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Fruit trees HELP Please????

Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 2:03 pm
by BigBill
My wife planted the pits from white peaches and after 3 years now i'm getting peaches. But there forming and growing to about 1/3rd to 1/2 there size and drying up and falling off??? I'm not sure whats wrong with them. :help:

My apple and pear trees seem to be growing very slowly too. My peach trees passed them in size a few times already. I have 10ft + peach trees alreay while my pear and apple trees maybe hit 6ft. I know the deer are trimming my apple trees but they should get even stronger as the rootsare untouched. :help:

Is there something i can feed my fruit trees to make them grow faster into healthy fruit bearing trees? What else can i do??? :lost: Bill

Re: Fruit trees HELP Please????

Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 2:28 pm
by Eugene
Soil test. See if you need amendments. About the only thing you can do with semi mature tree - other than relocating the tree.

Growth rate and maturity of trees varies greatly by genus. Other factors such as micro climate, location, moisture/rain fall and soil conditions effect growth rate.

Fruit size. Late frost took care of most fruit tree blooms in this area. My black walnut production is down, fewer and smaller nut size, for several reasons, late frost, cool conditions early to mid spring, then rain fall. But rain fall conditions were excellent for the seedlings planted this spring.

Re: Fruit trees HELP Please????

Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 3:24 pm
by beaconlight
Every thing Eugene said is true. There is one other factor too. Seeds from hybrids can be quite different then the fruit they came from. I suspect that may be part of the story too. Peach trees mature to fruiting sooner than Apples and pears, usually. As far as black walnuts being frost and rain deprived of nuts I experienced that 2 years in a row. First time the trees were in full bloom with many leaves sprouting. A sudden severe frost killed off everything. All leaves and all blossoms. The tree had to set a whole new set of leaves. The following year there was only 1 nut. This spring it got hit by frost again, not quite as severely as 3 years ago. Many leaves were affected as well as most blossoms. # nuts formed. They were small and I expect infertile. This tree and another not growing as quickly as this one did came from fruit of a neighbors tree. We kept them in the freezer for the 6 weeks recommended, planted and transplanted as the proper time came to be. Unfortunately I picked the wrong place to put the better, quicker growing tree. Evidently the cold, frosty air comes down the mountain and settles in this area. The slower growing nut tree is about 150 feet away but 20 feet higher and has never been as severely affected by frost. It seems to depend on the luck of the draw.

Re: Fruit trees HELP Please????

Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 4:01 pm
by Don McCombs
Beaconlight is right on the mark. Most commercially available fruit trees today are the result of genetic manipulation. When you buy a tree, the genetically manipulated stock is grafted to non-manipulated root stock. The seeds of the fruit are either sterile or carry the traits of one of the parent or grandparent trees. Bottom line is that you can't grow fruit trees from the seeds of your favorite peach, pear or apple variety and expect to get the same fruit. Even with the proper tree, there is a lot of maintenance involved in getting good fruit. Pruning, spraying and fertilization need to be done to achieve great results.

Re: Fruit trees HELP Please????

Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 5:47 pm
by beaconlight
Bev and I were talking about this as we ate today. We are not even sure the trees we planted came from the same parent tree. The neighbor had 4 Black walnuts behind his house. All 4 trees are different shapes and sizes. Remember I am talking about planting nuts 25 to 30 years ago and nuts today.

Re: Fruit trees HELP Please????

Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 8:11 am
by v w
The quickest and surest way to reproduce your favorite fruit tree is to graft. I tried a couple of times but never got anything to live but thought it would be fun to try. I just googled fruit rootstock supplier and there were thousands. I opened the first one - Moser - and it looks like they carry quite a few. The advantage of grafting is you can usually get a rootstock that is hardier than the original and since the root controls the size you can have anything from dwarf to full size on most kinds While the fruit will be the same as the parent the seed generally is faithful to the rootstock. If you try this let us know how it works. I also think you can graft two different kinds to a common root and not need two trees for polination on kinds that require two different trees. Air layering is another method for getting a tree. Our walnut tree is loaded this year, I have duck to mow the lawn. There is so many they aren't the biggest. The wife likes them to bake with. Vern

Re: Fruit trees HELP Please????

Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2011 5:21 pm
by BigBill
I did grafting with my uncle back in the early 60's with success.

Re: Fruit trees HELP Please????

Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2011 7:16 pm
by beaconlight
More on Black walnut. The tree I thought had only a few nuts needed trimming where the driveway passed by. Picking up the branches i came upon a 2 gallon pail full odf nuts. They seem small so when I get the husks off we shall see. I hope to be pleasantly surprised. Bev reminded me that we planted 30 Black walnuts in a clear area in the woods in spring of 1985. I didn't want to plant them there for fear of deer cleaning them out and have made it my business not to look for fear they are all gone. Now next time up I will check for curiosity has gotten stronger than fear.