We are about to relocate nectarines out of our main orchard into a more sheltered area on our property, along with the other stonefruits that are struggling to survive Texas summer full sun. We have kept Sunglo, Red Gold & Smooth Delight 2 alive for a couple of years in full sun, but just barely, and all have suffered dieback.
Our main supplier (Bob Wells at Sorelle Farm) no longer carries Sunglo, and that has struggled the most out of the 3 varieties anyway, so no big loss there. They’re also not able to source Smooth Delight 2 this year. I’m planning to replace the Sunglo with Independence. Ed at Bob Wells suggested the other Texas A&M varieties they’re stocking this Fall, Smooth Zest 1 or 2, or Smooth Texan 1.
If we do stay within the A&M varieties, I’m leaning toward Smooth Texan 1. I think its greater chill hours (550-600) will be a better fit than Smooth Zest (350-400 on some sources but I also see 200-250 quoted sometimes), as we often have late freezes.
Any probable issues I’m missing with Smooth Texan 1, Independence and Red Gold? Zone 8b, Northeast Texas between Mount Pleasant & Texarkana, extremely wet springs and heat dome drought summers. Average of about 800 chill hours.
Any other real winners I’m missing out on for our climate? We do already have a Surecrop and Flavortop both doing well in a sheltered area.
You should try a spice Z nectaplum. Low chill and supposed to take some heat. I am in the coastal pnw so my sun/heat experience is different. Its pretty red leaf foliage is a stand out in any orchard. I would try one. They are more nectarine than plum.
Are you sure the sun/heat is the problem? The highest concentration of nectarine orchards in the US is in California’s Central Valley, which is very hot too.
Have you done soil by analysis to see if your soil has adequate nutrients for your trees?
Adding on to Ahmed’s questions, are your trees properly irrigated? They can withstand sun better with adequate water.
Also, you mentioned very wet springs. Do you have good soil drainage? Root rot might do damage in the spring but only be visible when the trees are stressed by summer heat.
We do have good drainage in terms of the water not being allowed to sit in that area and the trees being planted a little bit above grade, but we do unfortunately have very high clay content in the soil in that orchard, and the stone fruit do get pretty universally stressed by fungus in the Spring, even with trying to stay on top of a copper fungicide spray regimen. They definitely go into summer already stressed. We water by hand with a yard hydrant & hose currently, and it’s difficult to water enough when it’s 100+ degrees and drought. This summer I’m watering by headlights after dark, since it’s far too hot to have my toddler outside with me during the day.
We have not had any soil analysis done.
To answer Noddykitty, yes, we do have 2 jujube, Li & Lang. We harvested our first fruit from them recently, and are excited about 'em. We also have pawpaw, kiwi, plumcot, fig, plum, apricot, pear, persimmon, pomegranate, almond, sweet cherry, apple, asian pear, medlar, peach, dunstan chestnut, english walnut, and pecan. Blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, table grapes & muscadine too.
Texas A&M does soil testing. You mail a soil sample and pay online and they will email you the results. If you have multiple growing areas I would send one from each. The $12 “Routine Analysis” is probably adequate. You can specify what you are growing so that they can send you specific recommendations for the crop you are growing based on your soil. I’ve used it several times and plan to do so every couple of years.
Sample collection and other instructions at the following link.
You would need to use the “Urban Soil Submittal Form”