Yeah, good question. I just flip flopped and decided to put a bunch of persimmons where the apples were going to go so now I’ve got 40 homeless apple trees. Luckily I’ve got 10 of those big 20 gallon pots so I’ll give that a shot for some of them.
You must have gotten a good price on 40 apples. Have you thought about going to a local garden store with your paperwork and offer sell the trees on consignment. That way they get a little bit of money and you at least break even.
That’s not a flower bud. It looks dead. Maybe something like a mummy fruit from last yr.
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Those pears buds look like leaf buds unfortunately. Football shaped means flowers, pointed like a pencil means leaf.
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Thank you. At least now I know 
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@Susu
These are pear fruit buds. Like @scottfsmith says you can’t miss them. Enlarged the picture of the buds so you can see them better.
Here is an additional topic if you want to see more pictures Pear buds, blossoms, and fruit 2017 - #35 by Derby42
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Thanks Clark. I do see the difference now.
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Hey @Richard what’s the progress on your macadamia nut tree? Are you still planning on planting one? I imagine you will be pruning/training for size control, if so how large will you let it grow? How much of a crop will you expect at maturity?
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I had a chance to meet with Jim Neitzel last week. For our climate he spoke highly of both Beaumont and Big Hawaiian. If I can find the latter I’ll give it a try. Generally near tropicals aren’t available here until April.
I would like some insight and thoughts on the use of 100% pine bark fines as a potting mix. Of course, this potting mix would need to be appropriately limed and have an appropriate time released fertilizer for the species being grown. Adequate drainage would also be critical. I know there is the go-to 5-1-1 mix, but I’ve observed many nurseries using a mix with no perlite in it. Also, some of the pine bark fines being sold around here have enough small particles to negate the need for peat. I imagine using pure pine bark fines would be much cheaper.
I want to know what should I do with these Pakistani Mulberry cuttings which started 15 days ago and start to
produce fruit. I am also not sure if these have any roots or not. What I am thinking to remove the fruit so energy can go into roots. Just want to know your opinion before doing this. Please see pictures.
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Yes remove the fruit.
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Bambooman
I don’t uses pine bark in my potting mix.but have aquiered several plants recently in a high percentage pine bark ( ? Mix ?)
While the mix seems well airiated , and well drained for sure .it does not retain much water , so drys up to quick for me.
Most of my mix is hard wood chip compost on bottom ,pro mix BX or hp and added perlite mixed.
Side by side ,similar plants the pine bark has to be watered twice as often.
Bark is designed to repel, or rather hold water within wood on its interior border. Perhaps it becomes more absorbent when it is partially composted. I would assume that water repellency is a huge advantage at obtaining good drainage but other ingredients would be needed to hold water.
I just use pro-mix as a starter- an off-brand equivalent that I buy 3 cubic foot compressed bails from a small green house nursery grower for about $25 each. It is cheaper and better stuff than Home Depot carries because the compressed bails hold so much more material per volume.
I make my own mix for container trees in 15-25 gallon pots in my nursery. Equal parts composted arborist and yard waste, peat moss, and sand or perlite- perlite in the 25 gallon containers for lightness. The compost holds lots of water so my mix holds more than pro-mix, but drainage is fine for such big pots.
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Breaking ground on a new spot for fruit trees. Next step is to disc the ground once the soil dries out some.
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Very nice open space. Good luck on planting your new fruit trees.
Tony
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Beautiful Spud. I don’t know much about red clay in VA, but I like how you are loosening up the soil for your trees, breaking existing tree roots, and at the same time tearing up the sod.
Some nice mulch in the background. My only concern would be fertility of the soil and drainage. But at this point, it looks like you’re a long way to a successful planting.
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Any of y’all bought bought an “instant orchard” tree from Ison’s? Curious what size of tree they’re sending out. I ordered one from them back in December when they were running a 20% off sale and I’m still waiting for it to ship.
Where’s the snow???LOL. It looks lovely, you can fit quite a few fruit trees in that spot.
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