I have two peach trees that I have not set out yet. They are still
in the containers they came in. I have been feeding them aprox.
every 4 or 5 weeks. The sun seems to have burnet some of the leaves
and some of the fruit has come on and then fell off or is on there
but is siriveled up. Can you help me not loose all the fruit?
In My Garden Blog
Southern California Coastal & Inland Valleys
June 8, 2006
By
Yvonne Savio,
Pasadena, CA
Thinning the fruits encourages better quality fruit and reduces the strain on tree branches.
Fruit Trees and Vines
Early summer is the time to tend to fruiting plants to get them on the path to producing the best crops possible. No matter what the summer weather brings, there are certain routines that can give these plants a good chance of staying healthy and filling our fruit bowls.
Thinning
The best crop is not necessarily the heaviest crop. In fact, reducing the number of fruits generally improves their quality. Thin fruits on trees and vines to what you realistically expect to consume. Thin tree fruits to opposite sides of branches for balanced and more complete development with less strain on trees, especially on those bearing fruit for the first or second time. Leave at least 3 inches between apricots and plums, and 5 inches between peaches, nectarines, pears, and apples. Thin grape clusters to produce bunches of fewer but larger individual fruits, rather than many tiny ones.
Protect Fruits From Birds
Put netting on trees two or three weeks before the fruit begins to ripen to discourage birds from making a habit of visiting the trees. (You know they decide the fruit's ripe the very day before you do, so they get them first!) Tie the loose ends of the netting so birds don't get trapped inside.
Sunscald
Paint tree trunks with a light-colored indoor latex paint to prevent sunburn damage, which then invites borers and fungus infections. Use an inexpensive brand, or thin down a more expensive one to a solution of half water and half paint.
Pruning
Finish trimming citrus trees. Fruit is produced on new wood, so remove entire branches (thinning) rather than shortening them (heading back). To redirect branches, trim them to a leaf pointing in the direction you want new growth to go.
You can prevent fungal and bacterial mildews and rots on grapes by pruning away some of the foliage. When grapes are pea-sized, clear away leaves about 6 inches from the bunches. This will improve air circulation and help prevent the rots from getting started. Keep leaves on the sunny south side of the clusters, however, to provide shade.
Watering
Water citrus and avocados deeply every two or three weeks, and add a 3-inch-thick layer of mulch to maintain uniformly cool temperatures. These trees are more tender than other fruit trees and cannot withstand the stress of alternate moisture and dryness. Citrus roots grow beyond the tree's dripline, so give them a larger basin area.
Peach brown rot may result from overwatering close to harvest, so irrigate these trees deeply but less frequently.
Fertilizing
Feed fruit trees approximately every three weeks during their growing season with a half or quarter dose of fertilizer to encourage them to produce fruit and grow strongly for next year's fruit.
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Comments on Fruit Trees and Vines
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We welcome your questions and comments about this column. If you have gardening questions unrelated to the column, please ask them on our message boards.
Joann Shock
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Yvonne Savio
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Hi, Joann--
It's not a good idea--for the health of the tree--to let fruit set
before the tree is well-established and flourishing in its new home,
whether in the ground or in a large container. Your tree's
shriveled fruit and dropping leaves is its way of letting you know
it's not happy. The sooner you can plant the tree and give it good
soil and water to thrive, it'll recouperate--and next year, you can
enjoy a couple of fruit.
hazem shams
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I am hazem shams
c0uld you please send me a catalogue for fruits and
vegetables
address. 2 nd quarter building 3 flat 44
rehab city, 11841 m a s cairo egypt
thank you very much
elnisrcompany777@hotmail.com
Yvonne Savio
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Hi, Hazem--
Sorry, I have no catalog and sell nothing. Many catalogs are
available online.
Ed
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I have a dwarf Lemon tree that has never been pruned. Is now (June
15) a good time to prune and how should the tree be pruned?
Yvonne Savio
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Hi, Ed--
Citrus generally should be pruned only to remove crossing branches,
deadwood, and suckers/watersprouts. If your lemon has none of these
"offending" branches, you may want to prune only for esthetic
reasons. In any case, anytime is fine, since citrus are evergreen
and never go dormant. Best to cut a branch down to another branch or
leaf stem emerging from a branch, so you don't create a stub.
Pilar Ortega
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Hi Yvonne-
We have just planted our vegetable garden a few weeks ago and have
now found out that corn and tomatoes do not like to be near each
other. The corn is in a row with about a three foot walkway between
the next row which is where the tomatoes are. Should we consider
moving the tomatoes? Thanks in advance for your advice. Best-Pilar
Yvonne Savio
Hi, Pilar--
I'm not quite sure why you think your corn and tomatoes don't like
being together. Corn should be planted in blocks of at least 4
stalks in each direction--preferably more--to enable more thorough
pollination of all ears (windblown and rustling of stalks when
tassels start releasing their pollen will help; every single silk in
each corn must be pollinated, since each silk goes to one kernel).
Tomatoes--especially tall-growers like indeterminate varieties--are
useful being corralled with cages or stakes to facilitate our
picking individual fruits as they ripen, so corn can serve this
function (like beans crawling up cornstalks). But this would make
it more difficult for the corn to be sufficiently pollinated, since
tomato branches and foliage would impede the corn pollen getting to
the silks.