I purchased a Nikita’s pride and Oracle almond tree last year from Raintree; However the Nikita’s pride arrived dead. Nikita’s pride is talked up on their website and is the almond I wanted, Oracle was purchased as a pollenizer.
Once again this year I ordered another Nikita’s pride and just like last time it showed up dead…In the mean time the Oracle tree made it through the winter and even set some fruit. I don’t know if it is self fertile or if it was pollenized by peaches, it bloomed a few weeks after my nectarine and peach got wiped out from late frost. I was really impressed that it bloomed as late as it did and that the almonds survived when my peaches didn’t. The blossoms were white and had an incredibly intense honey smell. It is good to know that almonds can set fruit here, but I would keep it for the blossoms alone.
I am considering cutting my losses with Nikita’s pride if oracle is a good almond. It is described as a semi hard shell and I am worried it is another Hal’s hardy? Does anybody have experience with Oracle? I don’t consider Hal’s an almond, it is no better than an apricot pit. If Oracle is similar to Hal’s I will order another Nikita’s, but if it is good I will plant a peach instead. Also are there any true almond alternatives to Nikita’s like an “All In One” and will their blooming times will sync up?
Looking forward to hear what you people have to say. Thanks Greg
P.S. I am done with Raintree this sums up my order for this year.
-2 years in a row I bought a Nikitas pride and they show up dead.
-Indian free had a steep crotch and canker so I cut most of the tree off. A lot of the roots came broken and it is now dead. This tree was large but should have never been shipped.
-Prairie star persimmon is just sitting in the ground and likely wont come out of dormancy. I know give it time but I have seen this before and usually it is an indication it is done for.
-Sweat scarlet goumi is the only plant growing but it is really small.
I could call and have them warranty my plants but I want to get some trees in the ground instead of waiting another year. You don’t get that time back
Hi Gregkdc! I was just outside enjoying the blossoms on my Oracle and trying to figure out what to do next. It’s two years old, and it’s never fruited, but I don’t think I have an appropriate pollinator for it. (It was an impulse buy at the time.). I’m looking at peaches, since I have such a small yard. I was wondering whatever happened with yours? Did it ever fruit? What did you get for your pollinator?
Hi Liz! Did you end up getting a peach for your almond? I’m trying to do some research to see if any almond cultivars bloom at the same time as my Contender peach. It’s hard to find into on the timing of blooming, probably because the timing depends on what area the tree is in and also the weather each year.
I did not. Or rather, I did, but a critter ate it before it had time to do anything. Where are you located? I’m in Arlington, VA, Let’s stay in touch and and post blooming updates on our respective trees. Maybe they will be a match for each other!
Did you get anymore almond trees? Sounds like you really went through it with Raintree sorry to see that. I have an All in One I’ve been thinking about grafting another pollinator onto even though it’s self fertile.
So I meant to post other updates. The petals are almost gone, but there are a few left. I’m in 22203, which is the edge of 7B. It’s been warmer and with barely-there freezes this winter. It’s just all wonky.
Anyway, this is what my almond looks like today (April 4):
Hello I am updating this thread. The Nikitas pride almond that I thought was dead ended up having a single bud on the graft that lived. From that bud I was able to grow out a tree and this year it finally blossomed and set almonds. The Oracle almond has way more nuts this year than when it was pollinated by a peach, also the nuts are filled out when before they were only partially filled. The shells from both trees are soft enough I can break them open with my hand with a little effort. Both trees blossomed about a week after my elberta peach. One thing I really like about the almond trees is that they bloom late enough that they are already starting to leave out. The contrast between the color of the blossoms and the green leaves is striking you can see that in the previous post by Lizvance. Here are some currant pictures. First Nikitas Pride Then Oracle
Are you on the east coast? I’m interested if you have seen any brown rot on them. I’ve got Prima and All In One that bloom right around peaches, but they have not fruited yet. Hoping to graft more of the other late flowering varieties in the next season.
I live in Utah zone 7a. The trees don’t have too many problems, they don’t seem to be bothered by aphids like the plums and peaches. They do get a little discoloration on the husk but it doesn’t seem to hurt the nuts. So far they seem to get more damage from twig borers than anything else. Time will tell if they can survive peach gummosis/cytospora. I had to remove my peach and nectarine a few weeks ago, the cytospora was just to far gone. The last couple of years the western mountain states have had an outbreak of cytospora wreaking havoc on peach orchards. So far I haven’t seen any on the trees.
This is first year my 3-yr Prima fruited…with only one almond. That’s proof we are an obsessed bunch!
It was pollinated by late blooming Curl-free peach.
Comparing leaves of peach and almond (almond on left, peach on right),
the peach leaves look more ragged and dimpled while the almond leaves are flatter and shinier.
The almond tree makes for a good looker!
I spray both for PLC but no issue yet with gummosis or brown rot.
This is one of those questions that I probably should have researched BEFORE I planted my Oracle Almond, but… how do they taste, compared to a regular grocery-store almond?
I planted another peach for a pollinator this summer, and fingers crossed it survives this wretched heat and drought.
I was waiting for the Nikita’s Pride almonds to get a little more ripe but the blue jays found out about them, so I decided it was time to harvest. They taste really good better then store bought and are about the same size! The Oracle almond is still not quite ready to pick. The nuts are just a little bigger than the Nikita’s with similar flavor. Proof that almonds can be grown in a climate with late spring frosts and a relatively short growing season.
Here are some pics
Nikita’s pride
