I do not grow Mont or Balaton so I cannot comment.
I was excited to see a catbird in our rose bush yesterday, maybe I need to rethink that!
I am sorry, forgot
Catbirds may be one of the most destructive birds for orchards.
I just finished thinning my fruit trees. A lot of bird pecks on very green fruit, apples, pears, peaches, nectarines and plums. I guess they pecked to test the fruit and moved on since the fruit were not palatable yet.
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It seems like the animals are “moving in” to your orchard now… I found that over the years more and more animals showed up. Last year I had crows for the first time doing lots of damage, they were checking things out a bit for a few years and moved in big time last year.
My cherries did better than usual, I got a lot of scare tape up early enough. It needs to be up before the cherries change color, to keep the birds from even checking things out. Also I use a ton of it, maybe 50 pieces of 5’ or so length.
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The romance cherries taste very different from montmorency. Montmorency is a lighter colored cherry that is a very heavy producer. The juice of these Canadian cherries are much darker and thick like coffee. The flavor is intensely different side by side. The juice of carmine jewell makes me feel energized from a small amount but montmorency takes more. Think of carmine jewell as cherry juice concentrate. It’s an intense flavor because it’s extremely concentrated and thick. Comparing these cherries is like comparing gold and white gold the preferred one is a preference only. They are the best sour cherries have to offer and there are drawbacks to both as well. Here is how I juice mine Carmine Jewell is living up to its famous reputation . I’ve raised montmorency seedlings and grafted them as well Seedling Montmorency cherries
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Yup, Scott.
They are telling their friends to come over to my yard for a party. I will set up a structure for netting sooner next year.
I thought 5-6 scare tape was enough for one bush cherry. Look like I need a lot more if I go that route.
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Tippy, your cherry tree is now going to store more energy for next season, so be better prepared for a heavier crop. Costumice your tree now, netting?
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Thanks. I need to plan for next year.
Another labour-intensive chore, bagging, is mostly done.
This is to reduce pesticide spraying, not to eliminate it as pest pressure here is to great to go non-spray.
I use different bags for different fruit.
Apples - sandwich ziplock bags work well. Should work well with pears, too. Some people use them successfully with peaches. @BobVance ’s dad is one of them.
Euro pears - I use better quality nylon bags so it is not easy for squirrels to bite into them or took them (tied them to branches.
Plums - Perforated bread bags for plums. They set lot of fruit on each branch. This is easier way to bag them.
Peaches and nectarines - paper bags aka Clemson peach bags. Very effective.
Organza bags are not effective against pests like plum curculio and Oriental Fruit Moths. They can lay eggs through organza bags.
I use it this year for a decorative purpose on pawpaws, only one with single fruit. Also, if the fruit drop, they will not hit the ground.
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@mrsg47 ,
How’s your apricots?
I had only one Orangered apricot this year after the other two got stolen (squirrels were main chief suspects). Almost all flower buds were killed during late freeze. It did not fully ripen but needed to be picked.
There was some bug damage on the other side but the damage was minimal. Brix was 17 which was good. Flesh was firm at this stage. Skin was a bit tart.
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Mine are not quite ripe yet, but will be next week . I think I will make jam. They are not as big, because I grow them in pots, but they will taste great. They are getting redder! They are still very orange . Wish you would come and taste them!
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What variety, please?
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Rouge de Rousillion.
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Found this on of my Crimson Sweet watermelon vines. Look like nutrient deficiency on one side of the leave. Wonder if the yellow side has some internal malfunctioning mechanism.
@thecityman have you seen this in your watermelon vines?
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@mrsg47 ,
This spring to summer, we have had a drought, although not as bad as where you are. See more sunburn damages in my bagged fruit esp. ziplock bags on apples.
Tomorrow we are supoosed to get quite a bit of rain. That could cause plums and pears to crack after a long water deficit.
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Horrible. I had that on only one apple, but on my terrace the trees are sitting in 104 degrees F. I removed the apple. My tomatoes looked the same. A huge burn spot, not blossom rot.
**One thing learned this summer . . . **
Grow fruit with staggered ripening times.
All of our Mericrest nectarines ripened within one week. Harko lasting a bit longer. And both are within a week or 2 of one another. Redhaven is right there with them . . . this year a week or 2 later. Too much fruit - in too short a time. I need some late peaches or nectarines.
I do have an Indian Free tree . . . which ripens very late. Any other suggestions for me . . . anyone?
I don’t want any more trees to care for - but will shoot for grafting later varieties onto the Indian Free.
Yup, staggering ripening time is good but for me, it is harder as I do not have big yard. Grafting is a way to go but I don’t get a lot of fruit from each variety.
I posted this on another thread. You can see which varieties you want to spread out the ripening time.
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