T Smalz I live in Brevard county Florida which is in the same latitude as Tampa but on the east coast whereas you are in the west coast. I would say our climates are effectively the same since the latitude coordinate is more of a determinant of climate. I recommend you try one moorpark and one royal blenheim. Your Katy apricot is most likely fine...just dormant so just give it some time to adjust and break dormancy.

Ok the one apricot that stayed on my tree is finally ripening up. I have a few videos that I will upload showing you my apricot trees. It seems that what they sold me as a Moorpark apricot is in fact a Blenheim. So for those of you who want to grow apricots in zone 9b stick to the lower chill blenheim. Yes I know the fruit is tiny but we had a drought this year and I don't have a well or irrigation system installed (yet).

Can't seam to play the video

It should be up there Glenn. It plays for me. By the way today I picked that one apricot and bit into it. It was very small obviously but it was incredibly tasty. I immediately spit it out though after I saw the little maggots crawling around inside. I encountered the same thing with my Ruby Supreme Guava fruits earlier this year. It looks like we have a med fruit fly problem. Great tasting piece of fruit though. Much better than the apricots I have tasted from the store. Not to worry about the fruit fly....I have recently purchased some very fine nylon mesh material to cover my trees with. Next year when I start to get fruit I plan to cover all the trees that might get affected.

Your the 2nd person I know to have that problem with fruit flies. So far I'm good. My apple started to bloom this week and I've pollinated with what I got from you. Thank you so much. Fingers crossed hope it works.

I haven't seen any maggots in the anna apples I have taken from the tree. So maybe the fruit fly is looking for softer peel type fruits. My neighbor just down the street also has a Guava tree (much larger than mine) and he too has had problems with the fruit fly in the past. I think it is a function of weather. Specifically very hot and dry climates like we have been having since the last El Nino event seem to make the problem worse. I believe it is normal to have the maggots in some of the fruit but nearly all of my Guava's were infected earlier this season. The only defense I know is to cover the tree or cover the fruit with a breathable mesh material that can keep the flies from getting to the fruit.

Try a jar with apple cider vinegar. Poke some holes in the top for the flies to get in and hang with string. I've been told this works well. But haven't tried it. Yet. I've got a fly that look like a little wasp that attacks the fruit flies as soon as they come near my trees and those little guy seam to have it under control.

Where did you get those parasitic wasps? I could certainly use some. I have purchased cans of ladybugs in the past and released them into my orchard. They control the aphids on the apple trees quit well. Given a choice I would rather choose an organic/biological alternative.

They moved in all by themselves when I stopped spraying.

There tiny little thing about the same size as a fruit fly. I still see fruit flies but if I watch the little wasp will attack the in short order. I don't know what they are called. Wish I had a name. Also I've been told fruit flies don't like the smell of cloves. Not sure how to use that. I do have ants that are a problem. Man those guys suck.

Hmm. I stopped spraying last year. I do use a copper fungicide but I don't use any insecticides any more. I do have lawn care folks that come by and spray the law every two months. But I would think that should not affect flying insects. Hey do you know of a good nursery around here (Brevard) where I can buy a decent sized sour orange tree? I would prefer the seville sour orange cultivar but will consider others as well.

Places to try. Valkaria Garden's, rockledge gardens, a tree for me, and if those don't work flying dragon citrus nursery in Jacksonville. He drives up and down 95 all the time and will bring you 1 if he has it. Great guy brought me a satsuma had to meet him at Golden corral on Palm Bay rd. You will have to call him to make arrangements.

My Katy apricot wasn't dead, just very late coming out of dormancy. I've finally got little green shoots popping up all over. My tropic beauty peaches are still green, but just starting to blush. The other peach tree ended up being a nectarine, and the fruit was small but SO tasty. Red on the outside with bright yellow flesh, tree has green leaves. I wish I knew the variety. It is so good, I went out and bought a second nectarine tree, but the leaves are reddish purple, Sun Home is the variety. Just got it in the ground. Can't wait for fruit next year!

Very nice T Smalz. Glad to hear your apricot sprung back to life. One of my blenheim apricots is also late breaking dormancy this year. I do have a Gold Kist that I purchased from Bay Laurel nursery this season. It broke dormancy but hasn't really put on much growth since. On the other hand the Braeburn apple tree I purchased from the same nursery has taken off like a rocket. What cool little tree. Both the Gold Kist and Braeburn are from Dave Wilson Nursery in California. The latter is grafted to M111 root stock and the former to Citation root stock. I have a couple of almond trees also grafted to citation and they are kind of stunted. Not really doing much so I am wondering if Citation root stock is bad choice given the soil/sand I have in my lot. Oh well nothing to do but just wait and hope for the best.

How long ago did you put your Braeburn in the ground? Has it weathered a hot humid summer yet? I just bought a cocktail tree with Anna, Dorsett, and Ein Shemer from a vendor at the Green Thumb Festival in St. Pete. Is the Braeburn a low chill apple? I was a little bummed my apple varieties are all sweet. I prefer tart apples, but didn't see any that were low chill. I'd love to have a Braeburn or Grannysmith, but a low-chill Honeycrisp would top them all! I didn't know you could grow almonds here! Didn't know we could grow asian pears here either, but I got a Tennosui, a cross between a Tennessee and Hosui, only requires 100 chill hours. Very excited!

T smalz. Something you might be interested in is the Tampa rare fruit council.

great place to learn and sample types of fruit that grow here. It will help you decide what type you like and learn what is working for others in your area.that tennosui I've never heard of I've got to look that up thanks.

Thanks, Glen! I have been looking for a Lapin's Cherry ever since hearing about your dad's abundant harvest after year 5. I read a lot of discussions about Cherry trees in the south not producing until around the 5th year. So many people pulled them out at year 4. I won't make that mistake! I couldn't find one anywhere locally and asked all the vendor's at the USF plant sale and the Green Thumb Festival in St. Pete. I kept hearing the same thing..."you can't grow Cherry's in FL...Get a Barbados, surinam, or Grumichama." I just bought 2 Lapin's Cherry trees online from Direct Gardening. They weren't expensive, so it can't hurt to try. I really want one of the new low chill 6GM25 Royal Crimson Cherry's that is supposed to grow to Zone 10. They are new this year, and I can't find one available anywhere online. If you know where I can get my hands on one, please let me know. Thanks!

T smalz I have no idea where to get Royal crimson Cherry but I do know other cherries that work here. Royal Lee and mini royal work well but you need one of each. Don't worry about people telling you they don't grow here most people think apples pears and peach won't grow here and there wrong. There are tricks and most people don't want to wait for the trees to get old and big to produce they want it now. Learn how to prune, when to do so,build your soil ,use bio char. I had trees that past when it should bloom and just not want to and had to trick it to bloom. Icing the base of the tree for a week and stripping the leaves by hand does the trick.

Juan thank for the video

Your welcome Glenn. I will be posting additional videos as my home orchard progresses especially if I get an unexpected result like some high chill apples or other fruit performing well in zone 9b. I do have one question for you....do you know of anyone or any company that specializes in installing an irrigation well in a residential location? I have piping (drain field) and a septic tank in my back yard so I cannot have heavy machinery driving around in here. I am looking for someone to drill an irrigation well and hook up an electric pump to it. I prefer something that can run on 110 Volts and 15 amps as that is what I have available outside at the moment but will consider other options. Thanks.

A long time ago I had a company name Jones wells pumps and irrigation put in a system for me at a old house I think they are still around.

Glen and Juan, thank you both for all the great info. What are the red plastic things attached to Juan's apricot tree branches? Are you trying to train the branches to grow further apart and outward, or are you just holding them up because they are young? What are they called in case I want to get some? I'm sort of new to fruit trees. As soon as I pick the last peach off the tree, I will have to prune. They've been in the ground almost a year, and I didn't know I had to prune them because they hadn't grown that much. Then they took off this spring growing several feet and are as tall as my roof, but narrow. I will post pics soon to see if you have advice as to which branches to trim and where. Unfortunately, the person I bought the trees from told me to plant 2 trees in the same whole a foot apart. I wish I hadn't, but I'm afraid it's too late to separate them. It worked out great because the nectarine finished fruiting first, and then the peach started. However the growth rate of the peach is almost double that of the nectarine, and I prefer nectarines to peaches. Is it too late to separate them? I'm guessing the roots are all entertwined at this point.

T Smalz

You are correct. Those red plastic things you noticed are indeed to train the branches so that they will grow out instead of up and bunched together. The idea is to prevent the tree from getting too high and instead have it grow outward. It allows for more air and light circulation in the canopy thereby reducing fungal problems and allowing the fruit to ripen at the same time respectively. I purchased them from Stark Brother's Nurseries. They are located in Louisiana, Missouri and you can order them here

https://www.starkbros.com/products/tools-and-supplies/tree-accessories/limb-spreader-collection

There are three different sizes to choose from. If you buy them as a collection you get a small discount. I use them for my apple trees, pear trees, and apricot trees. They are especially useful for the pear trees as they have a tendency to want to grow straight up.

"the person I bought the trees from told me to plant 2 trees in the same whole a foot apart. "

I have seen this done before when planting pairs of trees together that need to cross pollinate each other. It has some advantages namely to keep the blooms close together so that they can be cross pollinated efficiently and the competition for nutrients should keep their size down to a manageable level. I have a 0.5 acre yard at home so in my home orchard I didn't opt to that but if it bothers you then you can wait until the trees go dormant this winter and then go ahead and replant them.

Here is a video of my Anna apples just before I harvested them today.

Tsmalz a trick you might want to know if you decide to separate your tree I'd to separate the roots under water it will slow you to separate the roots with out breaking them and it helps keep it from going in shock and it's best done when dormant like Juan said.

Juan looking good

Hi,

I discovered that my pink lady apple tree had bloomed for the first time today. Here is a short video showing it.

Enjoy!

Glenn I don't have any Pink Lady apple scion wood right now but I did prune some apricot water sprouts today. Do you want to try and graft them? I have them in a glass jar with water to try and keep them hydrated. Let me know if you are interested.

Hi Juan, yes I would 1 problem my truck is broken down and I can't come meet you

Do you live within walking distance of the Winn-Dixie on Malabar Road?

I do,your are also welcome to come to my house if you would like

Before we get into the logistics tell me if you think these scions are something you can graft.

I think so they look good and it not to hot yet.

I work west coast hours 8 am - 5 pm PST (11 am - 8 pm EST). I can meet you at the Winn-Dixie store on Malabar road today after work around 9 pm EST or tomorrow around 10 am. Which would you prefer?

Ok

Glenn which one? 9 pm today or 10 am tomorrow?

9 tonight sorry didn't get till now I can use wife's car tonight

Ok i will meet you at the entrance to Winn-Dixie.

OK

Glenn here is the youtube channel for skillcult. You should check out his apple breeding program.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFZ-LGULm1gGhd3uOjiZr-A

Cool thank you

Glenn,

I just pruned my Braeburn apple tree today. I have some scion wood if you want it. This apple is a late bloomer so you will need another late blooming variety for pollination. On the plus side it does really well in our hot summers. I would recommend Fuji, Pink Lady or Granny Smith as possible other cultivars to pollinate it with. I can say definitively that this Braeburn tree bloomed in late spring and has already set some small fruitlets.

Juan,yes

Ok after work today (8 pm) I have to go to the store. Can you meet me at the publix on Palm Bay Rd? Here is their address

145 Palm Bay Rd NE Ste 117

West Melbourne, FL 32904-8601

Ok

Let's say 8:30 pm EST in front of the publix store on palm bay road ne.

See you then

Juan,do you like pigeon pea and do you want to grow it

Glenn, I really don't have any more room so I will have to pass...but thanks for the offer. I finish work at 8 pm EST but it takes me around 15-20 minutes to drive to that publix. So I will meet you there at 8:30 pm EST today and hand over the braeburn cuttings to you.

Ok