I’d be interested in what varieties you choose – I’m hoping to establish some on my property and was wondering how to avoid any spraying. I’m starting with some figs this year, I chose cold hardy varieties for in-ground growth, excited to see how they do.
Several astringent varieties appear to do well in the area like Miss Kim and Saijo. I have a few others I’m trying to grow including non-astringent and pollination variant trees.
Do you mean which apple varieties I chose? @scottfsmith is probably the information source on this thread but I am adding Liberty and Empire. I already have an Enterprise that I hope might fruit for the first time this year but it got hit by cicadas pretty hard so we’ll see. My main goal with apple varieties is productivity in the absence of a lot of spraying and TLC since I am already kind of overcommitted with what I grow.
I’m very close to you.
What are your goals and how much maintenance do you want to do? Different kinds of fruit trees have different needs. Some need to be sprayed more than others. Some are fussier about soil conditions and sunlight than others…etc.
I think it makes sense to include NoVa and central Virginia piedmont region in this thread.
Is this about apples? There is no such thing as no-spray around here, unless you want very wormy apples. There was a thread on this not too long ago:
There’s no clear mark of what the best regions are, I am hoping they will emerge based on interest. If nobody starts a southern mid-Atlantic though we could just make this one be all mid-Atlantic. Meanwhile anyone is welcome to the chat here.
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I’m just outside Reading in SE PA. Trying to grow whatever I can with minimal inputs in light of climate change and an uncertain future.
Apples, pears, figs, blackberries, pawpaws, persimmons, etc etc.
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I’m in greater Princeton area. I get a couple of acres of former farm land. Also acquired another acre of wooded land that is totally free. This is a long strip of land that is adjacent to my lot. The former land owner sold his 200+ acre land to a developer who is building some houses. So this strip of land became land locked. The owner did not want to pay land property tax. So they transferred the land deed to me without any cost or tax. It is not of much use to me and I only harvested some humus last fall. I collected a bunch of wild black walnut. But I did not have the patience to crack them.
I used to grow vegetable a lot. But deer has the upper hand now. The only thing deer does not bother is fig. So I have a lot of fig trees in ground. They are still young. I’m trying various ways to keep them safe from the cold winter. Not sure what to expect this coming year.
Also grow jujube, persimmon, Asian pears and peaches. Cherry trees have not been productive due to the early or late frost.
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Yeah, I’m on the south side of Richmond. Thankfully I don’t have major wildlife pressure here, but the summer heat, humidity, and rain present a challenge for a lot of things.
Here’s to hoping a late freeze doesn’t kill absolutely everything again.
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The fig, a Chicago Hardy, was a nice gift from my parents. I planted it in the ground, not in a pot. Its first winter was a relatively mild one for my location. Some of the more tender wood died but it came back in the spring and looked like it was going to do well. The subsequent winters were all more harsh and it always died back to the roots even through each fall I wrapped it in burlap to cut down on wind damage. Over the years its regrowth came later and later in the year. The year before last it was not able to produce new growth until August. I did not really want to dig a trench in my lawn every fall so as to be able to bend the tree over and bury it, so I just threw in the towel and pulled it out. I recall reading somewhere that it might have been helpful to have some heat holding/reflecting rock wall behind the tree and that this may help hardened the year’s growth so it is not as sensitive to cold but I kind of think that if one wants to be in the fig business around here one really should consider big pots. There is some fellow in my general area who grows a lot fo figs, but he seems to only use pots. BILL'S FIGS
Hi All! I’m in SE PA, near Reading, zone 6b. Last fall, I moved from a typical small suburban yard to an almost 3 acre property and took many of my fruit bushes/trees with me. The vegetable garden is my passion, but it is presently in parts in the shed. I also have a flowering salvia collection for the hummingbirds that is up to around 40 varieties.
Fruits will be expanded, but for now I have 3 plums (prune plum type) in the ground, dwarf apples in pots with a variety of heirloom grafts, currants, gooseberry, blueberry, jostaberry, goumi, goji, haksaps, seaberry, and 5 potted figs. I have 4 hazelnuts in the ground and just ordered a bunch more. I went a little nuts ordering for this spring and have strawberries, raspberries, blackberry, elderberries, and some others on their way.
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I am in northern Chester county, PA. I see some Chester, Lancaster county neighbors here.
I have 2 grapes, 2 blueberry, 2 figs(1 in ground, 1 in pot), 2 plums, 3 pears and 4 peaches.
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This works very well. I’d definitely suggest this if you try figs again. All of mine are planted next to the house to shield them from winter wind, and maybe offer some radiated heat. My fig trees are very productive. Planting somewhere with good drainage is also very helpful for figs. There are a lot of fig growers in NJ with trees in the ground that produce.
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Dom, that is an impressive effort. What is the purpose of the pipe? It made me think of pumping the waste heat from the dryer outlet to keep things warm. You would have to run through a lot of laundry on a cold night though…
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Hi Ryan the pipe is just to allow for venting, it removes extra heat/ condensation without causing cold damage. Many years of trial and error to perfect it’s height and placement.
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Do you have a fan or does it use atmospheric movements to vent?
No fan, just natural venting.
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Good Morning! My first post here😊I’m very happy to see this group of fellow gardeners in zones 6B-7A.I’m in the western suburbs of Philly. Would love to swap plants with those nearby!
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Central NJ here. Not much to add that hasn’t been said. My zone pushes doing OK are Jiro persimmon, a fig, some gooseberries and honey berries. Then all the usual; blueberries and pears do best, apples and peaches are edible but gnarly.
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