- Maximising Fruit Production
See also Tips for Healthy Fruit Trees
PLANNING YOUR ORCHARD
Position
Orchards grow best on gentle slopes or well-drained level ground, preferably facing north. At such sites tree rows should be aligned north-south, but on gradients between 1:30 and 1:17 rows should be laid out along contour lines – that is, against the slope of the hill, no matter which way the slope is facing. This layout captures water rather than letting it run off. It also makes picking and machinery access easier, helps with vehicle safety and combats erosion. Fruit trees should not be planted in areas shaded by houses, buildings, or other trees. They also should not be planted near fences or hedges, as these keep cold air trapped around young trees.
Fruit trees need full sunlight for best production. Avoid placing fruit trees where they will be shaded by buildings or by other trees. Leave adequate space for fruit tree root systems by planting away from shade, windbreak or forest trees.
Soil Analysis
First test your soil for pH, fertility and tilth as you dig deeper into the ground. Ph test kits are available at most nurseries and hardware stores. Trees will not grow well if planted over a layer of stone or impermeable clay. Clay can be broken up with gypsum. Here’s how to find out if gypsum will work on your clay soil.
http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s1676965.htm
Fertiliser
Soil fertility tests can be expensive for the home gardener but this website shows how to perform many useful soil tests for free.
http://envirorealestate.org.au/soilcheck.asp
For commercial orchardists, a scientific soil test is essential. Without it, money may be wasted on unnecessary fertiliser applications, or trees may suffer from nutrient deficiencies.
For home gardeners it may be enough simply to add compost to the soil in conjunction with organic seaweed or fish fertiliser and rock dust. Organically certified fertilisers can safely be used in any gardening situation if diluted according to instructions. Australian soils vary a great deal from place to place, but generally they are deficient in trace elements, which is why seaweed solutions can be very helpful.
To find out more about your area's climate and soils you could ask a local organic gardening organisation. There are some links at Green Harvest.
Soil Preparation
Planting small quantities of trees -
Several months before you plant the trees, get rid of the weeds and dig in a generous quantity of well-composted manure before the irrigation system is laid out or the trees planted.
Planting large quantities of trees -
(i) When planting numerous trees at one time, first check whether your ground has been rammed hard by heavy machinery or by the traffic of hoofed animals such as horses and cattle, particularly during wet weather. If your soil has not been compacted by such pressures and is permeable and friable, go to step (iii)
Soil Compaction
(ii)
Modern agricultural practice minimises tillage wherever possible, however if your soil has been compacted you will need to break it up before you plant your trees. Compacted soil reduces the rate of water distribution through the soil to plant roots (poor drainage), reduces air space available for plant roots thereby stunting root growth (poor aeration) and prevents the penetration of water, thus increasing erosion. Plough long furrows up and down your orchard, preferably from north to south. (Tree rows with this orientation receive the benefit of maximum sunshine from the north.) The furrows need not be very deep - 12 to 18 cm in sufficient.
Adding Organic Matter etc.
(iii) If your soil is clay-based, walk along the furrows adding powdered gypsum at a rate of 2 cups per square metre.
Next, travel along the furrows again adding
a thick layer of well-aged chicken manure. Cover this with a thick layer of silage or hay, followed by a layer of compost. The idea is to build up a ridge of organic material which, as it breaks down, will help loosen and break up the hard ground, this restoring healthy soil structure. Keep layering these materials until the ridge is as high as you wish. Then leave it for a few weeks. As the material is broken down by bacteria should heat up, like 'hot compost', and destroy the seeds of any weeds underneath.
(iv)
Green Manure: Wait until the heat of the decomposing material has dissipated. You can then plant straight into the ridges, or if you are not yet ready to plant, sow a crop of 'green manure'. Green manures are ideal whenever a patch of land is going to be free of crops for six weeks or more. They have many benefits. As they grow they form a green carpet that prevents weeds from growing and some have the ability to absorb nitrogen from the air, which is transferred to the roots and released when dug into the soil, giving a boost to the plants that follow. Some varieties have a fibrous root system that helps to give the soil structure. Clover is a green manure that can be left to grow for a year - when it flowers it attracts bees and other pollinating insects.
What to do - Scatter seeds over the surface of the soil using around 50g of seed per square metre or following suppliers' recommendations for specific crops. Make sure the seed is in firm contact with the soil by gently tapping over the surface with the back of a spade. Water in well.Bare patches should be covered within two to three weeks and plants will the most good if they are left for around eight weeks before digging in. If plants start to flower before this, cut off the tops and dig them in. Leave the green manure to decompose in the soil for up to four weeks before planting trees.
Warm season green manures include: Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum), Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata), Japanese Millet (Echinochloa utilis), Lablab (Lablab purpureus), Mung Bean (Vigna radiata), Millet ‘French White’ (Panicum miliaceum), Soybean (Glycine max ).
Cool season green manures include: Brassica spp, Fava Bean (Vicia faba), Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum), Linseed (Linum usitatissimum), Lupin (Lupinus alba), Oats (Avena sativa), Subclover (Trifolium subterraneum), Woolly Pod Vetch (Vicia villosa spp. dasycarpa)
Water
The Bureau of Meteorology provides free online rainfall and temperature data for your area. In most parts of Australia, you will need to provide irrigation when establishing young trees, and during the hot summer months.
Ideally, all orchards should be equipped with a watering system. Drip systems offer many advantages, including the most efficient use of water. Most irrigation supply companies will freely help you design an system for a small orchard and provide all the parts as an easy-to-use kit. You might wish to include a ‘fertigation’ system for sucking liquid fertilizer into the irrigation line. Bury irrigation mains and sub-mains at least 40cm underground to protect them from damage.
A good watering and program is essential to maintaining a tree's vigor and fruiting capability at its best. Water fruit trees deeply but at infrequent intervals.
Water quality is, of course, vital. The purest is rainwater, but moderately salty bore water can be used successfully on many fruiting crops. When you are informed about your soil and water, you can choose fruit and nut varieties which will grow well on your land.
Windbreaks
Windbreaks are essential on rural properties.
The ideal windbreak is composed of several rows of trees planted at spacings that will reduce windspeed, without the turbulence that would be caused by an impenetrable screen. The more rows of trees, the more efficient the windbreak, but where space is limited, plant a single row using tree species that produce branches all the way down to ground level.
Distances between windbreak trees vary according to species used, but in multiple row windbreaks will generally be within the following range:
• Tall windbreak trees: 5-8 metre spacing, 3-6m between rows
•
Medium windbreak trees: 3-5m spacing, 3-5m between rows
•
Windbreak shrubs: 2-4m spacing, 2-4m between rows
The area sheltered by a windbreak is relative to the mature height of the trees. A windbreak will reduce windspeed by more than 70% and shelter an area roughly 20 times the mature height of the trees planted. Unless the length of the
windbreak is 15 to 20 times the height of the trees, the wind will be deflected around the ends and lose effectiveness.
You can plant windbreaks which have multiple uses, such as rows of Melaleucas to attract beneficial, predatory insects, or rows of Casuarinas as nitrogen fixers. Jackie French in her excellent article ‘The Magic Grove’ suggests starting a grove with some fruiting trees that may double as excellent windbreaks - ‘a very hardy tree that will survive severe frost, hellish winds, summers over 45C and drought... bunya, loquat, macadamia, or plum, pears or apples NOT on dwarfing rootstock - you need the big vigorous ones for this. If the seasons are good you can get away with trees like lillypillies, calamondins or oranges or any other trees that grow well for you.
‘In very windy areas plant a line of tall, very deep-rooted trees like walnuts or pecans to help protect the others. (Assuming you have deep soil so they CAN be deep rooted). But these are very large trees, and not suitable for a small garden except where you DON'T have wind and can prune off the lower branches to let in more light to other plantings.’
http://www.jackiefrench.com/groves.html
Windbreak trees should not be allowed to compete with your crop trees and should be planted at least 12 metres from the orchard.
Layout
The Hexagonal System or equilateral triangle system, (see diagram below, centre) is popular as the most economical system for planting orchards. In this system each tree is equidistant from the nearest neighbor in any direction. The land is equally distributed among the trees, and it is nearly all used without crowding the trees. It also has the advantage of increasing the number of trees about 15 per cent over the rectangular system without reducing the distance between trees.
Distances Between Fruit Trees
There is debate as to what is the proper distance between fruit trees. It is impossible to give any hard and fast rule, as it will differ with climate and soil conditions, and the characteristic growth of the variety.
There is always a tendency to plant trees too close.
This is undoubtedly due to the fact that there is a desire to use as much of the land from the beginning as possible, and because newly set trees always have the appearance of being farther apart than necessary.
Experience has proved that serious losses in the amount of fruit produced accompany close planting. Not only is the crop reduced, but orchard operations such as cultivation and spraying are interfered with in closely planted orchards.
Most growers hold that apple trees should not be set closer than twenty-five feet (7.5m) in commercial orchards, and that in most instances, thirty to thirty-five feet (9 to 10.5 m) would be preferable.
Pollination is important for most fruit trees. The supplier of your trees should provide recommendations for the positioning of trees for best pollinisation.
The layout of an orchard also depends on the type of tree being grown and how big it will grow. Here are some examples of planting distances.
Recommended Planting Distances for Apple Trees Grown on Size-Controlling Rootstocks
|
Distance Between Trees (feet and metres) |
Rootstock |
Nonspur Varieties |
Spur Varieties(a) |
Very Vigorous Varieties(b) |
Seedling |
18 - 25 ft |
5.4 - 7.6 m |
12 - 16 ft |
3.6 - 4.8 m |
25 - 35 ft |
7.6 - 10.6 m |
MM.111 |
14 - 18 ft |
4.2 - 5.4 m |
9 - 12 ft |
2.7 - 3.6 m |
20 - 25 ft |
6.0 - 7.6 m |
MM.106 |
12 - 16 ft |
3.6 - 4.8 m |
8 - 11 ft |
2.4 - 3.3 m |
17 - 22 ft |
5.1 - 6.7 m |
M.7a |
10 - 14 ft |
3.0 - 4.2 m |
7 - 9 ft |
2.1 - 2.7 m |
14 - 20 ft |
4.2 - 6.0 m |
M.26 |
8 - 12 ft |
2.4 - 3.6 m |
5 - 8 ft |
1.5 - 2.4 m |
11 - 17 ft |
3.3 - 5.1 m |
Mark |
6 - 8 ft |
1.8 - 2.4 m |
4 - 5 ft |
1.2 - 1.5 m |
8 - 11 ft |
2.4 - 3.3 m |
M.9 |
4 - 8 ft |
1.2 - 2.4 m |
3 - 5 ft |
0.9 - 1.5 m |
6 - 11 ft |
1.8 - 3.3 m |
(a) For spur-type varieties such as Redchief Red Delicious, Lawspur Rome, and Oregon Spur.
(b) For very vigorous varieties such as Rome Beauty, Granny Smith, and Jonagold.
Spacing Requirements for Other Tree Fruits
Fruit Crop |
Minimum Spacing Between Standard Trees (feet & metres) |
Asian Pears |
20 ft |
6.0 m |
| Cherries |
18-20 ft |
5.4 - 6.0 m |
Chestnuts |
40 ft |
12.1 m |
Figs |
10 ft |
3.0 m |
| Peaches |
16 - 18 ft |
4.8 - 5.4 m |
Pears |
20 ft |
6.0 m |
Pecans |
70 (a) ft |
21.3 m |
Persimmons |
15 ft |
4.6 m |
| Plums |
16-20 ft |
4.8 - 6.0 m |
(a) At maturity, approximately 20 years.
Source: North Carolina State University.
PLANTING YOUR ORCHARD
Buy Healthy Trees
Choose trees which are not rootbound, and which have healthy-looking graft joins.
Dig the hole
Plant into your prepared ground (see above). With thin topsoil or in poorly drained, heavy clay soil build up a mound or ‘berm’ to plant each tree on, to avoid water logging, which can lead to crown rot.
For the same reason, do not plant the tree in a ‘well’ so that water pools around the stem. Measure the depth and width of the soil in your tree’s container. Dig a hole to that depth and two to three times wider. Pile the excavated soil to the side to be used later. Loosen the soil around the sides of the hole to help roots penetrate into the native soil. Don’t loosen the soil at the bottom of the hole because the disturbed soil may settle and leave the tree planted too deeply.
Plant the tree
Slip the tree out of its pot or remove the burlap and ties. Prune off only those roots that tightly circle the trunk or are broken. With your hand, loosen and gently spread roots that circle the root ball. Set your tree in the hole, and lay a shovel handle across hole to check the planting depth. The top of the root ball should just touch the shovel handle. Add or remove soil until the top of the root ball is at the appropriate level.
If when you take the tree from its pot you find that the roots are knotted, untangle them and spread them out or chop off the knotted lumps. Follow the 'pruning and planting' instructions from your nursery. If you plant in hot weather, pour water into the hole before planting. If planting a bare-root tree, shape a small mound of soil in the center of the planting hole, and adjust the tree height until the base of the plant is at the correct level. Spread the roots over the mound of soil without bending or breaking them.
Fill the hole and water the tree
If you’re planting in very poor soil, improve the dug-out soil with one third part compost before backfilling. Fill the hole half full with the excavated soil. Water thoroughly and allow to drain. Fill with the remaining soil and rake it gently into a low mound over the planting hole. Pull the soil away from the trunk to form a doughnut-shaped ring around the outside of the planting hole. Water again, gently. Make sure the tree's trunk meets the ground at exactly the same level as before. Wet soil piled against a trunk can cause rot.
Staking
Where local winds are strong, stakes will help hold the until the roots have established. If you stake the tree use at least two stakes (three is best) and tie it fairly loosely with a tie that's soft and elastic, so the trees roots will grow strong not become dependent on the supports.
Read this article about planting fruit trees: http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s1178536.htm
Tree Maintenance
Regular deep watering is essential until the trees' root systems are established into the surrounding soil.
MANAGING YOUR ORCHARD
Keep the Weeds Down
It is important that the tree’s growth is not impeded by competition for water and nutrients by weeds growing along the rows, especially around the trunks, where vegetation can harbour fungus that causes collar rot. While herbicides and mowing are the most common weeding techniques, herbicides are dangerous chemicals and repeated mowing can compact the soil.
Organic Ways to Minimise Orchard Weeds:
1) The Chook Method. (As used by Wendy and Ross Mather at their Food Farm in Eltham, Nillumbik, Victoria)
Let fowls, particularly chickens, run freely in your orchard every day. This method not only gets rid of weeds, it also gets rid of codling moth and other insect pests and provides you with fresh eggs and fertiliser. Geese are grazers, hens are foragers, and both tread lightly on the soil.
The Outback Permaculture Garden says: "It had been impossible to keep the weeds and long grasses down and the fruit trees were loosing their fight against the grass. After the chickens were introduced and had the free run of the whole area, the fruit trees started bearing fruit. Through their scratching the chickens kept the area nearly weed free and cleaned up the fallen fruit as well. They never had any diseases, they always were in excellent condition, supplied a good amount of eggs and occasionally one would sit on eggs." Drawbacks: you have to look after the fowls with secure netting, hen houses, water etc.
Note: Do not keep chickens in citrus orchards. Jerry Coleby Williams says, "Having poultry free range under citrus on a regular basis can be detrimental to the trees and the soil there. Poultry manure tends to make soil alkaline over time, and this change in chemistry makes iron - which citrus really need - less available. [To correct this problem], applying iron chelates in spring and autumn supplements iron levels while acidifying the soil. Poultry manure is nitrogen-rich. If citrus get too much while flowering, it encourages lush growth and fruit drop. Lastly, citrus have a fine, surface root system that is easily damaged by foraging poultry."
2) The Mulch Method. (As used by Pete the Permie and Silvia Allen at Telopea Mountain Permaculture Farm in Victoria)
Once a year mow all the grass and weeds around the trees, right down to the dirt. Then lay down 'biscuits' of straw mulch in thick layers about 30 cm deep. If it's thick enough, it should smother the weeds for another year. Mulching promotes growth, increases soil moisture holding capacity, benefits soil structure and helps increase soil nutrient availability, organic matter levels and soil microbiology. Drawbacks: it's a lot of hard work. (But it's only once a year.)
3) The Wire-and-Grazing Method. (As used by Jackie French in her garden in the Araluen Valley, NSW)
Surround each tree's trunk with its own fence of chicken wire or mesh tree guard 120 - 150 cm high, then allow soft-footed animals to graze around the trees. Jackie has wild wallabies and wombats, but if they are not around you could allow the neighbour's alpacas to graze there (agistment), which would also provide fertiliser. Alpacas are soft-footed animals whose tread will not damage the soil structure.
No alpacas? Sheep are the next best thing.
Drawbacks: alpacas, wallabies and sheep like eating fruit trees, so you should make sure your tree guards are tall enough and secure.
Weeds growing inside the tree guard? Put down a weed mat around the tree's trunk before the grass can grow. Weed mats can be commercial ones such as jute or recycled fibre mats, or they can be very thick layers of newspaper. Newspaper will eventually break down and become valuable compost (these days the inks are biodegradable) but if the layer is thick enough it will take a year or more.
4) The Cover Crop/Living Mulch Method. Plant a living carpet beneath your fruit trees.
Green Harvest says on their website: "Cover crops provide a living carpet of perennial plants for orchards. A ‘living mulch’ of low-growing legumes can provide many advantages, especially compared to grass, which aggressively competes with your fruit trees for water and nutrients. Cover crops can:
- Suppress weeds without the use of herbicide.
- Protect valuable topsoil from wind and water erosion.
- Reduce compaction caused by frequent mowing.
- Increase organic matter, earthworms and beneficial micro-organisms.
- Increase the soil's available nitrogen and moisture retention.
- Bring deep minerals to the surface and break up hardpans.
- Provide habitat, nectar and pollen for beneficial insects and reduce populations of pests.
- Improve water, root and air penetration in the soil."
- Protect the soil from
excess evapotranspiration
Cover crops may also serve vital soil chemistry functions. For example, legumes can be ploughed under to augment soil nitrates, and other plants have the ability to metabolize soil contaminants or alter adverse pH.
The Food Forest website says: "For nitrogen fixation from the atmosphere, plant leguminous inter-row plantings like sub clover. This inevitably leaves some deficiencies, which can be picked up by soil or leaf testing and can be corrected by small additions of other fertilizers such as wood ash, minerals, rock phosphate etc."
Depending on your local climate, suggested covercrop species include: Barrel Medic (Medicago truncatula), Crown Vetch (Securigera varia syn. Coronilla varia), Lucerne 'Sequel' and Lucerne 'Hunter River' (Medicago sativa ), Pinto Peanut (Arachis pintoi), Red Clover (Trifolium pratense) White Clover (Trifolium repens) and Wynn's Cassia (Cassia rotundifolia syn. Chamaecrista rotundifolia).
Drawbacks: you have to sow the seeds twice a year. Many cover-crop plants die down in summer or winter, so use both summer and winter vigorous ground covers to reduce weed invasion.
Fertiliser
Manure:
Use well-composted animal manure to replace the bulk of the nutrients lost when fruit and nuts leave the property. If planting during winter, don't add fertiliser until the weather warms up, as the plant is dormant and can't use the nutrients. In acid soils calcium deficiency can be a problem so, after winter pruning, apply two handfuls of dolomite lime around the base of the tree. Apples in particular need dolomite as they have a high calcium requirement. Now and then, apply liquid fish fertiliser, especially when trees are putting on bursts of growth and while fruiting. Potash is useful too.
Rock Mineral Dust:
Manures and organic fertilisers are usually a good source of macro-nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorous but they typically lack essential trace elements like copper, zinc and manganese. When manures and organic fertilisers are used on their own, plants can end up stunted and disease prone.
Rock minerals are a natural, mineral fertiliser made from specific rock types that contain trace elements essential to healthy plant growth.
How do they help plants?
Trace elements such as silica and calcium build strong cell walls and this helps guard against disease, drought and frost. They also increase the availability of other nutrients in the soil which help us to make the most of other fertilisers you're using.
Applying rock minerals won't give your plants an instant fix because they break down slowly with the help of soil microbes and fungi. This means they won't leach out of the soil, which makes them perfect for sandy soils.
Rock minerals can be added to worm farms or compost bins and the nutrients will end up back in the garden when the compost or worm castings are applied to plants.
Rock minerals are available as a fine dust or in pellets. They're sold through nurseries, agricultural suppliers and online. Just look for 'rock dust,' 'rock minerals' or 'natural mineral fertilisers.'
The trace elements in rock minerals are also important for our health, so by applying them to the plants you eat, it means that you get a dose as well. [Source: Gardening Australia]
Read more about Rock Mineral Dust here.
Applying Fertiliser to Fruit Trees:
Stone Fruit: Feed annually after flowering finishes using a complete organic fertiliser, then monthly using either seaweed or a flower and fruit fertiliser.
Citrus Fruit: Keep citrus trees happy and healthy by using organic based fertilisers. Add about a handful of fertiliser per square metre once a season and cover with mulch.
Apples & Pears: In early spring, heap a circle of rotted manure around the drip zone of the tree. Add a couple of handfuls of blood and bone at that time, and again in late summer. A couple of applications of trace elements in early spring, late summer and again in mid-autumn will keep your tree growing well.
Do not over fertilize, especially with nitrogen, since overapplications can cause abundant foliage growth at the expense of fruit production.
There’s an interesting article on organic fertilisers here: http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s984417.htm
Pruning
There are some excellent books on pruning, particularly 'Pruning and Training of Fruit trees' by Warren Somerville.
Peter Cundall gives good advice on pruning fruit trees: http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s1580442.htm
Bob Magnus, Tasmanian apple-growing guru,
says that apple trees 'make their main yearly growth up until about the end of January. So start pruning after that time. I'm against winter pruning -they have to be pruned in summer and if you follow those directions you'll get lots of fruit and not as many leaves.'
Good pruning practices are important. Excessive upright growth will delay fruit bearing and reduce the quantity of fruit produced. Prune young apple trees to develop a strong framework with a central leader and horizontal branches. Use the open-center approach with a well-spaced branching pattern or similar method for most stone fruits (cherry, peach, nectarine, apricot, prune and plum).
Most importantly, after pruning one tree and before pruning the next, sterilize your secateurs to decrease the risk of passing on any viruses or bacteria. The best sterilizing agent is methylated spirits, but tea tree oil or dilute bleach can also be used.
Pest and Disease Control
With diverse plantings of trees and flowers that attract birds and beneficial insects, and allowing soft footed animals and fowls to forage in your orchard, you can minimise pest problems. Nonetheless diseases can occur.
FUNGUS:
For curly-leaf disease, spray stone fruit with a copper-based fungicide such as Burgundy mixture. Biodynamic farmers use 501, a silica-based spray used to limit fungal infection. Eco-Fungicide is a fantastic product. More on organic fungal controls here, here and here.
SLUGS:
Throw fine, powdery wood-ash all over the leaves of pear and cherry to get rid of pear and cherry slug.
CODLING MOTH:
Codling moth can be deterred by hanging pheremone lures around your orchard and also by tying strips of corrugated cardboard (from old cardboard boxes) around the base of each tree.Green Harvest has excellent suggestions for organic codling moth control. It is said that if you plant nasturtiums under trees and let them climb the trees, this can deter codling moth
BIRDS:.
Fruit-robbing birds can be kept out with TIGHTLY STRETCHED bird netting (loose netting can be fatal for our native species) or bird scaring devices.
Fruit that's not as attractive to birds:
Trees such as pistachios, pecans, olives and sweet carobs are not much troubled by leaf diseases or by birds robbing the harvest. Birds love stone fruit and pome fruit but they are *less* likely to rob the fruits of citrus (particularly lemons and grapefruit), quince, white sapote, feijoa, yellow cherry guava, strawberry guava (which, however, is loved by Lewins honeyeaters and crimson rosellas), avocado, pomegranate, astringent persimmons (until nearly ripe), passionfruit, banana, longan, goldenberry (Physalis peruviana - not a tree but a low shrub), sweet chestnut, macadamia, almond, walnut, pecan, tamarillo and babaco.
That said, cockatoos and bush rats or feral rats may attack nut trees and fruit hanging on orange trees. And foxes take great delight in eating avocadoes!
POSSUMS: Possums can be scared off by fake owls with big eyes, positioned high in trees.
MORE INFORMATION: See more organic pest control hints here.
MAXIMISING FRUIT PRODUCTION
Your fruit tree normally will begin to bear fruit soon after it has become old enough to blossom freely. Nevertheless, the health of your tree, its environment, fruiting habits, and the cultural practices you use can influence its ability to produce fruit. Adequate pollination is also essential to fruit yield.
Bearing Age:
When you purchase nursery-grown fruit trees, their grafted parts will probably be from 1 to 2 years old. The length of time from planting to fruit bearing varies with the type of fruit. Trees that grow at a moderate rate generally bear fruit sooner than those that grow either too quickly or too slowly.
The ages (from planting) when trees can be expected to bear fruit are as follows:
|
Variety
|
Time in Years
|
|
Apple
|
2 to 5
|
|
Apricot
|
2 to 5
|
|
Cherry, sour
|
3 to 5
|
|
Cherry, sweet
|
4 to 7
|
|
Citrus
|
3 to 5
|
|
Fig
|
2 to 3
|
|
Peach
|
2 to 4
|
|
Pear
|
4 to 6
|
|
Plum
|
3 to 6
|
|
Quince
|
5 to 6
|
Dwarf apple and dwarf pear trees usually begin to bear 1 to 2 years earlier than standard-size trees.
Tree health:
Healthy trees produce good quality fruit. Weak or diseased trees produce fruit of poor quality or no fruit at all.
Pest problems involving insects and diseases if not detected early and managed properly can influence fruit production and weaken a fruit tree's overall health. When fruit trees are not sprayed properly or left untreated, diseases and insects may restrict the size and quality of the yield, although the tree itself usually continues to bear fruit.
Climate and Weather:
Most temperate-zone fruit trees need a certain amount of cold winter weather to end their dormancy and to promote spring growth. When winters are too mild, spring growth is delayed, irregular, and slow. These factors extend the period of blooming, thereby increasing the possibility of frost injury.
On the other hand, extreme cold during winter dormancy may kill the fruit buds. Winter weather rarely threatens hardy apple, pear, plum, and sour cherry varieties. Sweet cherry trees, however, are relatively sensitive to cold until they become dormant. Peach trees are very vulnerable to cold weather. Their buds can be killed by midwinter temperatures around -23C (-10°F).
As the fruit buds grow and open, they become more susceptible to injury from frost. The exposed buds can usually withstand temperatures near -4C (24°F). However, the open blossoms of practically all fruit trees may be killed if the temperature drops below -3C (27°F).
When a heavy frost is expected, covering the trees will sometimes prevent bud or blossom injury, provided temperatures do not fall too low and the cold weather is of short duration. Protective coverings may be effective, such as floating row cover material or old bedsheets.
During spring frosts, some commercial growers heat their orchards, but this method is impractical for home gardeners. Overhead irrigation provides effective frost protection when temperatures drop to 0C (32°F). Ice that forms on buds provides an insulating effect until temperatures rise above freezing. After a severe frost, injured blossoms may appear normal; however, if the pistils (center part of the blossoms) are killed, the tree will not bear fruit.
Pollination:
Most fruit trees need to be pollinated. Pollination is affected by cold weather and reduced pollinating insect activity. Without sufficient pollination, trees may blossom abundantly but will not bear fruit.
Some species of fruit trees have "perfect" flowers. Both the anthers, which contain pollen, and the pistils, which develop into fruit, are located in the same blossom. Trees that bear fruit through self-pollination, or set fruit without pollination, are called "self-fruitful." However, many types of fruit trees that have perfect flowers cannot produce fruit from their own pollen. These require pollen from another variety and are called "self-unfruitful ."
Some species of fruit trees do not fit conveniently into either category. Persimmons and dates have male trees that produce pollen and female trees that produce fruit. To grow them successfully, it is necessary to plant at least one tree of each gender near each other.
Almost all citrus trees are "self-fruitful." Other self-fruitful types include quinces, sour cherries, apricots (except Perfection and Riland), figs (except the Smyrna type), peaches (except the J.H. Hale and a few others), and European-type plums such as the Stanley, Green Gage, and Italian prune.
"Self-unfruitful" types include most apple, pear, sweet cherry, and Japanese and American plum trees. To pollinate adequately, plant two or more varieties near each other. The following planting practices are recommended:
Apple. Plant at least two varieties of apple trees near one another. Golden Delicious, a self-fruitful type, is one of the few exceptions to this rule. Poor pollen-producing types, such as Gravenstein, Jonagold, Stayman, and Winesap, need to be planted with at least two other varieties to insure adequate pollination.
Sweet Cherry. Bing, Lambert, and Napolean (Royal Ann) cherry trees do not pollinate one another. Plant a pollinating variety such as Black Tartarian or Republican, Stella, Van, or a sour cherry such as Montmorency nearby.
Pear. Many varieties of pears are completely or partially self-unfruitful. For adequate pollination, plant at least two varieties together. Note: Bartlett and Seckel pears will not pollinate each other, and Magness cannot be used as a pollinator.
Plum. Since most varieties of Japanese and American plums are self-unfruitful, plant two or more varieties together.
Biennial Bearing:
Occasionally, certain fruit trees such as apples bear heavily one year and sparsely the next. This is called "biennial bearing." The spring-flowering buds of most hardy fruit trees have actually been formed during the previous summer. Therefore, an especially heavy crop one year may prevent adequate bud formation for the following year.
Biennial bearing is difficult to alter or correct. However, you can induce a return to normal yearly fruit production by early and heavy thinning during the year in which the trees are producing their large yield.
About 30 to 40 healthy leaves per single fruit are needed to produce good quality. Within 30 days after bloom, thin remaining fruit to leave a single fruit every 6 to 8 inches along the branches.
LABELLING YOUR TREES
One apple tree looks much like another - and the same goes for
all fruit tree varieties. It is especially important to label heritage trees if we are to conserve and propagate them. Traditionally this is done by painting, wiring or nailing names or numbers on trees.
Paint provides very visible numbers (even at a distance) but is messy and, must be redone periodically in order for the name or number to remain legible as the tree grows and the paint fades. Also, paint is not feasible for small trees.
Attaching tree tags with aluminum nails or copper wire is a good method. You can buy soft foil-like aluminium tags, pre-numbered hard aluminium tags or blank, engraveable hard aluminium tags from companies like Forestry Tools. They also sell the wire and nails. You can write on the soft, foil-like tags with an ordinary pen or pencil, pressing hard to 'engrave' the words.
To save money, you can make your own soft foil tags by cutting up old aluminium drink cans. Find out how right here!
On fast growing trees, nails must be pulled out frequently to prevent bark from growing over them. On small trees, nails can be difficult to use or cause stem deformities. If you use wire, make sure you loop it loosely around the branch and check it from year to year to make sure it is still loose. Otherwise, as the branch grows the wire will dig into the bark, cut off the sap flow and ringbark the tree.
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Many people prefer labelling with the hard aluminium tree tags attached loosely with a twist of copper wire. You can write on them with a cheap battery-powered engraving tool from Hobby Tools. These tags are large enough to include the tree's common name and botanical name on one side, as well as some cultivation details on the reverse. |
Another option for attaching tree tags is by using cable ties (See photo.)
The cable is run through the hole in the tree tag. The tag is held at one end of the cable by the lock. The cable is then attached to trees with a staple, often at chest height. Use a large staple 140 mm (9/16 inch). It must reach the wood to secure the cable. A single staple is attached about a half-inch from the end of the cable with the long end of the cable and tag (against the lock) dangling over the staple. As the tree grows it heals over the staple, eliminating the need to periodically reattach the cable tie. To allow for proper healing, only a single staple should be used in a horizontal rather than vertical direction. Also, you should staple across the cable and not through it.
Ties can also be attached to small trees and if properly installed do not cause stem deformities. The cable ties must be stapled into wood so they do not work well for thick barked trees where nails or paint are still the best bet. |
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The most common cable length used is 28 cm (11inches). For best results, black-UV stabilized cables should be used. These are more expensive, but will last. We do not know of any advantages between the solid or ladder style of ties.
College of Agriculture and Home Economics, Pullman, Washington. Revised from USDA Leaflet No. 172 by Kerry Retzel, WSU Urban Horticulturist, Chelan County.
