I have peach and nectarine failures (many) so although it was a good chill year, Cal Red is acting like my low to moderate chill cultivars.
1 Like
Double Delight nectarine at a friend’s house, much more coastal than me and lower chill. I guess it shows inadequate chill? I never had that problem inland. Or is it sick? Seemed healthy otherwise though.
1 Like
When you push chill limits, you often find bare shoots with delayed leaf out. Over the years I tested two approaches, pruning them off and letting them grow. Letting them grow seemed to produce healthier and more productive trees. Here is Hemskirke, showing it is finally leafing out.
1 Like
Chill test successes (San Diego inland) so far this year on peaches and nectarines:
Peacot (no surprise but nice to confirm productivity since flavor is exceptional)
Cal Red
Fairtime
Octoberfest (every year it sets heavily)
Rio Oso Gem (a stick of a tree, so this surprised me)
Kaweah (seems that 100% of blossoms set, lots of thinning was needed)
OIdmixon (several years in a row with abundant set on a tip graft)
Failures (this year anyway):
August pride (too much growth is likely reason, has fruited well in the past)
Double Delight (not from chill, just an unhealthy tree)
Arctic Glo (has some fruit but not enough, smaller tree may need to grow)
Goldmine (from Home Depot Pacific Groves, which could be mislabeled)
Raspberry Red (by far the most chill confused cultivar I grow)
There are some more failures. And also more successes but I am waiting longer to confirm in the later bloomers.
2 Likes
I think it’s a chill problem, I have a much worse case that I should show you, the tree is just struggling and not doing much every year and it looks very much like that photo but worse.
Is this the first one on your list? It looks interesting.
You’re making me wanna try several varieties that I have never considered before, Octoberfest is expected to require 750 per DWN 
Peacot itself is just a peach that definitely has a sweet apricot like aspect to it. I had it at Andy’s orchard and had to grow it. Arboreumco is the only source I am aware of.
Thanks for the tip on arctic glo. It blooms like snow queen so I was hoping it would produce more in time.
Like you I would like to grow white nectarines all season. Do you think zephyr might be lower chill?
2 Likes
James,
I’d be happy to send you Zephyr scions to try next winter. I am personally interested in knowing its low chill performance. I have a bunch of other nectarines too if you are interested.
1 Like
This is an example of the success as well as limitations of pushing chill hour limits. This is Broken Heart plum, a sport of Elephant Heart plum. I get fruit every year… but not very many. Here we see chill confusion. It flowered a month ago and set fruit. Now it is flowering again. It never produces much but if this was your favorite fruit, it is enough to be worth it. The only good thing is maybe scattered bloom would offer late cross-pollination…maybe. The fact is elephant heart is not that much better than all the other plums and pluots out there. So I am, through pruning, dwindling this graft away and letting others grow.
1 Like
A test graft of Puget Gold apricot bloomed the first 2 weeks of April, exactly one month after Blenheim apricot. It seems to be setting fruit.
1 Like
Flordaprince is ripening now and tastes great again. Last year they were terrible but the year before they were great (thinned a lot). No other peach or nectarine is this early for me. Certainly not Desert Dawn and not Desert Delight either. This is a reminder that the maturity harvest charts do not necessarily work in different climates. Does anyone else have ripe peaches and nectarines?
3 Likes
Liz Late nectarine graft in partial shade in a cold area of the yard gave a full crop. A separate graft in full sun is finishing bloom right now and has a poor set. I believe that moderate to higher chill cultivars can be more successfully fruited with a good microclimate. I have seen this mainly on peaches and nectarines, but have seen it replicated numerous times. I suspect what peaches prefer is not so much depth of chill but avoidance of early warmth.
3 Likes
Do you have Earlitreat peach? They are marked as late April-early May in central valley but shouldnt be too different here in those months. I wonder when it’ll ripen in So. Cal
1 Like
For very early ripening fruit it’s critical to thin heavily and as soon as possible, to achieve good fruit quality and size.
1 Like
I haven’t done a whole lot of early peach exploring actually. Thanks for the thought!
I had no idea how powerful this is, but I see it now!
1 Like
