Fruit Plants & Trees

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Transplant Shock

This is likely the stress of the transplant and damaged roots. Make sure the soil is not too soggy which could reduce root function and lead to fungus problems, but give them regular water. Also, it is important to plant at the same level as its original site. Hopefully they will recover in time but make sure you selected a cultivar that does well in mild weather/low chill conditions such as a southern highbush blueberry variety . Consider fertilization with a slow release or organic food formulated for blueberries. Next time you divide and/or transplant use a root stimulator product containing indolebutyric acid to help mitigate transplant shock (stay away from vitamin products touting helping transplant shock as these are ineffective).

By | 2016-03-17T03:41:10-07:00 March 17th, 2016|Fruit Plants & Trees|0 Comments
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Olive Tree

You potted plant looks like it could be an olive tree. Have you seen any fruit or seed pods on the tree yet? Sorry but it is a bit hard to tell exactly from your photo, but from this photo it appears to be an olive tree. If it is, olive trees are broadleaved evergreen trees that grow about 9 meters tall and at least as wide. Creamy white flowers come in spring, followed by bitter black fruit (except on fruitless kinds) that stains everything it falls on. These are beautiful, long-lived, drought-tolerant trees,. It is one of the oldest known cultivated trees in history and is native to the Mediterranean. Needs full sun, regular water if kept in a container, but do not allow it to sit in water. It is best to grow outdoors.

By | 2016-03-16T04:42:34-07:00 March 16th, 2016|Fruit Plants & Trees|0 Comments
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Blueberry Problem

You might want to review your water practices. Blueberries like ample amounts of water. Blueberries also require very acidic soil, 4.5-5.5 pH. You can fertilize with cottonseed meal to gradually bring down the pH number, but it is a slow process. We would suggest a pH test for this area. Blueberries are very shallow rooted and do not tolerate any competition from other plants. They need to be mulched. Blueberries like full sun. Blueberries fruit according to the number of "chill hours" that they receive in the winter months. You need to know the variety of blueberry that you have planted.The following is a good article to introduce you to the concept of chill hours: http://www.groworganic.com/organic-gardening/articles/find-your-thrill-with-blueberry-chill-hours

By | 2016-03-13T06:10:09-07:00 March 13th, 2016|Fruit Plants & Trees|0 Comments
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Citrus Issues

It appears that there are at least 2 things going on here: 1 - Your tree is suffering from a lack of nutrients. We suggest that you invest in a fertilizer formulated especially for Citrus and follow the label directions. When a tree is suffering stress from environmental causes (lack of water, lack of nutrients) it weakens the tree and it is not able to fight off insect and disease pests. 2 - This tree is competing with all the weeds for water and nutrients. You might want to weed all the way around the tree and make sure that it is getting full sun and that the soil is well drained. These links might be helpful:
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/GARDEN/FRUIT/citrus.html
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/GARDEN/FRUIT/ENVIRON/mineraldef.html

By | 2016-03-12T12:15:49-08:00 March 12th, 2016|Fruit Plants & Trees|0 Comments
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Peach Pit Split

Thank you for your prompt response. It is much appreciated.
Peach Split Pit When cut open, fruit with split pits (as seen on the bottom) may be rotted, have insects or moldy growth inside.
Cause A physiological problem. The exact causes of pit breakage are unknown. Low temperatures and/or freeze damage during flowering and early fruit development may be factors. Fruit of most early cultivars enters the final swell of growth before the pit is completely hardened. As the fruit enlarges rapidly, stress exerted by the expanding flesh causes (or enhances) much of the pit fracturing.
Symptoms The term "split pit" normally refers to the opening of the pit at the stem end of the fruit. This split becomes evident in the third stage of fruit growth, usually referred to as the final swell. Fruit generally develops rot problems much more quickly than sound fruit, and the risk is higher that disease will spread more rapidly from split-pit fruit to other fruit.
Cultural control: Do not overthin, Do not apply excessive nitrogen .

By | 2016-03-11T15:02:35-08:00 March 11th, 2016|Fruit Plants & Trees|0 Comments
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Unknown Apple

There are so many hundreds of apple varieties that we don't try to do positive i.d.'s on them. Your best bet is the Home Orchard Society: http://www.homeorchardsociety.org/

Hope this information below is helpful.
Here are a few suggestions that you may want to try and identify yourself: Gala:A small to medium-sized conic apple. Thin, tannic skin is yellow-green with a red blush overlaid with reddish-orange streaks. Flesh is yellowish-white, crisp and grainy with a mild flavour. Cross of three of the world's best known apples: Kidds Orange Red (a cross of Red Delicious and Cox's Orange Pippin) × Golden Delicious. One of the most widely available commercial fruit. New Zealand 1970's

Fuji: Red Delicious × Ralls Genet. Dark red, conic apple. Sweet, crisp, dense flesh is very mildly flavoured. Keeps very well. One of the most widely grown apple varieties in the world. From Japan developed in 1930's.

By | 2016-03-07T03:19:36-08:00 March 7th, 2016|Fruit Plants & Trees|0 Comments
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Citrus Issue

This picture appears to be a sucker off of the rootstock. Special rootstocks are used to give a citrus tree a strong root system and are not intended to bear fruit. You can tell by where they come from. If they come from under the soil or below the graft union, they are rootstock. You will want to remove them to give your tree increased vigor. The suckers are also more susceptible to diseases and pests. This sucker might be exhibiting some citrus leafminer damage.
Another questions we would have is: did your citrus tree produce any flowers at all in the last year? If not, there might be a watering or a nutritional problem. Successful flowering is what leads to successful fruiting. You might want to visit your local independent garden center with a bagged sample of your tree to see what information they can give you. You should also be able to purchase a fertilizer formulated especially for Citrus. Use following directions on the label.

By | 2016-02-29T19:17:36-08:00 February 29th, 2016|Fruit Plants & Trees|1 Comment
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Orange Tree

Your tree is an orange tree. Citrus trees look a lot alike in photos so telling exactly which type would be very difficult from this photo. There are several possibilities. If the fruit is bitter and seedy then the plant is probably a sour orange, basically planted as such, or more likely root stock grown from a damaged orange. If the fruit is round and sweet it is probably a type of sweet orange, of which there are many, but the two most popular are Valencia and Navel. The end of a navel is so named because it resembles a navel. If the fruit is flattened, it may be a mandarin type orange, which include satsumas and tangerines. If it is a mandarin type orange the peel will pull away easily from the fruit, that is it will be very easy to peel . If it is hard to peel then it is probably not a mandarin type orange. Does best in full sun, regular water and feed with a slow release or organic fertilizer formulated for citrus.

By | 2016-02-28T21:03:56-08:00 February 28th, 2016|Fruit Plants & Trees|0 Comments
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Kiwifruit

Your plant is showing serious nutrient related problems. Note the yellowing between the veins. This plant requires an acid soil in the pH range of 5-6.5. It is also very salt intolerant and can suffer root death. It cannot stand drought or water-logged soil. We do not know from this picture what is going on with the roots, but poor roots can also cause nutrient problems. Our compliments on your careful descriptions by the way. That always helps. The only pest on kiwifruit is the snail, which very much likes the leaves. We could find no mention of a leaf spot disease which would necrose and cause the area to drop out. We strongly advise you to take advantage of your local NC state extension offices for a hands-on appraisal. They also have the ability to do cultures for as yet uncommon problems. The service operates out of your state university and has branches in most counties. Good luck with this problem.

By | 2016-02-26T08:39:43-08:00 February 26th, 2016|Fruit Plants & Trees|0 Comments
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Fungi Brown Rot Or Botrytis On Cherry

Unfortunately, cherries are prone to a number of diseases. They can get several fungal diseases including brown rot, botrytis (gray mold) and numerous leaf spots. Without culturing in a lab it's impossible to know which one is affecting your tree. (A link for having such samples cultured is below in the comment section.) That said, you can do the following even without a diagnosis:
1. Be sure to clean up all fallen fruit and foliage in the fall and don't let it stay on the ground as this keeps spores of whatever you've got in the area. Destroy the old leaves and fruit - don't put them in the compost.
2. Organic fruit grower use one of the copper-based fungicides on their trees to help control such problems. Ask at your local garden center for a copper fungicide and use it according to the directions for cherry trees. Know that one application isn't enough - use it at the frequency recommended on the label.
3. Although you can't control the rainfall, be sure no irrigation or watering is hitting the foliage. This makes most fungal problems worse.

By | 2016-02-23T01:29:45-08:00 February 23rd, 2016|Fruit Plants & Trees|0 Comments
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