Mahalo for your reply on this ! What part of Oahu do you live ? On Kauai I am up in the hills about 15 minutes from the beach. I guess I am apprehensive about all that talk that the trees need 45 degree nights (100 to 400 depending on the variety)to initiate fruiting. It never drops to 45 degrees here. Yes, it does up in kokee, but never down here in Kalaheo. But I'll take your word for it , and purchase the Florida Prince to try it out. I'm also tempted by those blueberrys, but haven't seen those yet in the stores here.

Once again thanks for the post, I gets discouraging sometimes that there isn't more action in this particlar forum.C'mon gang - Lets talk plants !

Aloha

Pueokai,
I live in the Honolulu area, in Palolo Valley, it never gets colder than about 59 degrees, but my Florida Prince is fruting again right now. The Nectarines are just now starting to bloom and I think I'll have some fruits, too. The Anna apple has a few small fruits just now starting to grow, not too many blossoms this year. The Methley plum flowered late last year, but no fruits.
Lychee is in full bloom right now and the avocado blossoms are just now stating to appear on the branches. Oranges are also in full bloom.

Well, my peach tree , which had a small peach growing on it when I bought it, seems to be growing really well. The one peach which was on it when I purchased the plant from Wal Mart got bigger and when it ripened I ate it, and it was suprisingly juicy. The plant keeps flushing with new growth but so far no nore peaches have shown up. I was at our Garden Fair at Kauai Community College and the tropical fruit lecturer laughed at me when I asked if he thought these types of trees would produce, saying I would be dreaming if I thought they would fruit anywhere but up in Kokee. So I am anxiously awaiting to see if I get anymore fruit before I invest in the plums or apricots. So please keep me informed of your progress gtanaka. Thanks for the info, and please let me know any info on things such as fertilizing that might help the little tree's fruit production.

Mahalo and Aloha !

I think a lot of the trees from Pang's come from Dave Wilson Nurseries in California. Dave Wilson has a nice website at: http://www.davewilson.com/ and they list the varieties which do well in low chill climates.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dave Wilson Nurseries

Please keep us posted on how the peach tree does. I live in Wailua and have had the same reservations about these fruits - would LOVE to grow them (the ones in the supermarket are awful) but fear that they don't get enough chill to fruit.

If yours is putting out a lot of leaves and no flowers, it may need more phosphorus.

Well, the Floria Prince peaches came through again this year. The peaches were small but had good taste. Only had a few Anna apples. They tasted a bit tart. The plums did not fruit nor did the nectarines. I was a little disappointed, but its been less than a year since I got them, so will look forward to this Spring when they bloom again. The Sharp Blue blueberries I bought fruited and they are doing well. Just a few months ago I got a cutting of a Dragon Fruit and just yesterday i picked the first fruit and tried it. It's not what I was expecting. It did not taste as sweet as I had hoped and the texture is not to my liking. They are very similar to Kiwi Fruit. The lychee was good, but small, we've been in a drought this year.
gtanaka

Aloha,

On a different topic, sorry no trees for me right now!

Hey Pueokai,
Totally agree. Not enough talk on here guys! Even if its just giving updates on how everything is doing, give a shout! It'll spark other conversations, and probably lead to helpful info for anyone and everyone else! Thanks!

Everyone n anyone,

The strawberries are doing awesome, I have them in a hanging planter, and if ya look back through the discussions, Im sure ya can find the original pictures. I've got maybe 4 other plants starting from the main, roots are pretty much solid now, getting ready to move them in the next week or so.

Im still looking for plants trades here on Kauai everyone! All kines of Orchids, Cannas, Ginger, Heliconia, Bromeliads, Puakenikeni, Purple Crown Flower, Yellow Angels Trumpet, Bird O' Paradise, etc.

Im working on some Hibiscus starters(Large White, Regular Red, and the "Lacy" Red variations/species) Ive got some White Ginger, Shell Ginger, Red Ginger, orange or pink vertical Heliconia, vertical rainbow Heliconia as Ive come to call it(pink, orange, red, white, and yellow, will post photos for proper ID's when can)a few different Cannas(finally figured out a good germinating technique for those suckers!) Mountain Apple sprouts, Cooks Pine saplings, working on a bunch of Papaya sprouts, Tahitian Jasmine, Gardenia, Guava, White Spider Lillies and working on Queen Emma Lillies, Papyrus(Was told that's what it was anyway), white Plumeria, Pink Plumeria, Angels Trumpet(purple and white, looking for yellow if anyones got it) Crown Flower, and pretty much anything else I can find for free, trade, or sale. As you can imagine, my yards a mess ! Ill trade for anything I have listed above, just let me know what you're interested in, or if you have anything I might be interested in. Im working on some pitcher plants too, hope those root properly =]
I shoot photography, so Im looking for anything that has some nice blooms for pics or that I can split !

I emailed "Pangs" nursery, they're over in Kaneohe on Oahu. They told me they don't typically sell to individuals to due to the shipping rates, at least to outer islands(Kauai in my case, but you knew that) Im not sure about on-island, maybe they have different rules =/ worth a try, shoot them an email if can! I love the prices, I buy their stuff here on Kauai at Walmart n K Mart I believe, seriously, tomato plants, already producing, came to about $3.75. Ive had them in the ground for about 2 weeks and I more than made the money back in that time.

Hope everyone is doing well and having a good time, take care and talk to ya soon, mahalo!

Dave
Kauai, Hawaii
Mantidave@gmail.com

Well, gtanaka, congratulations ! I'm still not seeing any peaches on my tree, but its growing like a bat out of hell. When did your peaches show up ? Must I wait till spring ?

Hello Pueokai, I think your peaches will do fine, they will bloom in early spring and your peaches will ripen in May or June. If you bought the peach tree from your Wal Mart it should be same as mine. Don't forget to trim your trees every year after the first two years of growth. Peach blossoms only appear on new one year growth. My Florida Prince is really growing a lot of new branches right now, too, like yours. And so is the nectarines, still hoping I'll have some methley plums this spring, my brother bought the Desert Delight plum and he had fruits this summer and he only bought his plant this spring.

About two and a half years ago, I planted a peach tree and apple tree at my Kapolei home. For business reasons, I moved to Kauai only to move back this past April. To my astonishment, both of the fruit trees were still alive. In fact, as I am writing this, there are 15 apples on my apple tree and approximately 25 peaches on my peach tree. Unfortunately, I do not know what the names are of the fruit trees. Both trees are healthy and seem to thrive on the current conditions they are under. I would appreciate any type of advice or feedback on the proper care of them. Thanks.

Good news from everyone !

OK, looks like we know these trees work ! My peach ended up with about 40 to 50 - they were the size of a grocery store plum or tangerine, Very juicy and tasty ! Most visitors were shocked and appalled that I grew peaches in Hawaii, so the suprise value made the experiment really fun. It was all good for about 3 weeks, nothing touched them except my family and friends, until the majitos birds figured out that the peaches were tasty - then it was a race to see who would get them first. The majitos definitely won in the end ! LOL

Anyway, of course I ran down to Kmart and bought the apricot tree and blueberry bush, The grasshoppers or Japenese beetles or whatever eats those perfectly round holes in the leaves; totally stripped the apricot tree during that last little drought we had ( also stripped my mountain apple trees), but during that last rain and with the trades and nighttime rain, they all started putting out new leaves. Its getting hot again and the trades are dying - so I hope they don't get stripped again. Is there any way to prevent this ? Seems like if we have trades and night rain the plants can somehow keep up; but if its dry the bugs win ! Should I spray with something ?(hopefully natural if possible).

And now if someone knows how to prune the peach tree and can explain this procedure that would be greatly appreciated. A guy logged in to My Florida Prince Peach string I had going but he didn't reply to my request for online lessons.

Thanks for the inspiration, gtanaka, and I hope you do good with your plums and such. I'll keep you informed as to my apricot and blueberry, and whatever else I'm tempted with as I peruse the varied Pang selections.

Aloha,

Mark

Hey gang! Just thought I'd let you know that I picked my first peaches from my tree and it was so sweet and full of flavor. The peaches were only as big as a plum. I hope to find a way to get them to grow bigger. That would be the biggest satisfaction for me. By the way, my peach tree is about nine feet tall. I will be pruning it come this February of next year. Does anyone care to share some advice on pruning techniques?

Glad to see that everybody that have peach and apple trees are doing well with them. Take a look at the following link for a youtube video on how to trim a peach tree; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBrwFTYrlc4 you'll have to copy and paste the url address into the address window. I did not have much success with my trees this year, the Florida Prince Peach and my Desert Delight Nectarine had fruits, but not as much as I thought I would get and the blue berries have not grown much since last year. But I continue to buy more plants; this year bought an apricot, beauty plum, and Panamint nectarine tree, and more blue berries, the O'neil, and Misty. Kennyb, Kapolei is hot and dry, I'm very surprised your fruit trees are doing so well. Your apple tree must be either an Anna Apple if the fruit is red or a Dorsett Golden, if the apple is yellow. Those were the only apples the the Oahu stores were selling at that time.
I, too, am now competing with the birds (Bulbuls) for the fruits. The first year they did not touch the fruits, now they peck on all of the fruits before they are even close to getting ripe.
By the way, apple trees don't need the pruning that peach and nectarines do. Trim apple trees for shape and size only.
gtanaka

Gtanaka, thanks for your getting back to me and for your information on trimming a peach tree. Yes, Kapolei is very hot and dry and I cannot give you much feedback as to why my peach and apple trees are doing well. When I returned home, the peach tree was losing its leaves. I'd say about a half of the leaves had fallen and the other half was brown but still on the tree. I elected to pluck all of the leaves that were left on the tree. I drove a stick of miracle gro that promotes fruiting (I forgot the name) into the ground at the base of all my fruit trees. Well, after a week, the peach tree started to bloom like crazy. Especially on the branches that I had plucked the leaves. As I had mentioned before, I ended up having approximately 25 peaches. Now, for my apple tree. I removed the growth that was coming from the roots. After I fertilized it, it starting giving flowers like crazy. At this time, they are still getting bigger and a lot of new branches are coming from the lower part of the trunk. I have yet to see any color exept light green on all of the apples. The one thing that I've notices is that my apples look like apples, whereas, my peaches are shaped more like almonds. I just bought a small Malus Hybrid Dorsett Golden Apple tree from Home Depot. We'll see how this one does. I hope this answers some of your questions. It's hard to give you additional information because I was not living in Kapolei for the first two and a half years of the fruit trees life.

Kennyb, do you think there is more of that Dorsett Golden Apple tree from Home Depot? I have success growing this apple tree in my front yard in Waipahu and I'm thinking of planting another in my backyard, too. Which Home Depot did you buy it from?

There were two Dorsett Golden Apple trees and one Florida Prince Peach tree yesterday afternoon at the Home Depot in Kapolei. Call them at 674-6120 to ask them to hold one for you.

Thank you Kennyb! I didn't call them, but I had to go to Kapolei this afternoon to pick up some documents I need and then decided to go to Home Depot if they still have the fruit trees. They did! However, I decided not to buy the apple tree instead I bought the Florida Peach. I'm hoping this fruit tree would bear fruits for me and thrive. I'm so ecstatic! There is still two apple tree and one Florida Peach when I left Home Depot.

My peach tree is starting to have the leaves turn brown again - no flowers yet - but could it possibly put out two crops per year ? Anybody know ?

Okay, I can' give you any reason as to why your leaves are turning brown, but I can tell you that my peach and apple trees are doing well. Both are experiencing new growth, in fact my apple tree is flowering again (but not my peach). There must be a demand for apple and peach trees in Honolulu because no matter where I go, there are beautiful Dorsett apple and Florida Prince peach trees to select from at WalMart and the Home Depot stores.

Glad to find others in Hawaii to share info with. I live in MT. View on the Big Island. On average it takes three years for a fruit tree to start producing after planting. I've had Florida Prince peaches for 5 years now.They started producing about 2 and a half years ago.Peaches and nectarines need heavy pruning each year to produce strong fruit wood each year. I prune out all dead and crossing branches first creating a vase shape. They produce flowers on last years summer growth, prune these down to three strongest buds. To get larger peaches you have to thin the fruit to every 2 to 3 inches. They are also hungry trees. Fertilize in January and again after fruit set with a higher phosphorous fertilizer. This is the third year I've had my Anna Apple and it is so loaded with fruit I've had to do alot of thinning. It seems to set fruit and flower at the same time. It started in January, I've harvested some apples and it is flowering still. I think it's great that the fruit will be ready for a prolonged time! I have a Hood Pear that does okay but really needs to cross pollinate to set more fruit, So I'm putting in a pinneapple pear this year so I can have more fruit. Here's a trick to get more pollination of your fruiting flowers- grow flowers around the tree- marigolds,asters and borage bring in the bees.More bees more fruit set. Also even when a tree says it's self fruitful it will benefit by having another tree nearby. Selffruitfuls can have better fruit set with the same exact tree variety planted nearby. Pears and plums benefit from another verity that will flower at the same time nearby. I also have Katy apricot, Methley and inca plum,and Einshemer apple, but they have only been in a year. You really can't know for sure if it will do well where you have them until that magic 3 comes and goes. also chill hours also work at 55-65 degrees , but you have to double the chill hours for that tree (eg. einshemer apples chill hours on the tag say 100 or less , that means it will need at least 200 hours at 55-65 degrees here) Hope this helps!

Is this forum on peaches and plum still open?

I'm also curious snakasone3 as I live in a nearly identical climate and bought a Sunshine Blue Blueberry this December to try and get to fruit here. It came with flowers but they fell off due to my underwatering

Here are some pictures from when I almost killed it earlier this year (lol) to now.