You are right. Got those nutrient confused. Thanks for the correction. I am going to send in for a soil test. I think I can get it done with U Mass extension.
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Be very careful with Manganese. Some of my soil has nearly toxic levels due to a previous owner of the property. The soil test level is 15 times the sufficient level. I think it’s causing some of my fig plants to drop their fruit.
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That’s how long I think it will take me to get a good apricot crop. So I think I best be starting this coming weekend.
Mike
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Soil test is always good. Just be sure the one you order measures Mn and B, so you know if and how much of those you need.
Also, if your lab offers leaf analysis that can tell you quite a bit about the actual condition of the leaf (as opposed to what is or isn’t in the soil). Only problems are that it can be a bit pricey (especially for just one tree) and they may require quite a few leaves which could be an issue on a small tree. But worth checking into as well.
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I couldn’t consistently crop cots at my place until a planted an Alfred on the southeast corner of my house. Had a light crop this year, but it was all I needed. Most of the better sited orchards I manage had cot crops entirely wiped out in Feb. I recently planted a Tomcot on the south side of my house and the young tree bore 3 perfect apricots double the size of the Alfreds without a single spray. Unfortunately they had no flavor while the Alfreds were as delicious a ever in spite of excessive rain.
The difference may have been the result of the Tomcot being planted in looser and much better soil than the Alfred, increasing access to all the water. At other sites, other years, Tomcot has been a high quality apricot.
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Strange cause apricots are my most consistently productive fruits on most of my stone fruit combo trees.
Quick question for apricot experts: both these trees were listed as having Puget Gold Apricots but obviously 2 dif varieties so please help ID.
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Thanks for the warning @fruitnut and @steve333,
I think both manganese and boron need special caution re. the amount to apply.
Anthony,
It is not strange at all that you do not have the issue with apricots the way we have on the east coast.
Vancouver climate is said to be similar to that of the Mediterranean. No big surprise that you can grow those many fruit more successfully than many of us.
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Well, that’s not true – regardless of what Wikipedia says. But the northern Atlantic coast of France, yes.
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Richard,
Got your point. Did you get my point?
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If you mean that it is fundamentally difficult to grow apricots in some portions of the east coast, yes. You’re referring to states north of Virginia?
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I think the point is that we get very hard frosts where Michael and I are well past apricots likely bloom time as well as humidity that seems to affect apricot ability to harden off for winter (not sure how this works, only know how often they are killed). Peaches are grown throughout the Hudson Valley commercially but apricots are only grown commercially at especially favorable sites, mostly by extremely large lakes. At the best sites I would guess you get fruit 2 out of 3 years, at an average one maybe half the time. At my site… well, boo hoo. Thank goodness for the walls of my house.
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Along the east coast from MD to ME.
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Not to distract everyone from apricots (which, oddly enough, I don’t know that I’ve ever eaten a fresh apricot, though canned apricots with ice cream were part of my family’s traditional Easter breakfast)…
But Alan was right, it was leafhoppers. Potato leafhoppers, mostly, I think. I picked up some insecticidal soap to spray them, but it was raining here today, so I went around squishing the ones I could catch, along with a few aphids here and there. Now that I know what I’m dealing with, I think I’ll be better able to deal with them next year. Thank you Alan!
And thank you to everyone for the advice on the nutrient side of things as well - I’m planning to follow through with the soil testing and improvement regardless, though it does look like the acute issue was the leafhoppers. Mamuang, if you’ve been seeing similar damage on your trees, you might want to check and see if that’s what you’re dealing with, too.
Here’s a link with some pictures:
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Sorry your thread went off on a tangent.
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No worries, threads do that - and those are some gorgeous trees you’ve got there!
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Jim,
I do see some damage by leave hoppers but I also think nutrient deficiency plays a role in it. My soil is poor, landfill kind if soil!!!
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I hope the soap works, but they are tough SOB’s. Probably pyganic would do the trick, if you refrain from using synthetics. You only need to spray the growing tips so not much chemical intrusion is required, regardless.
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Thanks for the tip about focusing on the tips. From what I’ve been seeing, they’re active on maybe about half of my trees at this point, and only on the freshest growth, as you said they would be.
Am I right in understanding that the soap will only kill them on contact, which is a problem because the adults are pretty mobile (though less so in cooler weather, from what I’ve noticed) and the nymphs (?) like to snuggle up on the underside of leaves. Since my trees are not that big, not that many, and not very far apart, I figured I would just walk around, flip the tip leaves over, and spray the little vampires underneath. At this point, I’m just hoping to limit the damage somewhat until their season is over, which should be relatively soon around here, and then come up with a plan to tackle them next year. (Thanks for the tip about pyganic, I’ll keep that in mind.)
And again, I really appreciate the help with the ID.
OK, I think we need some more talk about apricots around here!
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