Apricots!

They ARE bunched up like grapes! The tree looks young. How old is it? I grafted Tomcot and Orange Red this year. Hoping for apricots soon, maybe already next year!

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It was a small tree bought from Stark Bros in 2013 as I recall. The trees out there have lacked optimum water since planted, so its not the size it could be. The cots are really good though, and get quite large, especially considering how many there are relative to the tree size.

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If that wall faces south you could grow a low tree against the south side and perhaps get fruit more consistently. I’m not sure, because my house is so poorly insulated that its walls may be warming the cots growing next to it. My trees certainly benefit from these walls as far as consistent bearing goes.

The fruit looks beautiful and is further along than even my Early Blush.

What state are you in?

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Heaven!!!

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@alan we are in central Arizona zone 7b-8a

That wall does face south, but it is just a low wall not even 4 feet high that is the outer edge of the pond that needs filled.
We have 9 apricot trees so we will get enough on the good years to last a while.

@mrsg47 I have never tasted better fruit then what we can grow. Heavenly is about right. This place was so green and beautiful the first time I saw it. My sisters couldn’t understand why my hubby ever left home. Hopefully in another year or two we will have it all green again. More irrigation needs to be put in, and the plan is to use solar since we have abundant sunshine.

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That climate you should be safe from rot

I have to thin my cots so they don’t touch

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I spent the early years of my cognoscente boyhood in Scottsdale (Dad taught psychology at ASU)- I assume you are at a higher elevation. No wonder your cots look so beautiful- not a lot of humidity to contend with and lots of strong sun.

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We are at 4400 feet.
We only go to the valley of the sun when it cannot be avoided.

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Yes, I love the high country of the southwest. Oak Creek Canyon and Payson were two of our favorite places to vacation. I instinctively preferred the tree country to saguaro land.

You should try an apricot espalier against the wall so maybe you can have fresh cots on frost years.

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I picked my first apricot of the year today and it was very delicious! Little better than these for size and taste! No insect damage to speak of yet!


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Really enjoyed the crop! We have 1 tree left to go.

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Same location, same problem. Even on the east coast varieties, several years old. Lots of bloom. What gives?

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Apricots are really difficult to grow up here in PNW with our wet, cool springs. Therefore I grow plums, which are easy.
John S
PDX OR

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Scott what type of spray do you use for brown spot fungus? Is there an organic method for control? I think that I saw a video or an article about using lactose-bacillus for control of fungus disease of fruit trees does any one know about that? Thanks in advance for any reply.

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Do you mean brown rot? There is no good organic control for it unfortunately. Sulphur is the best control I found, you need many sprays and you will still get lots of rot. I had to remove most varieties and only grow the most resistant ones (and also remove any infections as soon as you see it - check daily). After about ten years of that I switched to using a synthetic.

Bacterials such as Serenade help a bit but not enough to make a big dent. There are many such bacterial compounds; all the ones I have seen are not very effective. I am also skeptical of any claims of new ones based on the track record of half a dozen of them so far not doing much.

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I have one branch of Orange Red apricot and one branch of Tomcot. Both were covered in blooms couple of weeks ago. Now I see about 5 tiny fruit forming on Tomcot and non on Orange Red. All the blooms fell off. I saw no bees around so i actually hand pollinated Orange red. Is this because the grafts are from
Last year or pollination issue or are these varieties normally shy bearers?

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Usually OrangeRed bears well and fairly early, but a year after grafting is pushing it … next year I bet you will get some. I doubt pollination is an issue, hard to be 100% on that though.

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What kind of bags?

Do they work on stinkbugs?

They’re cheap bags,about 4x6 inch,Apricot and Plum size and at least 5x7 inch for Peach/Nectarine on probably Ebay.
Stinkbugs were a primary reason for getting them and yes,they do stop them.bb

In my yard, Robada, Tomcot and Orangered all started showing their first blooms today, 3/28/10.

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