Growing apricots in a nordic climate

General Fruit Growing
#1

Greetings! I am thinking of trying to grow apricots here in Norway, and have a few questions regarding this. Though not exact due to differences in humidity and growing season, my hardiness zone roughly equates to USDA zone 5. Some varieties of apricots that I’m considering trying to grow are Canadian White Blenheim and Chinese (Mormon), as I read that they’re hardy and late bloomers.

Should I grow them on a different rootstock, and if so, which? I have a plum tree in the garden that I could clone and use for that purpose. Or would it need to be a particular type of plum tree in order for the graft to be successful? I’m also wondering if maybe manchurian apricots would make for a good rootstock. I was considering growing the manchurian apricot as a full tree on its own too, but read very mixed reviews of the fruit, where some said they lacked taste and were dry, while others said they were sweet and delicious. On that note, are there any special varieties of manchurian apricot that have a better taste than others? Assuming that the reason for the mixed reviews is due to the plant usually being grown from seed and thus giving varying results.

I tried growing an apricot tree some years ago when I didn’t have much knowledge about gardening. It survived the winter, but died due to an unusually harsh late frost. Are there any particular methods of preventing this from happening that you think would be effective? Some that I’m considering are mulching generously around the trunk of the tree, and spraying it with water at night to protect it with a layer of ice to postpone the flowering until any danger of late frost has passed.

One additional idea that came to mind for some of my plants that just barely handle this climate, for example apricots, is to put compost under cover around the tree. The idea being that it could produce a bit of heat during the coldest months of the year. Would this cause more trouble than it’d do good?

Also, would it make any difference whether I graft the apricot onto the main trunk of the rootstock, or graft it onto several branches instead? In terms of survival rate and so on.

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#2

Bob Purvis has published lots of information on cold hardy apricots and grew them in the upper midwest. Here is an interesting link:

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#3

Cheers! Love having more members from all over the place. I think the main issue with cold hardy apricots is they are still early to bloom and easily tricked into early blooming. Are you near water or do you have decently consistent temperatures or do you have lots of swings?

I think compost with it’s heat would be a negative and likely wake the plant up early. Usually mulching around the tree helps slow the ground warming up early and keep the trees asleep.

I live in z5a but it’s very not consistent and I have tlor tsiran apricot and a Superior Japanese x American plum tree and they are my earliest bloomers. However very hardy from cold

I would think the lower grafts would do better for cold protection

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#4

Thank you! Lots of interesting variants in that link. One issue for me in regards to apricot variants is availability. I’d need to find someone that ships internationally, as they’re far from common in Norway.

I am near water, yes. The sea is just a five minute walk away and there’s a river right next to the house.

I believe the temperature is fairly consistent, with the gulf stream heating our coast. We rarely get shock changes, but when there is for example a late frost it can last for a while. In winter the coldest it has been in the past 10 odd years is around -23C (-10F) iirc. Though the effective cold is probably lower, due to the humidity that the nearby sea brings. The snow typically disappears around april. Here are heat charts over 2018 & 2020 for my area: https://i.imgur.com/1IT84as.png

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#5

I think the humidity could be more of a problem than the cold. I’m growing some apricots in a more continetal climate in Germany. I have been told apricots often die mysterioulsy over the winter (Schlagtreffen) and are prone to fungal diseases like monilia. My strategy is to use very vigorous rootstocks so i can cut off an regrow infected limbs quickly. I use mostly peach seedlings and also one myrobalan. In Austria they mostly use plum rootstocks like Wavit, but not all plums are equally compatible. Don’t use St. Julian A, it’s too weak in difficult climates.
Early and late blooming apricots are often not far apart but some have also more hardy blooms. A nursery in Austria recommends Kioto and Tardicot (a mutant of Bergeron) as the most hardy.
I have Hungarian Best, an old variety that is widely grown in Austria and a native variety supposedly from Hunza valley, among others.
My advice: get some vigorous rootstocks and don’t grow attached to the trees, they don’t grow old in marginal climates.

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#6

Awesome that you are attempting this.

Not directly about apricots, but here is a study that discusses some of the challenges involved in growing stone fruit in Norway (primarily focused on plums and sweet cherries):

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#7

At the moment some variants that look like good candidates are the Brookcot, Debbie’s Gold, Morden 604, Westcot, and Precious varieties from the link posted by SpokanePeach. The former is a manchurian apricot, and the rest are hardy to zone 3 too. I read that the Precious variety prefers a humid climate, so that might be especially interesting.

In any case, which rootstock would you recommend? I do have plum trees, but I don’t know which ones in particular are properly compatible.

I have managed to grow sweet cherries. There’s one in the garden that has been there for 3 or 4 years now and it’s starting to thrive quite well. I’m planning on introducing a second tree soon too. I’ll give that study a thorough read for sure though, perhaps there are some things that I can improve both for my cherries and possibly future apricots.

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#8

What is your soils like and how wet is it over the winter? Do you get standing water? I really do not have a answer to this but it will help others who do :smiley:

Do the gisela or krymsk rootstocks do well in your area and do you have access to the crimean research station plants? If so the tlor tsiran apricot is from that area and is a late blooming cold hardy apricot and its absolutely delicious. The fact that you can do sweet cherries means you can probably do apricots pretty well. What is your average frost free growing days and does it warm up during summer for stuff to ripen?

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#9

Here are some images of the soil: Imgur: The magic of the Internet
It seems sandy with a bit of gravel mixed in. I typically make a fairly large hole for the tree and fill it with richer soil. It’s often moist, though I never get standing water. The house is on a hillside, so with that and the sandy soil, water drains away quite efficiently. The snow sometimes comes and goes during December, usually settling in January and lasting until about April. The air is fairly humid, due to the garden being situated a five minute walk or so away from the sea. If the temperature hovers around the freezing point then parts of the winter can be wet, though it’s for the most part cold enough for that not to happen. The average temperature during winter is about -3C. The ground is covered in both moss & grass.

During the summer the average temperature of both day & night is around 15C with it typically reaching highs of 25C during the hottest couple of weeks. The average number of growing days is 180. The average temperature rises above 5C in the middle of April and drops below it in late October. I haven’t had any issues with getting fruit to ripen thus far.

Another factor might possibly be the long days during summer? The sky never turns dark, though the sun dips just below the surrounding hills for about an hour at night, before rising up again. So the temperature is very consistent during summer and the plants get a lot of light.

I haven’t heard about the crimean research station before. The tlor tsiran looks quite interesting for sure, though! I could try to get my hands on it, most likely through international shipping. Though I’m having trouble finding specific information regarding the variety, in regards to its hardiness zone and growing requirements.

I could find a couple mentions of the krymsk being used as a rootstock for plums here. It seems to result in the trees growing slower and producing fewer fruits, when compared to St. Julien A. As for Gisela, I could find mentions of it often being used as a base for sweet cherries in particular. It seems to be very popular for that task.

Some varieties that I discovered last night are Njøs l-23, Hargrand, and Orange Red. There’s a nursery further south in Norway selling the latter. They’re also apparently having success with trying to grow the Njøs l-23, as each tree produces around 15kg of fruit for them every year. Other variants they mentioned are Early Moorpark, Flavorcot, Gold Cott, Golden Glow, Goldrich, Harcot, Harogem, and Tomcot.

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#10

Well i live in thick clay soil and quite the opposite z5 climate but others with good knowledge on sandy oceanside will chime in you definitely are in more of a maritime climate like people in the PNW or nova scotia area.

Orangered is absolutely amazing but she usually needs some heat and wont take your cold. Zard, Hoyt Montrose (or just montrose) the harrow series harcot harogem should work good. Tlor tsiran is a z5 (or maybe z4?) hardy apricot for sure as i grow it in z5 denver colorado. Your apricots probably need a stone wall or something behind them to thrive and ripen properly with extra radiated heat or you could do a greenhouse like all of us here eventually are drawn too.

Gisela and krymsk have done well for me here, I would hope the nursery near you would be honest about what works and not like some of the scam online ones we have here in the states that sell you things they know they should not.

These guys in Seattle and on the Coast would have a better idea on what ripens well in those temperatures without any microclimate

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#11

The main difference between my climate here and more typical coastal areas is that I live deep in a fjord, so I’m not exposed to harsh weather, and the snow settles sooner/melts a bit later than it does out on the coast.

How big of a stone wall or similar do you think I’d need in order for it to have a real effect on the ripening of fruits? I’m also thinking of placing some black slate rocks around the trees on the ground to have them radiate some extra heat.

A greenhouse sadly isn’t an option at the moment, though I’m planning on building multiple in the future. A heated one attached to the house, one with a bit of geothermal heating, and one that’s unheated, all for different purposes.

I’ll have to make a list of possible candidates for apricot variants and start narrowing them down some. As previously mentioned, among others, the Brookcot and Debbie’s Gold look incredibly hardy down to z3, even more so than my current Sunburst sweet cherry, which is hardy to z5. Hoyt Montrose looks good too, and is apparently hardy to z4, similar to Canadian White Blenheim and Chinese. The Njøs I-23 is a Norwegian variety, so I’m going to inquire into that one as well with the nursery that’s growing them.

The trees you’ve mentioned that are hardy to z5 are also interesting. I have a love for unique fruits that I can’t get anywhere unless I grow them myself, a point which the tlor tsiran most certainly delivers at.

At this point I assume that the deciding factor is more which varieties are the most tolerant to humidity, as well as sandy soil, rather than temperature, and when they blossom. Seeing as plenty of apricots are hardy to well below my lowest average temperature. That and how well I insulate the trees during winter and spring. Perhaps I could store more snow on top of the mulch around the tree, so that it becomes the last place where the snow melts away?

As for the rootstock, going by what I’ve found about it on Norwegian websites, I believe that the Gisela which you suggested is going to be my first go to for a rootstock.

I’ll give the thread that you linked a read, thanks!

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#12

The survival of the tree is important point. But survival of the fruit is the same important. You need to consider blooming time and your possible late frosts. I am in zone 5B and apricots are growing fine here. But producing - is another story… It either last frost or brown rot that takes the flowers. You will have to do preventive fungicide spraying . If it is just one tree you want to plant and if you plan to keep it small, you can build a frame around it and use for frost cover (with heater inside) in the event of late frost and use it after bloom for protective netting. I have one. The problem is my frame was too big and I never was able to set the cover right. Now I built a smaller one on a smaller tree so I can really use it… I hope…

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#13

Erik,
I grafted my first apricots to my peach trees in 2017 so I am relatively new to apricots but not new to growing fruit. I am in zone 6a in MA.

Like @galinas said, it is as important to grow apricot trees or varieties that can fruit for you in zone 5. Orangered and Tomcot, though taste good, their fruit buds are not very cold hardy. The chance of their fruit buds get freeze or frost kill in your zone is quite high. It is best you pick the varieties that prove to be very cold hardy.

I disagree with planting apricots near or against a wall for extra heat. Apricots tend to wake up earlier than other fruit trees. That’s why their flower buds are often killed when temp dips in early spring.

You want to keep your apricot tree dormant as long as you can. Some people plant them on the north side of their houses so they are in a close area which delay their coming out of dormancy.

No need to worry about not being able to ripen apricots in time because it is one of the earliest fruit to ripen, even earlier than cherries in my yard.

I’ve only grafted apricots on peach trees. I now have two small apricot trees in Manchurian rootstock. It is too soon to tell how it will turn out.

I found this old article about cold hardy rootstocks for peaches and apricots in Ontario, Canada. It may give you more ideas.
Peach rootstocks

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#14

I’m going to try hardier variants for sure. Such as Bookcot, Debbie’s Gold, Hoyt Montrose, Harogem, Morden 604, Westcot, Precious, Harcot, Tlor Tsiran, or Njøs 1-13. As for a rootstock, Krymsk and Gisela seem to be the reoccuring ones, so I’m likely going for one of those two.

Here’s all that I could find about the Njøs 1-13: https://www.efferus.no/plantedatabase/plantebilder/Njøs%20I-13.pdf
I made a quick translation, though everything might not make perfect sense in direct translation from Norwegian to English:

Cross breed 1 - 13 (Henderson x Tilton). The tree has thus far proven to have medium/moderate growth with short fruit branches, and an open crown without any typical main trunk. The leaves are large, heart shaped and have a dark green colour.
The fruit is large, round and has a very deep line. The stilk is thick and short.
The fruit has some light fuzz, a little yellow and a lot of light red colour.
The pulp is firm, light yellow, somewhat fibrous, but nicely sweet. It’s freestone. The fruit ripens at the same time and stays well on the tree.
The cross breed seems to start producing fruit early, despite relatively great vegetative growth.
It otherwise carries great similarily to Henderson, one of the parent variants.

It also says that it flowers on the 13th of May, fruits on the 21st of September, needs 131 growing days, produces around 15kg of apricots and the average weight of each fruit is around 39grams. The Norwegian hardiness zone is H5, which roughly equates to USDA zone 4.

In regards to using some form of wall for extra heat radiation, how about using something that can be moved and placed there after any danger of late frost has passed? So that it doesn’t help promote early blossoming. Black coloured boards or black stone slabs, for example.

So in the start of the season I’d mulch the ground around the tree, possibly keep it covered with snow for as long as possible (I can easily make a big pile of snow that’d last for a long time if covered). Then if there is a late frost I could perhaps try to save the flower buds by wrapping the tree in a double layer of bubble wrap with a large bag on top? Naturally keeping the tree so small that I can easily do such a thing. As in this video: This Tip Will Protect Your Plants Below 28 Degrees! - YouTube

I also read that someone used christmas lights to heat their tree during late frosts. Perhaps I could use christmas lights and then wrap up the tree for double effect?

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#15

Do you guys get lots of late snap frosts? My understanding of the Coastal maritime climate especially you in your fjord is you are going to have pretty reliable weather? Reliable in cool cold and ocean spray but once frost is over it’s gone for a while?

Blooming early is a large consideration for me and another reason why I think you need the plants that wake up later but I think ripening fruit will be your largest struggle and you want to plant near stone walls like they do in Britain Ireland bc Alaska etc…

North walls are great for apricots especially where I live but you see many being grown fan style against walls just to ripen fruit in most maritime areas. Definitely diseases (mildew bacteria and fungus) are an issue but real close to the ocean that salt spray and ozone seems to have a positive effect against disease. Hopefully the nursery near you is decently knowledgeable in fruit?

Like galinas said a cage to protect from frosts and birds is pretty nice. I have to net my cherries but not my apricot from birds here.

You have a great growing season it seems to me but will need to get creative to get lots of different kinds of fruit (like most all of us)

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#16

We have fairly stable weather, yes. There wasn’t any late frost this year, but some years there is. It’s usually just one extended period though, like a few days or a week, and then the danger of any more late frost is gone. There’s no ocean spray, as I’m a five minute walk away from the sea and the waves don’t get any larger than maybe half a metre tall at worst. The gulf stream also helps keep the weather quite stable.

It depends a bit on which nursery I go to. The Njøs nursery seems very knowledgable, so I’m trying to get into contact with them. The more local ones who sell fruit trees are the large company kind, so the type of help that you get is a bit of a mixed bag.

Perhaps I’ll look into making a cage, to make covering up the tree an easier process.

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#17

I don’t think it will be winter cold that stops your apricots but lack of spring/summer warmth. I would try them and see what happens. I’ve tried about everything in my climate, some wins and many fails. I could look back, but i’m pretty sure i’ve had apricots bloom after -20F (or -29C)> They (the trees) just don’t last long here. I’ve been just budding some cots to my various Krymsk 1 that i have as rootstock.

It looks like the summers in Trondheim are all over the place with temps, from highs in the 50Fs to much warmer temps…
https://www.wunderground.com/history/monthly/no/stjørdal/ENVA/date/2020-7

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#18

Gisela is a cherry rootstock, it will not work for apricots. Krymsk-5 and Krymsk-6 are also cherry rootstocks. Krymsk-1 works for apricots but it is dwarfing and, in my experience, induces smaller fruit size. Myro 29C (a myrobalan selection) should work for you. Apricot seedlings should also work well in sandy, well-draining soil.

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#19

Thanks, I’ll be sure to look into the Myro 29C.

On the note of ripening the fruits, roughly when do your apricots ripen in comparison to other fruits such as sweet cherries and plums? Just so that I have something to compare to. Early to middle August is when pretty much everything ripens here, so unless there’s a greater than ~2 months difference I think it’d probably be fine? The 24/7 sunlight during summer here does wonders to help ripen fruits.

#20

The conditions are too different for useful comparison. Different apricot varieties ripen here from early-mid May to early-mid July. Also, the bloom period for different varieties is from mid February to late March. In your conditions, you will see very condensed bloom and ripening windows.

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