Pacific Northwest Fruit & Nut Growers

Well, if mine do not fruit I might have to beg for a taste of sweet treat or Nadia. Or start looking to try one of those instead. I should have read closer.

Which is lighter and which is darker?

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@Noddykitty I think the weather here too wet for Candy heart Pluerry.
I didn’t have a chance to taste it.
The darker fruits are Nadia and the lighter ones are Sweet treat.
If you would like to have fruit sooner. Wait a couple months then buy the trees at Flower World nursery. They’re have very good size trees and fruiting very soon.

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Thanks for the tip.

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I realize I wasn’t clear in my post. I had an Indian Free Peach tree for several years, it got to a good size, bigger than my Frost which has fruited for years, but never ripened any peaches.

I top worked it to become Early Laxton plum. So now I have a plum tree instead.

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Those Sweet Treat look really nice. I have a graft of it, and put Flavor Queen on the same tree. The Flavor Queen is barely growing but the Sweet Treat is doing alright.

Nadia seems to be one my my most reliable fruits.

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@murky this year I ordered 3 different places for my fruit trees. Just ordered Flavor Punch Pluerry last night. Hopefully it’s fruiting ok here.

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Sounds like you have a peach fest going on. I love hearing about success with plant species that are often a struggle to grow in the region. Keeping the curl under control is a never ending story. So far I’ve managed to keep it fully under control down here. I spray frequently during dormancy.

The nectaplum is a phenomenal fruit. I suppose it looks more like a nectarine, but the flavor profile is a perfect synthesis of the best plum and the best nectarine you’ve ever had. Can’t recommend them enough. I used to by them at the San Rafael farmer’s market when I lived in the Bay Area and they have been my favorite stone fruit ever since. Don’t get me wrong, I love them all, but the nectaplum just stands above for me. It has a floral perfumey quality that’s unlike other stone fruit. And there is an ever so slight hint of spice beneath the tart and sweetness.

So what rootstocks do you have for the stone fruit? I’ve found that the citation rootstock is one of the best for stone fruit where I live. The native soil on my property is heavy clay so a rootstock able to handle the mucky wet winter is crucial.

Regardless of what rootstocks you have, grafting a nectaplum to one of the peaches would be no problem. Would you like to do a scion exchange later this winter or early spring? I’ll send you up a few of the nectaplum cuttings so you can put them on one of the peaches.

If that sounds good we can exchange addresses on a direct message.

I don’t know how interested you are to grow subtropical plants like citrus, chilean guava, loquat, feijoa, etc… If you are I can get you lots of cuttings of these specimens. I’m also growing lots of poncirus rootstocks to graft many of the citrus that have proven successful here.

Hit me up with a direct message if you want to get any of that going.

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Of the peaches you listed, I think Betty and Salish summer are two of my best tasting peaches! If you are looking for a few more good ones, I’d recommend Nanaimo and Avalon Pride. I have scions for those if you want. (But to date I’ve not been successful scion or bud grafting peaches. Going to try again on 1 year-old rootstock under controlled temp in ghouse.)

A good nectarine that’s fruited for me is Harcot. It’s similar in taste to Hardired.

If you’re looking for a small nectarine for porch or patio, I think Necta Zee is the best of the genetic dwarfs.

Maybe not a loss that Indian Free died. Others may disagree, but, as a late peach, it never developed sweetness here. (Although I’m at the northern end of the PNW.)

Very interesting about Saturn having some resistance to PLC! I never ordered it because it wasn’t on the PLC list. Will have to try one from supermarket to see if I need that one too. Can’t have too many peaches!

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Looks great! I am growing trifoliate orange. I also have Meiwa kumquat. Keep us posted! I have tried go grow other kinds, but they eventually died.
Thanks,
John S
PDX OR

What other kinds have you grown outside unprotected? You really won’t have success besides the yuzu (sudachi/ichandrin) or Ichang papeda. And even those need to be planted in a very favorable location (south facing, wind sheltered, wrap on coldest nights for the first 3 winters). Even then it’s a mystery why some will make it and some won’t. Little microclimates make a huge difference. Being on a hill with cold air drainage on cold clear nights can be significant. So your best bet is to plant several in as optimal a location as possible and you’ll likely get an yuzu that makes eventually. And if you can make sure some are on their own roots. Some people believe they are better off on their own roots. The fruit is supposedly better too. But the wait is up to 18 years for a yield. I have lots of sudachi and ichandrin seeds from my trees. Keep at it and you’ll get an Yuzu that makes it. I much prefer the sudachi because they have very few seeds. Another thing to consider is doing an hoop or covered patio. We are so close to being in a passable citrus climate that an unheated covered area will be fine for all sorts of sour citrus. I just use 3 55 gallon black barrels filled with water to keep the temp around 40. I know of some monster lemon trees in the Pacific Northwest that yield hundreds of fruit. I’m happy to talk about this stuff anytime if you want to bounce ideas. Have lots of poncirus rootstocks and yuzu trees for scions too.

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John, do you get fruit from your trifoliate, and do you use it?

I have harvested fruit from it. The last couple of years, they did not. I am interested in using the zest, which wouldn’t have pesticides in it. I also made the juice into a sauce, that I use as a seasoning. I would like to experiment with making something like a chutney.
JOhn S

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I also grow ichang papeda, which has never flowered or fruited. I may try to graft onto it.
John S

the eugene costco got a load of barerroot trees, most or all from haworth nursery. nothing super interesting but I did get a redhaven peach which fills a harvest window I was missing. $20 single variety and $30 for multi-graft

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How long have you been growing it?

Ha, I just got home from Alderwood Costco and their trees are out too. Since this past weekend. I got a veteran peach and honeycrisp apple.

Maybe 150 trees total. Going like hotcakes.
The trees were all 27$. They had 4 graft cherries, 4 graft apples, and 4 graft pears. Single type apples and peaches(only veteran). All the trees were 5-6 foot tall. 3/4-1” stems.

I would love some advice. I plan to take the honeycrisp scion off my Costco 4 graft tree I got this week. And I plan to graft it to my 3yr old Costco 4 graft tree that the honeycrisp scion died on. If I can, I don’t want to plant the second tree. I picked the tree with the largest honeycrisp graft attached to it.

My question is what technique would you use (bud or t graft, or do the whole branch)? What time should I do it? Before or after bud swell. They should bud swell in about a month here if it’s like my other apple trees. Thank you all for your input.

Putting here: I let one bud out on the root stock grow the last 2 years. With hopes to attach a honeycrisp back to this tree. This is what I got to work with. Or do you all think I should just plant the second tree and live without the honeycrisp on first tree. Honeycrisp is my kids favorite apple FYI so hence the position on getting back with a honeycrisp,

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I’d cut off a scion with about four buds and graft them to the two branches.Apples are not my thing,but people say,they are the easiest.
Whip and tongue is my most used,but splice or cleft work.
If done this way,cut the scions while still dormant and graft when leaves are about half size.

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@Bradybb Thank you, :pray:.

I could write an essay from what I read so far on techniques. The confusing part so far has been what works best for time of year VS type of tree VS grow zone. Like is it best to do dormant or leafed out.

Honestly all my grafting has been to cannabis making multi variety Frankenstein plants. Like for 20 years. All that matters is that they are not flowering. Plant counts matter with cannabis, not size.

Fruit trees are new to me and I have become obsessed. I told my wife I found my people. Ha

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When I wrote,“cut off a scion with about four buds”,it meant,to divide that in half,with two buds on each,during grafting.
I usually use a scion with two,at the most three buds per graft.Very infrequently,only one bud was all there was,but that can work.