15
votes
Accepted
What is this (fungus?) on my fruit trees, and should I treat it?
That is lichen, which is not detrimental to your tree's health (it's not a parasite, it lives off of photosynthesis). This is normal, no need to worry.
- 51.6k
12
votes
What are the chances to get an edible apple from a tree grown from seed?
My experience is different. It is very easy to have a apple tree from seed.
But apple trees are not auto-fertile. This mean that to have apple on a tree, you need pollen from an other trees (and ...
- 13.9k
11
votes
Accepted
How can I make a single cherry tree bear fruits?
Depending on where you live there could be a compatible cherry near enough that you will get fruit. Fortunately there are good resources out there to find good pollinators for stone fruit. Typically ...
- 5,172
11
votes
Why does my lemon tree have multi-colored leaves and strange-looking fruit?
This plant is variegated and is likely to be Citrus limon 'Eureka Variegated Pink'.
Described by the New York Times as
A mutant found on an ordinary Eureka lemon tree in Burbank, Calif.,
around ...
- 57.4k
11
votes
Fruit thinning - is that really required?
A picture would be nice. If the trees are young, they may not yet have an extensive enough root system and canopy to support all the fruit so you end up with lots of small fruit rather then larger ...
- 23k
10
votes
Do Pawpaws do well in common landscape settings in hardiness zones 6B?
I live in USDA zone 6b (Southeastern Pennsylvania), and Pawpaws are native growers here. Cold shouldn't be an issue in 6b, but winter length may have some effect. They don't do well in really long ...
- 51.6k
10
votes
Accepted
Dwarf Apple tree in heavy clay
Apple trees do well in clay. There are a few things you could do different next time:
do not put stones or other soil amendments in the bottom of the hole. If the planting hole has reached the clay ...
- 57.4k
10
votes
Accepted
What is a good stone fruit tree for northeast Indiana?
In Northeast Indiana, you're in zone 5. There should actually be quite a lot of stone fruit trees that do well for you, depending on your soil. Stone fruit trees tend to be short-lived in our climate. ...
- 9,424
10
votes
Accepted
How should I care for a young cherry tree?
When you say 'recent', if that means within the last year, the only thing you need to do is keep it well watered during dry spells for its first 2-3 years. Hopefully you dug the soil over well and ...
- 131k
10
votes
Accepted
What is this small red fruit with a passion fruit like pulp inside?
Based on the way the fruit is clustered, and similarly the way the leaves are clustered. I think what you have is Psidium cattleyanum. Common names include: Cattley guava, strawberry guava, and cherry ...
- 2,791
10
votes
Putting fruit tree branches in compost
Dry leaves should be shredded first as otherwise they might form an impenetrable mat in your compost pile. If you don't have a shredder, it's easiest to just collect a pile of leaves and run the lawn ...
- 23k
10
votes
How do I stop woodpeckers from killing my beloved apple tree?
Since woodpeckers don't eat wood, concentrate on killing the insects that the woodpeckers are actually eating (rather than "keeping the woodpeckers away" by some means other than removing their food ...
- 20.1k
10
votes
Accepted
What does S1S4 (or similar) mean in the context of cherries?
S1S4, S3S6 and others are Pollen Groups for Cherries. Only some species of Cherry tree are capable of pollinating themselves (such trees are referred to as self-fruiting, or self-pollinating). However ...
- 5,839
9
votes
Accepted
How should I care for my multi-variety apple and pear trees?
You definitely need to do some pruning. Before you start pruning a tree, you should find all of the graft points. Since you have multi-graft trees, there should be one graft at the point where each ...
- 9,424
9
votes
Why is my Orange tree not bearing fruit
They are getting pollinated well enough, you can see the young fruit hips in those pictures. If there wasn't any fruit set, the ovaries would fall of the same time as the flower and you'd see no hips. ...
- 6,336
9
votes
Spacing for semi dwarf cherry trees?
You won't find what you're looking for because that information doesn't exist. Planting of fruit trees is done according to how they're going to be trained and pruned, so, if you were growing trees ...
- 131k
9
votes
Accepted
How do I recognize a hermaphrodite papaya tree?
The hermaphrodite papaya is recognized by its flowers. They have both male and female characteristics, which is why they're able to self-pollinate. Unfortunately, that means you really can't tell the ...
8
votes
Can I save this tree?
First of all, I'm going to explain a bit about what's probably happening. Peach trees, and for that matter most stone-fruit trees planted for production, are usually not grown on their own roots. If ...
- 5,839
8
votes
Accepted
How do I calculate residential fruit spray application rate for commercial spray?
If you're using 25 gallons of water, you are using only 25% the amount of water on the mixing instructions, so use only 25% the amount of concentrate, around 1-2 quarts.
Application rate is 100-800 ...
- 5,839
8
votes
Accepted
Can I grow a cherry tree from seed without stratification?
Cherry seeds need both warm and cold stratification to overcome the seed's dormancy. But you can germinate fresh cherry seeds using the plant hormone Gibberellic acid.
In March 1969, partially ...
- 23k
8
votes
Fruit thinning - is that really required?
What "full size" IS depends on what you do or don't do (and/or what "June-drop" does or not do for you.) More smaller fruit - don't thin. Less larger fruit - do thin.
From the tree's point of view ...
- 20.1k
8
votes
Fruit thinning - is that really required?
As well as the issue of small-sized fruit, another consequence of letting a tree over-crop by not thinning is that the tree may start a cycle of only producing a good crop once every two years.
...
- 11.3k
8
votes
Accepted
Will peaches on a sapling grow into mature fruit?
We often see fruit, small or full size, on saplings sold by garden centres, and these are surprisingly small trees.
If the tree can't support the fruit, they'll just drop off. But if you want to give ...
- 23k
8
votes
Should I leave fallen apples (windfall) to rot under the tree?
According to this publication from the University of Wisconsin Extension, the larvae of several destructive insects can grow to maturity in windfallen apples:
Apple Maggot Flies (pp. 12, 14)
Codling ...
- 16.6k
7
votes
Accepted
Do Pawpaws do well in common landscape settings in hardiness zones 6B?
A commercial Ontario grower lists them as hardy to Canadian zone 5 and the USDA site shows it growing as far north as Hudson Bay.
It will be hardy in your area and will do best in:
moist to wet ...
- 57.4k
7
votes
What should I consider when planting fruit trees in a windy field?
Apples are a traditional crop however
Apple trees are best planted in areas that are protected from high
winds as they are generally shallow rooted (roots within the top 12
inches of soil are ...
- 57.4k
7
votes
Recommendations for Composting Bin
Sitting on soil allows worms and other critters to enter and exit the bottom of the bin. Also, I would think the drainage would be poor and you could get an anaerobic smelly mess at the bottom.
As ...
- 1,152
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