I could not agree more about the great community here, and from people who are glad to share what they have learned. I am hopeful I will be able to be of help in the future too.
Like everyone, I plan on focusing on the “safe” stuff but want to come out of the gate at least taking a run at a few “risky” picks, for no other reason than to answer the question of whether it will work or not!
Maybe I can find someone at Dave Wilson who will be willing to take a shot at recommending a few interspecifics to start off with as a trial.
Thank you again for your help, and have a great afternoon.
Well Flavor Grenade as mentioned is one, and Spring Satin plumcot.
Nadia an Aussie Cherry-plum cultivar seems to work, very hardy, great vigor.
Probably any of the the pluerries work, but jury is still out on some. Sweet Treat is just OK, Some feel Nadia too is just OK.
Check Adams nursery as they are in the Midwest.
Have you tried red fleshed nectarines or peaches? Wow! They taste better than they look! This is a Zaiger fruit that works here, This is from my harvest in 2015. Easy tree to grow here too. Arctic Glo.
Thank you for helping me to make the connection- I sincerely appreciate it!
Did you all get another deluge last night/this morning? I think with this last bit of rain that makes for over 8 inches in this early going in May already!
Hope all is well with you and your family, and thank you again for helping me out!
No, no rain yet, but it’s cloudy and looking like it could start any minute. The radar is showing a big green blob moving in this direction, so it’s gonna be a wet couple days.
We’ve been spared the really heavy rain so far this season, nothing like back in the Midwest.
One thing I’ve noticed since moving here is that we get a lot more rain in the summer than we did back in TX. From June thru Sept, it would be very dry and hot. It can get very warm and humid here, tho, especially last year. Guess that’s why it stays so green here all season long. That’s prob also why tree and plant diseases are so prolific in this area.
Peaches will do best for you. Lovell and Halford are probably your best choice for understocks unless your local experts warn of nematodes… then it might be Nemaguard. You can prune the trees for shape and size control.
Cultivars to consider include: Harrow Diamond, Glenglo, White Lady, Redhaven, Clayton, Raritan Rose, Madison, Carolina Gold, Contender, Canadian Harmony, Blushingstar, Windblo, Oldmixon-Free, and Indian-Free.
Thank you very much for your very helpful and thoughtful advice concerning peaches for our climate. I sincerely apologize for my delay in reply, as I just now saw both of your responses.
I have talked with many folks, and it sounds like the general consensus is that nematodes are not a significant concern in our particular climate, so the main driver is sturdy, well-anchored trees with good disease resistance (i.e. Lovell, Halford or Bailey).
Thank you again for taking the time to share your insight. I sincerely appreciate it!
You may not want to give to give up on the other stone fruits. Sometimes the “experts” from the research universities don’t have experience with certain fruits and on rare occasions they are just wrong about what fruits can be grown in a given area.
In the late 70’s, the exerts in my state insisted it was impossible to successfully grow wine grapes until a person with no academic or production experience established a commercial vineyard growing wine grapes and proved them wrong. I now see vineyards growing vinifera grapes all over my state and grape growing is a big business.
Blue, on the opposite perspective of peach recs. I’ve seen extension recs totally useless. They sometimes recommend old varieties no longer availabile. Very worthless. Sometimes I want to say really? Those varieties haven’t been available for thity years…
Excellent feedback. I have heard from several that there is a grafting incompatibility with citation and peaches and nectarines, so I appreciate you confirming this. Have you experienced trouble with this?
Thank you both for sharing your experience with this. I imagine that there is a hesitation to make a strong recommendation for fear that if it doesn’t work out, the one receiving the advice might be upset. That said, I do find it a bit unsatisfying when the nurseries advise you to ask your local extension for variety recommendations, and upon contacting your extension you are told that: a. Our recommendations are based on results from a trial 20 years ago, b. We have no experience with that species; or c. You should talk to a local nursery about your question. Then, when you talk to the nursery and ask them their opinion based on the feedback you received from the extension agency, they suggest you go with what the agency advised you.
That is why I am grateful for the input from this group. You all have experience with this stuff and have found what works and what doesn’t. Thank you for sharing all the excellent advice- I sincerely appreciate it!
Yep. I have seem them too. I’m guessing that many of the obsolete or invalid recommendations are made by people with a PHD who are sitting in front of a computer rather than working in the field with growers or doing research trials. The PHD makes the recommendations look valid even if the varieties are obsolete.
One of the publications on recommended peach varieties I used was based on varieties that consistently performed well for one large NC grower. Its a really good starting point but its not comprehensive. It fails to mention quite a few good varieties discussed by you and other folks on this forum.
Budget problems have eliminated most of the plant breeding and some of the research efforts in my state, but I’m fortunate the extension specialists making the recommendations on varieties or cultural practices have many years of experience working side by side with growers or running variety or production trials. The downside is that these folks have responsibilities in multiple areas like research, extension, or teaching. They are extremely overworked, so it can take a long time to get a response to a critical problem.
Not graft problems but for me peaches and nectarines on citation look poor and almost no growth. I don’t expect them to lI’ve long and the lack of growth is a problem for fruiting wood, as they only fruit on 2ND year wood
Something’s that gets little attention is the temperature at which a Rootstock starts producing sap. This is really what causes the tree to start growing. If one had a higher temperature it would bloom later and miss the late frost. I do many things to keep the ground from warming up too early…It makes all the difference in a northern climate. I have a ground thermometer and I know what temperature the ground is at 10 inches deep when first signs of growth starts. This is the one variable that needs attention. Global warming is affecting weather. Fruit trees always start growing in northern climates when ground temperature reaches a certain temperature! I’d like to see data on all rootsocks nature to bloom at what temperature.
I think Rotsocks are so important because of their effect on blooming tempersture. I’ve monitored ground temperature at bloom. Anything you can do to delay the bloom ups the odds of getting a crop go up. My grandfather always got apricots. He pushed snow under the trees in winter. Then before it started to melt, he cover the snow with hay. Ove done several things to prevent the ground from warming in the spring. I get fruit when others don’t! For example I know at 46 degreesF 10 inches deep most stone fruit trees will start deliverying sap and the trees will ploom. Even trees with other varieties grafted on them will all ploom at the same time. I think it’s odd this subject doesn’t get more pablisity.
