Yes I read Shiro is better but I was not planning on getting a plum this year and it was a last minute decision when I realized my E plum had suffered an untimely death.
On another note is it possible to reply to several people in one post?
Sure. Just put @ in front of their handle names i.e. @hikeike . It will alert that person that you refer to him/her.
Do my fellow front range fruit growers have a pesticide application regiment you are willing to share? I haven’t been using anything yet and so far doing well, but perhaps I have just been lucky so far.
I wonder if the hot dry summer weather really limits some of the pest issues experienced in other parts of the country.
I used to live in Tennessee and Pesticides/herbicides were pretty much mandatory if you wanted to get any fruit.
Ok cool Thank you @mamuang.
@DDGColorado_z5ab So I’ve never sprayed much here but I got powdery mildew pretty bad last year so I hit my stuff with some Bordeaux mix a couple of times in the winter spring. I have plenty of lime and copper sulfate if you need some.
I also am trying Michael Phillip’s mix which is blackstrap molasses, cold pressed neem, liquid fish, and liquid kelp, with some beneficial microbes in 4 gallons. I can’t remember exact measurements now but if you want to use it I’ll get it to u. My benefial microbes I use are Bacillus amyloliquefaciens strain D747 at 1.5tsp a gallon. This is supposed to be applied every couple of weeks to the trees and ground underneath .
Based on my personal experience with researching rootstocks across the internet (I am no expert), I came to the conclusion that it is very difficult to find reliable information on Information on many rootstocks, as information to how they perform may be very localized. Especially those that don’t have a reputation to perform well in your given area. Colorado is a tough climate for plants, in general, to survive.
The notes I had previously gathered from various sources mentioned that this rootstock is more commonly used in costal areas. A few sources, including from researchers, mentioned it being winter hardy but not drought tolerant, as it induces early dormancy in dry soil. With the internet, who knows how much of this originated from a single source versus verified.
Yes researching rootstock is hard and localized. For example I have 2 trees on Nemaguard are not supposed to be very cold hard but -17 this year and the rootstock shoots I can’t get rid of are still coming on strong plus we have had some wicked temp swings in the last 6 seasons. Maybe cold hard means -30 or -40 IDK.
That is also what I have found. The intolerance to drought would be a serious issue here except it will be drip irrigated for me. It also seems that peaches and nectarines are not particularly suited to it. I have found somewhat conflicting information concerning this though, https://ucanr.edu/sites/fruitreport/files/80467.pdf and https://journals.ashs.org/hortsci/downloadpdf/journals/hortsci/29/3/article-p167.xml. The first one at Kearney Research center and the second one at Harrow. These are old but still informative I think.
It does seem though that in a mild climate (Kearney) and thats not CO for sure, it is great for plum. UCANDR says “By 1994, it was concluded that no rootstock was better than Citation for plums in terms of compatability, precocity, production, fruit size, suckering and tree size. No further evaluations were done for plum. https://ucanr.edu/sites/fruitreport/Rootstocks/California_Rootstock_Breeding_Program/”
https://ucanr.edu/sites/fruitreport/Rootstocks/Search_Name/?uid=23&ds=538 Again older info yet still relevant I think.
Citation may also retard bloom time. Though again its coming from observations in Cali. https://www.sacvalleyorchards.com/blog/prunes-blog/preliminary-observations-for-new-prune-rootstocks
Thanks Rossn for your response!
Well you moved to a nice area where we have not eradicated all of our beneficial insects yet with chemical pesticides and herbicides. When in Rome…
We do however have one very bad invasive the Japanese beetles. These kill our grape vines fruit trees and all sorts of landscaping trees. The birds have not learned to eat them yet and you can see huge grub eaten spots in peoples lawns. Milky spore needs to be applied around July to combat these. You can also use beneficial nematodes (hub or sc) or bacillus thuringesis galleria (btg). The nice thing about btg and nematodes is they hit the emerald ash borer also although that one probably won’t get much control.
We really need to get one person every 1/4 mile applying the Milky spore so we can get a handle on these bugs before they totally change our trees and landscape. The Littleton parks department as well the boulder one already do this and if you can call your parks department and ask them to do this it will help all of us. If you see any crazy yard people mention that the Milky spore will protect there lawn for 20 years and the grubs want there lawn!
Surround is the other thing you need for unblemished fruit. This will work tremendously better than pyrethrins or other sprays which will knock out your good predator bugs. You can do cm lures and traps if you want and nematodes if enough of us do them provide decent control.
Fireblight is a huge issue with the crazy amount of landscaping trees we have spreading it your best bet is resistant trees or beneficial bacteria.
You know citation is just not for us here on the front range. It may live a few years, I bought a opal plum on citation a few years ago as that was the only way I could get it and worked in backing it up somewhere else. Personally I would back up anything you want to keep on citation here
3 Likes
Hello everyone! I live in Denver and have just begun my fruit growing journey. Can you tell me why Citation is a bad choice? What rootstocks work well here? Thanks!
Its an issue of drought tolerance and cold snap tolerance. We get a real winter every once in a while and it just dies. Even in a regular winter she can have some die back though. It can work but its dicey and needs a pretty protected location and that is the opposite of the quality we are looking for in rootstocks.
Mariana 2624, Krymsk, Lovell, Bailey all work much better. None of the reliable nurseries are selling you trees on citation for planting on the front range anywhere except the real z6 parts of the springs and even then these other ones do better.
Thank you so much for the response! Makes perfect sense.
1 Like
Welcome, Maizu!
How do you front rangers manage codling moth?
I was reading Scott’s low-impact spray approach, but the spinosid does sound a bit strong, even if organic (or maybe I am misinterpreting). Early last week I ordered a bag of surround and will be spraying that, but it sounded like it may not be the solution for codling moth on pears and apples.
Lots of fruitlets this year!
Greens and parsley are looking good! I can never get parsely to grow well.
I’m not the best person to chime in, as most of my trees are early and not putting out big crops, but I just don’t see a lot of insect pressure, on fruits trees, outside of Japanese Beatles. Have you had a lot of codling moth damage?
I believe that is what I have seen, but could be mistaken. Orange puffy wound around the bottom of the fruit?
I don’t think I’ve seen more than a few of those japanese beetles.
Surround is enough you can do spinosad also if you want but it’s not always needed. I have no issues with some protein in my apples but it affects storage.
I had a lot of issues at first then I went and put nematodes around some of my neighborhood crab apples and last year with everyone else’s trees getting froze out was the first time in five years they have been a issue.
They maybe have not spread to you yet I didn’t see them until three years or four years ago! Great time to apply milky spore so they cannot get a foothold! They really mess up green beans roses and all sorts of stuff
The mantra we all need to get on is getting our neighbors and parks department to apply Milky spore and beneficial nematodes. The grape vines will thank us
So it’s not an issue trimming out coddling moth section and ‘eating around it’?
I wasn’t aware that the beetle was so prolific. I have seen a couple over the years, but didn’t think much of them, not knowing the back story. Maybe it is because of the fact my lawn doesn’t get much water?
"Watering can have several effects. Japanese beetle eggs and the tiny early stage larvae are very susceptible to drying. If the top couple of inches of soil in a lawn can be allowed to dry a bit during the time eggs are being laid and hatching – July and early August – then many may be killed. "
How effective has it been for you?
In the Colo State Extension page on it, I see this “In areas of the eastern United States, where milky spore has long been widespread, it annually infects a small number of grubs, resulting in some reduction of the Japanese beetle populations (less than 5%).”
If I am reading correctly, it seems you need a population of grubs for the bacteria to be propagated to sustain. Maybe they don’t like my sandy soil, as I have dug and tilled a LOT on my property, and can only ever recall seeing a few grubs. It seems if they were practically here I would be seeing them every time I till the garden or dig a hole. I think I have the same number of grubs as rocks in my soil 
They fly from miles it took 4 years for them to get from southern boulder to my house so its not something you can gain control on by just treating your property unless you got some serious serious space. It seems around 7 years after JBs show up they get some form of control reducing their numbers by say 80-90%?. Many people believe this is milky spore, although others think its beneficial nematodes and birds predating them also. Last year i convinced my paper wasps to start eating them by squeezing a bit of there guts out but not enough to kill them because wasps are jerks and like to eat food alive!
As you can imagine probably most all of us here other than the people with golf course lawn yards dry out pretty significantly. They dig deep in the soil and the clay protects them it seems. You are reading correctly that you need infected grubs to spread this fungal spore. Same way nematodes move around is by infecting a grub and then depositing tons of eggs later. The nematodes are not parasitic to us and some of the beneficial nematodes are parasitic to other parasites.
There are a few threads on them check em out
For cm you can do lures or beneficial nematodes and they get great control. CM also flies from far away and so poisoning them does little for next year or this year control, they do not get around the surround much at all. If you want unblemished fruit that will cover your bases
What is the best early Raspberry to avoid SWD in the Denver area? Blackberries will be grown nearby. I have had success with heritage, but want to try something new.
1 Like
Ya know i mainly do the primocane harvest so i can maximize all that amino acid absorption. My aunt focuses on floricanes so i can ask but usually i just leave around 1/3 or so of my primocanes up so i can get a smaller floricane crop also. Blackberries i have only gotten a few handfuls of total
I am happy with joan j, anne and heritage and trying out a few new yellows this year based upon some recommendations.
@RichardRoundTree
I have several Joan J, I purchased from Berries Unlimited…about to give up on them. They wilt when placed outdoors for a couple of hours —> 70 degrees, shaded by 25% shade cloth and moist soil. I’m tired of babysitting them.
Did you do anything special to acclimate your Joan J?