Yes, but the guy with the tree said it rarely fruited, just every several years. I can get scion wood from him, but I’m hoping I’ll get something that tastes as good or better but is more reliable in fruiting.
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I haven’t had any curl on the nectaplum and this is its 3rd spring. I think being in this microclimate of the Pacific Northwest helps. We dry out and warm up considerably faster than areas north of Portland and west of here.
Peaches are easy with good variety selection and frost protection. If we didn’t have frost protection we would probably lose a crop once every few years. The way it stands we rarely have issues
Where are you located and what varieties do you prefer?
Eugene, we’re in the process of testing more varieties, but Redhaven, Suncrest and Encore are very reliable for us. Elberta and Veteran have also been good for us, but we pick tree ripe and they show bruising very easily. We also have one that the local wholesale nursery named “Late Suncrest” that does great for us, I’ll be budding some of that next year since they don’t grow it anymore. Most nectarines and white peaches can be a pain, but there’s good demand to make up for it. Cresthaven also performed very poorly. Candor performs well, but has too many split pits, amazing flavor though.
I’ve shared photos in previous years, but I’ll definitely take pictures next time I visit the tree and make sure I tag you! Here are some photos I’ve shared before of the tree and its fruit, click through to the other thread to see other discussion of that tree:
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If the Int’l District tree has fruit again this year, that will be after 2 consecutive years of unusually low winter temps. Would be interesting to know the low temp in that spot - lots of heat sink material there - sidewalk, stone wall, masonry building.
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That’s great info thanks. I have a few sun crest and Redhaven bare root specimens that nobody seems to want. Maybe I’ll plant one of those this spring. Everyone wants the frost peach so that’s what they buy. What’s your take on the frost peach fruit? How well does it perform for you? And are you familiar with the cultivar that’s supposedly immune to peach leaf curl?
I haven’t found the nectaplum to be a pain. Would you consider that more of a nectarine? It certainly has the look and feel of a nectarine, but the taste is very unique.
Maybe stick one on that masonry wall, below the fence line and sync it with your phone. Probably nobody would even know it was there. Or care if they did.
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What kind of method do you use for frost protection? Is that something most commercial growers do in this area?
Wish you good luck, I have watched mine grow about 10 years now, nice foliage but just not enough heat here to get blossoms!
Dennis
Kent, wa
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We use irrigation, it coats the tree with ice and maintains the temperature of the flowers at about 32 degrees. There’s only a couple other commercial peach growers around and I don’t know what they use. One is in close proximity to a large reservoir and there temperatures are quite a bit higher than ours. We also do not have a lot of peaches currently(about an acre and half), but are adding a couple acres in the next few years.
I’ve never tried Frost, we spray for leaf curl and don’t usually have many problems. However, sometimes weather conditions (too much rain or too much wind, etc. ) don’t allow us to spray at the proper times and get some curl. I’ve heard that Frost doesn’t have the best flavor and it is in the same season as Suncrest, which is reliable for us and has great flavor. I did just plant some Salish Summer that is supposedly curl resistant because I love white peaches and the California varieties have too many disease problems here.
Oh and as far as nectarines go, they’re usually just a bit uglier and lower yielding than peaches. We have Harko and Fantasia, Harko is a reliable tree, probably has twice the blooms of any other variety we have, so it needs sooo much thinning.
Do you sell the fruit at your location? If so, I would definitely put a visit on my agenda for this summer when I find myself down in that area.
What kinds of things, if any, do you hear or know about nectaplums? I used to buy them at the San Rafael farmers market from a guy who grows them around Fresno. I was nervous about trying to grow them up here, but so far so good. I figured that since plums are relatively easy in this region perhaps nectaplums would have an advantage compared to peaches and nectarines. That’s probably not the case but the notion bounced around in my head for a while before getting the tree.
I’ve had a Nectaplum tree for a number of years and usually get a fair amount of fruit,close to 20 brix.The size has stayed small.Isn’t that what the Zee part of the name means?Peach Leaf Curl does occur,unless sprayed,which is not difficult.
I’ve never heard what the zee means. The nectaplums on my tree are on the smaller size too when compared to the big fruit I used to buy in California. I spray with ziram and have never gotten the leaf curl disease. What do you spray with? I’ve also tried the so called Bordeaux treatment l.
Where are you located?
Don’t do Frost if you are able to grow non-curl resistant peaches. It doesn’t have much going for it other than easiness and relative health.
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We’re in Eugene and yeah that was my impression of Frost. It is yet to be seen what the peach crop will look like this season. We’ve never had a pollination season like this one, I already some set on my Puget Gold tree at my house though and it started blooming before the peaches.
We spray Ziram for curl and oil, Pristine and Luna Sensation for everything else.
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I grow suncrest and frost side by side. I’m going to give away the frost tree this year to make space (it’s potted). frost was actually half decent last year, maybe the heat helped it, but it still didn’t measure up to suncrest and they ripen at about the same time
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Copper has been used,with a sticker,the last few years.This season,Daconil was sprayed a couple times.So far,the little growth doesn’t appear infected.
I used Bordeaux treatment the first year and ziram ever since. No plc so far.
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