Questions not deserving of a whole thread

I was weeding when I grabbed this root. Its a sucker from the unknown root stock from my plum tree. Now im like when will that be big enough to survive on its own.

While reading recently,one of the threads,people were commenting about thinning Peaches and Nectarines,but some wrote that they never do that to Plums.That’s an interesting practice to me.
Here are some pictures from today.Are these too many?bb



5 Likes

In my limited experience, I would thin some of those out. It would allow them to get bigger and not stress the tree out as much for next year, something I’m going through. Also the second picture looks like maybe there is a PC bite on one of them. Maybe not, its a little blurry.

1 Like

It’s too many for pluots and J plums IMO. Maybe not for smaller Euro plums.

1 Like

I like to thin them so they aren’t touching - keeps down the brown rot

4 Likes

I have never thinned plums since there is normally no significant rain here in Northern California after mid April or so. I may have to reconsider since record rainfall occurred this week and more is predicted in the long term forecast. Some of that dreaded fruit brown rot that I have only heard stories about may have a chance of becoming a pervasive reality here.

Blossom blight brown rot has been a problem for me this year following heavy rain during bloom times. Mirabelle plums were hardest hit, but almost everything that was blooming during the rain was infected to some degree. I have never seen anything like this in my plum orchard so I am trying to figure out how best to deal with it.

1 Like

Here is probably a quick diagnosis for experienced folk. Last year I cut off a pretty big branch with two main laterals that were sagging badly and were looking sicker by the day. Where they were attached looked bad too…major lesions that looked to be scorched, so I cut out a chunk of the wood and shellaced it. This year there is much more damage and now it really looks like Fire Blight…probably did last year, too…there are quite a few leaves that look like the ones show, and worse, blackened. This series of photos shows that it has moved clear into the main trunk, I think. Shoulda cut much more off last year. I’m wondering if there is any hope for this tree or should it be gone.

FB%207198%20s%20

FB%207199%20s%20

FB%207201%20s%20

FB%207202%20s%20

FB%207203%20s%20

I took a risk and planted two blueberry bushes, one bare root, one potted, they started to leaf out and then we had a very hard frost and snow. All the branches are now brown or almost black. I snapped one branch and it was still green inside. Any hope they will recover or should I pull them out now?

If the roots are okay,there is still hope that canes can grow out of the crown.bb

it will sprout new leaves… had that happen a few times and the plant always came back.

1 Like

Should these jujube seedlings be placed in full sun at this size?
For about a week now they have been under a trampoline receiving an hour or so of direct sun early in the morning before the temps get high and the rest of the day the sun is filtered through the trampoline.

Can you move them so they receive 2 hours of sun, then filtered light for a few days, then 4 hours and so on.

I fear if you throw them into full sun the leaves will get burnt.

This method is not specific for jujubes but is good horticultural practice I believe.

Yes i can do that.
Thank you

1 Like

I already have an old bird bath, but I am not going to fill it with water. It was raining hard Thursday night so there was a puddle on the cement at a corner of the yard. This morning there were a lot of bird feathers around, and a big bird circling in the sky. It was a pretty disturbing sight. I don’t want to provide a trap to get the small birds killed. I will leave nature alone on the killing part, and back to netting for the fruits

Should I be concerned that my three grafts have not leafed out while being outside for 2 weeks while the extras are starting to leaf out in the fridge. hmm.

I have some general situation questions on trees received and planted last month. Maybe I’m not googling the right questions, but I couldn’t find anything to answer these situations. Hopefully this will help me to understand what to do in cases like this. Thank you.

What to do with trees that have 2 main branches in a V shape. Leave them or cut one off?

For a tree like this, I assume it’s too late to train these branches to grow out instead of up. Do I leave them like this?

For trees with tall leaders and not much branching out, do I just chop down the upper half to bring it down or leave them tall?

The other two have some branching, but just seems awkward to me with the center going so high.


What kind of trees are they?

Apple

1 Like

OK, here goes, but, before I expose my own ignorance and inexperience, I should drop a reference for added authority.

Roper, Teryl R. Training and Pruning Apple Trees. Madison: University of Wisconsin, Cooperative Extension Service, 1997. A1959. 19 May 2019 http://learningstore.uwex.edu/Assets/pdfs/A1959.pdf.

I’m going to assume you ordered dwarf trees, but you need to verify this. Most trees on dwarfing rootstocks are going to have to be staked, and most of the dwarf trees sold for backyard plantings are meant to be kept below 8’ and will have to be staked indefinitely. You can drive 10’ ¾" electrical conduit into the ground 4’ deep, leaving 6’ above ground. Stake each tree thus and “tie” it loosely with ½" chainlock.

These are pretty good sized trees for transplants. It doesn’t look like you made a heading cut. I would do that now. Chop each tree off at the height of your belt. This will encourage side growth (laterals or scaffolds) from which you will select three to five next year. Next year, pick branches at least 1-½’ off the ground (or at least as high as the púcas can reach while standing on their hind legs in the snow) that are radiating upward in all directions without shading one another and tie them up or down to 60° off the vertical (30° above the horizontal). However, this year, you ought to prune off any twigs, leaves, and buds that are obviously too low to be candidates and pinch back the taller laterals. Also, keep pinching off any suckers that are coming up from the rootstock. The rootstock exists to feed the scionwood, not to be proud of itself. Next year, leave a central leader but chop it off about 1-½’ above your belt to create the second tier of lateral branches. In the third year, head the leader back to about 3’ above your belt. In the forth and subsequent years, keep the tree height below what you can reach.

Your goal is a tiered cake-shape, which exposes all branches to the sun.

Yes, you need to decide now on a central leader for next year, so, on trees with a V-notch, eliminate the weaker or uglier of each pair.

1 Like

Angel,
Create a new thread titled something like “Apple pruning, please Help”.

You will get a lot more attention and help from others. You need help to get your newly planted apple trees to get a correct head start. This is the time to ask.

Don’t for get to include your zone, your state and the trees’ rootstocks.

3 Likes