Just placed my order for new fruit trees!

First real order to get me off the ground with my fruit tree project. I ordered from Legg Creek Farm, not much info on Garden Watchdog but they are fairly local for me so I thought I would give them a try. I'll pick up a few more things I want from Bob Wells Nursery and probably more from Raintree. Here's what I've ordered so far:

Alma fig tree, Early Golden Apricot, Ein Shemer Apple, Anna Apple, Methley Plum, Keiffer Pear, Ayers Pear, and Princess Blueberry. I may want to exchange the Keifer pear for Warren. Or see if Bob Wells has Warren. The apples are said to be low chill and good for my area. All bareroot, first year so should be good for a newbie like me to get started.

What do you all think? Any must haves I've left off the list that I should look for and any of the locals as soon as all of this fog lifts?

I am not sure on the cold hardiness of Alma. You may want to protect it. Celeste is the most cold hardy and should be your best shot at surviving low teens. I bought an Alma last year and it is doing fine so far but it has been a very mild winter.

Apricots are tricky because their flowers always come too early and freeze. Here is a list of late blooming Apricots in case you get another one.

http://www.oakcreekorchard.com/id71.html

Anna and Ein Shemer are good. Another match for them would be Dorsett.

Pears are pretty rugged. Make sure that you got two that cross-pollinate each other. Also check their resistance to fire blight. I dont fertilize my Pears anymore because it makes them more susceptible to fire blight. They get really big so you may want to check if they are on semi-dwarf or full size rootstock.

Bob Wells lists two more apricots I want. Tilton and Royal. I'll have to see how big/what rootstock they have. Since Bob Wells is within easy driving distance for me I'm holding whatever they list in reserve. I'll go there a little later in the season than last year as last year I planted what I got in Feb and then a freak wind storm/mini tornado hit which sucked a number of my newly planted trees and roses right out of the ground! I'm just getting used to gardening in my little neck of the woods, so I'm taking that as a lesson to be patient and wait to go to Bob Wells a little later in the season.

Thanks for the tip on Alma fig. I was planning on espalliering that one!

I think Alma should be ok up against the house - especially if you are espalliering against a South wall. My LSU Gold and Black Mission do ok a couple of feet out from my house South wall and it has already been 15 deg on 3 different nights this year. The tip growth usually dies back about 6 or 8 inches.

But I love Celeste - don't know Alma, it's a TX A&M fig I think. If Jujube says it might freeze in Zone 8, I'd trust that.

Paul

This message was edited Jan 18, 2011 9:24 AM

True, true, I'll take jujube's word. I have just the spot for it though, against the south side of the house =D. If it gets too much die back I'll pot it up and move it into the greenhouse in winter. I have Celeste and an Italian one (can't remember the name). I'm still wanting to plant various varieties of figs thoughout the landscape--I love the fruit and just think the tree itself is pretty. I'm eyeing LSU Gold and LSU purple from Bob Well's Nursery when I can get over there. They also have Black Mission!

I am just not sure on the cold hardiness of Alma. Texas A&M says that it is not cold hardy.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/homefruit/fig/fig.html

However, other people claim "on the internet" that it is very cold hardy.

I commonly see on many posts that it is more cold sensitive than other figs while it is still young but gets better as it gets older.

I am trying Black Mission fig this year but it is supposed to be one of the least cold hardy figs out there.

It is a bit of a risk, I think. In addition, since I want to espallier it (still not sure if that is really a verb) I could more easily cover it. I'll have to see how it goes. The more figs the merrier in my book. I understand Alma seeds are much smaller and I have a new recipe for fig-orange jam. Sigh!

I suggest you add a couple handfuls of woods soil when planting your new trees. Also a handful of Azomite trace minerals.


The woods soil is to introduce more fungal action for your tree roots.

Some people have been grinding up the leaves of fruit trees and mixing them into the soil at the base of the tree. They werent mixing them together so the Peach tree only got its leaves mixed into the soil at its base and the Apple only received its own Apple leaves. This was supposed to create an increase of microbial life in the soil that each tree preferred. Each tree has its own microbial relationship. I did it this year with my Persimmon but I am not monitoring the results very well.

I would say that the fungals [as opposed to bacteria] are in the soil rather than the leaves.

You are right!
I went back to the discussion and found out he was referring to Mychorizal fungus.

Thanks

Hmmmm, now where would one aquire such a thing? (wood soil)

terri,

For me I would go down the road a short ways and into the woods. Maple, oak, and beech trees likely have these fungals in the soil. I would just dig into the soil 3 or 4 inches. Adult healthy fruit trees might be ok too.

If one is planting conifers [evergreens], then dig under a healthy conifer of that type.

All this is to inoculate the young trees.

Indy, I'll try it!
I have plenty of woods behind my house. I wonder if I will bring in a bunch of ticks in with the woods soil? I doubt I can dig 4" into the soil (too many rocks) so maybe just 1" past the leaves will have to do.

Jujube,
a side sprout from my black mission has been growing well out in the yard, away from the house. As I said above, we had 3 nights at 15 deg. Hardened the figs off pretty well. The new black mission is 5' high (grown from 1' last Jan when I cut it loose from the big tree and moved it). We (my dog & I) had about 6 figs from it last summer - yummm. I never am quite sure what to expect.

The photo is of the "grandmother" of the new black mission tree. Note the date. It grew in another NC town, near Charlotte

This message was edited Jan 18, 2011 8:41 PM

I am certainly glad to hear of your success. It will be nice if I get a few next spring. Let me know if you get even lower temps.

Terri,

The Kiefer pear is not much for fresh eating, but is VERY prolific for preserving. I have two trees, both planted for 4 years. Last year and the year before, at least one of the two produced heavily. I picked well over a bushel from a relatively small tree the first year. This past year I had about two bushels, and the trees are about 12 feet tall.

David R

I just received more than 100 fruit trees.
I ordered Sugar Cane Jujube, Burgundy and Santa Rosa Plum, Shinko and Hosui Asian Pear, Black Mission Fig, Angel Red Seedless Pomegranate and 3n1 low chill Apple trees.

I already have all the holes pre-dug but planting them is going to be a pain.

They are all bareroot so I am keeping them under wet blankets until tomorrow.

Jujube- We had a cold Winter in 2008-2009 and one night it was 8 degrees (I woke up and looked at my thermometer) That was just after I moved in and the black mission and Celeste froze to the ground. They came back and grew about 5 or 6 feet tall and I covered their main trunk with foam pipe insulators for the 2009-2010 Winter and had no loss. I didn't do any insulation this year and they still seem fine. I am expecting a good harvest this year unless we have an early Spring followed by an Easter freeze. So far Winter has been good for the plants with 15 deg on 3 nights so far and mostly in the low 20s.

Photo is of the Celeste in Summer of 2009

dreaves, thank you! I got Keifer for exactly that, preserves. If I can learn to keep the fruit trees alive I will be very happy.

jujubetexas, wow! Lots of work but the rewards should be worth it! If you have the same weather I'm having here today those tree should be in hog heaven--misty rain and cool.

pbyrley, gosh! I can hardly wait for my fig trees to start looking like yours. That foam insulator trick is a good tip, thank you. I bet I can find some on sale in just about a month here in NE Texas ;~)! I'll have it ready for next winter.

Just back from the orchard. I had a helper and we got about 65 trees in the ground. I covered the rest of them in compost and will plant tomorrow and Saturday. It was overcast and misty so it definitely was a very good time to plant. Should be in the low 20's out there tonight. No problems.