Oh yeah, mulberries. I certainly endorse that suggestion.
1 Like
In my area there are a few varieties of pears that do well without any upkeep. It is not uncommon to see Kieffer pears around old house-places loaded with fruit and most are in good condition. Orient is another pear that does well here. Both are FB resistant. Bill
Hi Ross! I’m very new here, too (I go by Chris, but Christian is less confusing here, probably).
I’m too new at trees to know much, but I’ll add that dormant oil and spinosad can go a long way towards trying to be more organic. You’d have to spray the spinosad more often, probably, but it really has a good profile for not hurting beneficials, except for hurting bees before it dries. Spray after they are in for the night.
Copper and Sulfur are also supposed to be good, but I basically can only use either when it’s cool and that doesn’t last long here in NC, lol. I mostly use copper as a very good dormant spray.
I don’t mind the non-organic fungicides, but I try my best to use pesticides that are safer for various things in their own way. Stink bugs and Japanese Beetles alone make it so totally organic isn’t going to work here, though!
I think a lot of us are put in that position. It probably isn’t possible for many people to get a meaningful amount of fruit without some nonorganics; I think it’s incumbent on us to do intelligently, to wit, surgical strikes vs carpet bombing, and I do think that it’s quite possible to do. In fact, it’s probably the best option, long-term perfection being beyond most of us mere mortals.
I think a person might resort to a blast or two of a nonorganic pesticide now and then, and maintain a tolerable situation with organics for quite a long time, and then fall back on another blast here and there. I find that much more acceptable than a “Well, hit it with good old XXX, that’ll stop it” approach whenever a problem arises.
Modern agri science takes this stuff pretty seriously and they’ve come a long ways. Not to say we can quit being careful- but we do have the opportunity to put some very valuable tools use if we are prudent.
Just my thoughts. This editorial is now over.
4 Likes
I think it is the responsible thing to question how much virtue is in and how practical it is to attempt growing fruit in the humid regions organically. If you have studied the issue objectively and decide you are going to grow only fruit that doesn’t require the input of poison, it can be a very positive and rational decision.
If you jump in thinking you can grow all the fruit you love and mother nature is going to reward your virtue because you aren’t poisoning any of her creations, well, I can’t say if this won’t win you a ticket to heaven, but I’m pretty sure it won’t lead to bushels of a wide range of common tree fruit- at least not nearly as consistently and “efficiently” as what you can accomplish with some judicious synthetic input.
Mark is correct to suggest that synthetic pesticides are getting much safer (and more expensive, in general) which you would never realize from what is generally dispensed in the media. The organic industry has certainly won the propaganda wars as far as marketing, maybe because they (the biggest producers) are the same folks producing conventional food and it’s a win to have a higher priced product on the shelves. They are also agribusinesses with land in parts of the country where it rarely rains in the summer months.
If synthetic pesticides were anywhere near as dangerous to humans as the public perception, the results from this on-going study would almost certainly be much different. The subjects are farmers and licensed sprayers, many of whom pull mist blowers across fields in open tractors and spend much of the growing season in a pesticide mist and have done so for most of their lives. Yet they live longer, have less cancer and are generally healthier than the average citizen in their states. You probably haven’t seen this huge study reported on in the general media.
http://gmoschool.com/2015/11/09/pesticides-in-perspective-the-agricultural-health-study/
Just some food for thought. I wish you the best of luck, no matter how you decide to care for your trees.
2 Likes
Ahh, you’re right about my Persimmons. I just ordered a Rosseyanka. I actually saw this video a while ago featuring it, but completely forgot! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSBOenTG-yg
I really like this guy.
1 Like
Definitely! The only problem… I’ve never tasted a persimmon or jujube. I’ve got one of each ordered, so we’ll see in a couple years what my taste buds have to say!
I updated my list! I hope what’s left doesn’t give me too much trouble. Let me know if anyone sees any potential improvements!
Aithough I am new to jujubes, I have read quite a bit about them. It appears there are newer and better tasting varieties of jujubes than Li.
If you can find them Honey Jar and Sugar Cane seem to have high praises.
Judging from my own experience with American friends eating uncommon fruits like persimmom (Asian, not native persimmon) vs jujubes, they seem to find jujubes (good, juicy ones) easier to eat and like than persimmon.
If you have Asian, Southern Asian markets or grocery stores near you, they usually carry A. Persimmons like Fuyu. Jujubes are harder to find. China Town would be a place to find them. An Indian market near me sells jujubes but they are underripe so the taste is compromised.
I know a guy in Maryland who is successfully fruiting Rosseyanka near the PA border.
I am also eyeballing Garretson of PA. Reports sound good for this American persimmon cultivar.
Meader of NH is even more cold hardy.
For Asian persimmons, I have Coffeecake and Chocolate which have survived the past 2 winters.