Most of my figs died back to ground this year and are just starting to leaf out. Is it just here or is it taking longer than usual to grow back this year?
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My died to the ground Celeste in a pot started to leaf out last week I think or the week before. But it’s growing super slow.
The Chicago hardy (I think) at my parents house on East side of house I think also started like a week or 2 ago and is going super slow with growth.
Some of the ones in my neighborhood in ground started last month though. But they don’t seem super far along.
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I think my location is a little colder than you and @EJh. My in-ground fig just has little green bits now- maybe one micro leaf as of yesterday.
But every year I think the fig has died because it takes so long, then it turns out it’s alive! I think I am going to move it to a warmer spot or plant a new one in a warmer spot.
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I wouldn’t waste time looking for better spots. Years ago I air layered tons of them. Now I have like 20-30 of them scattered all over the property. None of those spots are any better than the other. Some of the older ones usually have a couple branches that survive.
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If you lose the apical buds the fig will take longer to grow back …my experience
I usually don’t get fruit that same year
Also ground temps might be slightly lower this year. It’s been a cool spring in my yard.
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Didn’t think about that. Your right it has been a lot cooler this year and that’s probably slowing them up. Even grafts have not really put out a ton of growth.
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Same here.
I was really excited to take the fam to Shaws a few times this year to try different varieties of all the stone fruits. Looks like they have almost no tree fruit because of the freeze. They say there will be a lot of berries and melons.
Is there a Scott’s peach report like apples for our area? I thought but can’t find. After seeing my neighbors peach trees surh clean fruit and my nectarines with PC, I think I need to get over my peach fuzz fears and get into peaches. Looking for resources about which ones work well in swampy DMV.
My red haven is performing like a champ, the frost killed all the fruitlets/blooms on all the trees at my parents house though. It had bloomed like crazy (this is it’s 2nd year) it also got 1 peach its first year (planted in the fall so that spring) I forget what rootstock it’s on, I got it from starkbro. It’s semi dwarf. The rootstock is halford.
You might want to check out larriland to see what’s good there too. Although they recently jacked their prices up like crazy! You have to buy a ticket per person to go into the orchard, then you also have to buy the container on top of that.
I did spray everything with oil and copper in like February before bud break tho for dormant spray this year.
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Search for “Scotts Stone Fruit”
Scotts Stone Fruit Experiences Through 2022 - General Fruit Growing - Growing Fruit
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When does redhaven ripen in the DMV? AI says end July. Is that correct? Since everything is relative to redhaven, trying to figure out what that means.
Mid to late August. May vary by year.
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End of July
First week of August
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Montmorency seems to have dealt with the freeze like it was nothing. Nice fat ripening crop. Really surprised.
Montmorency really is the all star in the cherry world. Has proven it can take a freeze and keep on fruiting. Less or no rot. Less insect damage. Birds seem less interested. And are pretty sweet for a sour cherry. Sadly in the end though it still doesn’t compare to sweet cherry taste.
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Are you growing Surefire as well?
Don’t have Surefire. I did graft Evans Bali last year, but it hasn’t grown much. I was considering adding more sour cherries. Do you think they would sell as good as sweet cherries?
I only just planted it. I would guess that Montmorency is the surest bet to sell because of name recognition. If you are into processing anything you sell, we got the most delicious Montmorency juice from a vendor at the farmers market in Park City, UT. He sold his juice and bags of frozen montmorency (because it was August). We still talk about it and making some whenever we have a harvest.
I’m curious, what color was the juice? The reason I ask is that I think juice directly from Monty cherries isn’t the deep red/burgandy color people expect when they think of Cherry juice. I may be wrong about that, but I was just curious.
In terms of selling, they seem to sell quite well at the farmers markets here and for a pretty good price (Maybe $9/quart if I remember correctly). And they would certainly pick faster than something like blueberries, so you don’t have to account for as much time in the price.
If I was trying to sell them, I think I’d post a page of recipes and offer them as handouts as well for the “perfect cherry pie”, “scrumptious scones” and “Crazy good coffee cake”, just to get people thinking of all the things they can make with them. Since it isn’t something that is regularly available if you don’t grow them or buy from an orchard, a lot of people might not immediately be thinking of what to do with them.
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