Newbie from Kenya

New here and looking forward to learning about nurturing and managing the many bare-root fruit trees recently imported from the UK.

Apples, Pears, Apricots. Peaches, Greengauge, Plums, Cherries, Currants (Red, Black and Pink), Red Gooseberries.

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Greetings and enjoy the topics.

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Welcome! There is a wealth of information on this forum. The search function will be your friend. Enjoy! :slight_smile:

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Welcome! can you tells us more about your climate and how do you plant to grow these temperate adapted fruit trees.

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We are nearly 9,000ft above sea level, which apparently is not helpful due to there being less oxygen, although the climate is described as “temperate”. We have two rainy seasons - one longer than the other - and what is called winter in June/July when the weather is cooler and drier. Particularly nasty much of the time is the wind.

Bringing fruit trees and bushes from the UK to here could be described as a good recipe for disappointment and losing money but so far everything appears healthy. Apples already flowered - Scrumptious, Red Windsor and Red Devil. Everything else has leaves. Black/Red Currants flowered and appear to have fruit forming.

Essentially we have given every thing a good home with compost and manure added. What survives will be a bonus. What doesn’t will be very sad and expensive.

I think the currants will be good and also the red gooseberries.

If the rest can at least survive well enough to produce scions for grafting that will be a nice project to produce new trees to perhaps try in a less harsh environment somewhere else in Kenya.

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Welcome to the forum! I spent time outside of Kisumu over a couple trips and I remember the soil in the area as well as the climate was a real challenge, though I never made it near any of the mountains. I wish you the best of luck!

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I studied abroad in Kenya. I spent 6 weeks in a wattle and daub thatch hut in Takaungu, Mombasa, across the creek from Kilifi. I still remember my first few nights there spent in the highlands near the foot of Mt Kenya. I was not a grower or plantsman then, but I recall asking why the kitchen gardens and fences were so torn up. Elephants! And we worry about woodchucks here!

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I think temperate and rainy, that is much like northern UK or Scotland, so things that do well there especially at elevation would do well for you. I know that chill winds and soggy soil is common there so it may be similar to your winters

are there local plants, trees that grow where you are that are good? I do not know the region well enough to know what is local to you, but I know a lot of fruits are from the general area originally

Plums, Cape Gooseberries, Banana Passion and Mountain Pawpaw do well here and we had good crops of strawberries.

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plums, maybe other stone fruit would do well- cherries in particular I’ve seen at high elevation

we are at 2000ft which is not much in comparison but it’s enough that canning times and such are longer, and some plants do not like it. very different climate for me though in a high desert area