What's happening today - 2018 edition

Uncovered my figs yesterday. They were buried for the winter and look great! This is a strawberry verte.

And here is a pic of my methley plum and a lady bug on a burgundy plum

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Watching grass grow, both big and small.
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Moso

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Pleioblastus viridistriatus

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Always been a dream of mine to be able to grow moso. Do you harvest the shoots?

Not at the moment, but in a couple of years I should be able to harvest a wide variety of shoots.

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Potted up a Dripping Honey. Will sit in the garage for a while.

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Bob, that is some pretty heavy soil you are using. HAHA.

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It won’t move!!

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Was out doing my daily farm walk and noticed that a couple of Triple Crown blackberry tip layers have sprouted. I planted seven of them on 6 March, so good to see them coming up, guess this slight warm spell is really waking things up. Hopefully the rest will come up soon. Thanks to the member on here who provided them in a swap for some Winesap scions!

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Shoulda paid more for them to add some roots!

My apple bench grafts from a few weeks ago have sprouted, so would it be a good idea to put them in a pot now that it looks they took? How big should the pot be, and what would be a good soil mix for it?

Assuming they survive the transplant, when would be a good time to put them in their permanent location? Whenever I can get the ground prepared (too wet now), or later this summer?

Not much of roots is right. (Gurneys)
I use 3- 5 gallon pots. Bought them over in PA. I normally use a tree and shrub mix from Walmart or Lowe’s. Will keep most of them in pots until late fall. Takes me that long to decide where to put them. Also, I keep them near my garden hose so they get attention all summer.

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Thanks. When do you set them outside, after the last freeze? And, do you put them in full sun, or partial shade? Do you give them any fertilizer, and if so, how much and when?

I think I see Mr Crimson Crisp from Rural King in the background??

No fertilizer, south side of building, after freeze. Will pull them outside and give them filtered sun on a nice day.

Pixie Crunch and Persimmons from RK. Some pear rootstock from @lordkiwi also some Tractor Supply Red Havens for rootstock.

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Right, Pixie Crunch, I remember now. At least I got the store right…

Which ones are the Redhaven’s? How thick are they? Are they showing any sign of life yet, or is it still too early?

Yes they are leafing out. They are 3/8-1/2 inch diameter.

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We had a hard frost last night. Just as a lot of my plum blooms were opening. At first glance they appear okay but upon closer inspection i see a brown color deep inside the bloom. Is this normal or could it be the sign of an effected bloom?20180331_130750

Nanking

Arctic Glo
20180331_130948

Ranier

Keiffer

Methley and Shiro

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The brown color looks normal. And it’s not the important indicator. Look at the ovary that will turn into the fruit. If that’s still turgid and bright the fruit is OK. If it turns brown or shrivels up it’s dead.

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Found out two of my figs(Preto and Black Italian) that were almost completely cut down by rabbits came back from the roots. Nice surprise!

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Thanks fruitnut. Hopefully they are okay.

After last years complete plum loss i’m hoping for at least a small harvest this year. Biggest problem now is that i dont see any pollinators out. Might have to get the paintbrush out

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Opposite of my problem - my bees are out but no blooms in sight

Only my friends here at Growing Fruit will understand my pain and be able to empathize with my feelings of regret and stupidity!!!

So today I’m working on my blueberry “patch”. Pulling weeds, cutting any dead limbs, applying acidifier, etc. Well, my biggest and best blueberry plant which is about 5 years oldhas slowly been leaning over and was now almost lying on its side- though it is a picture of health, absolutely COVERED in bloom buds, and set for a great summer. Why, oh why, wouldn’t I just leave it alone? Though it was leaning to the point of almost being on its side, the growth had more or less accommodated for its position and was growing upward. But NO, that wasn’t good enough for me. For some dang reason I decided I’d put a fence post near it and straighten the plant up and tie it to the post so it would be vertical and “normal” looking. Well, you can probably guess what happened next…

I honestly was pretty gentle and slowly pulled the whole bush upward toward the new T-post so I could tie it to it and let it grow normally the coming year. Just about the time I just it to the fully upright position, it happened. I heard that sickening CRACK sound and suddenly there was no tension coming from the trunk. I literally froze for a moment and didn’t want to look. It was just like when you cut yourself and you know its pretty bad and don’t even want to look at first. But sure enough, almost the whole entire bush snapped off clean just about flush with the ground. It was THICK…I’d say it had a 2 inch diameter. I know hearing how thick it was is going to make you think I must have really been using a lot of force to pull it up and break it, but I promise that is absolutely not the case! That is why I was so shocked. I had been pretty gentle and slow. It pulled up 90% of the way pretty easily, just SNAPPED like it was really brittle. No, it wsn’t rotted either. The whole thing is pretty strange to me. Aside from wanting someone to feel sorry for me (ha) I also thought my story would serve as a warning to others. Be careful when trying to straighten up or stake your blueberry plants! ANd of course this was by far my biggest and best blueberry.bush!!! Grrrr!!!. The only slight bright spot is that when the big, main truck broke, there was one small and separate “limb” or “trunk” growth coming off the big plant stump near the break but which was not broke. I feel like this is important not only because it may let at least a little bit of the plant live and go on, but since this growth was part of the original trunk I’m thinking it will be able to take advantage of all the roots that the bush grew over the last 5 years, meaning it (hopefully) will grow really fast and large since a huge root system will be supported such a small (1/6th ") shoot.

Sorry it took so long just to say I accidentally broke my biggest blueberry bush today, but you know me…why use 1 word when I can use 1000. haha.

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