Kitchen Garden Forum

Lat year (due to the cold winter I been informed) I had a bumper fruit harvest. We have a similar if not worse weather this year; but will the trees produce another good harvest or will they be a bit spent and need a rest?

Westi

Westi, as far as I know, as a complete amateur fruit grower, the fruit crop depends on two things:

(1) The trees/bushes need to have well ripened wood to produce the flowers in the first place, and that is helped by a dry cold winter
(2) Good weather at blossom time so that the insects are present to pollinate them.

So, we may get another bumper crop year, or may not! Some apple varieties are notorious for only cropping well every other year, though.

No doubt more seasoned fruit growers will be able to give you a much more scientific explanation!

I think Monika is right. Most fruit trees/bushes like to have a cold dormant winter. However if when the trees are in blossom and there is a late frost all could be lost.
All in the lap of the gods I think.

Beryl.

Lost 10% of my raspberry bushes last year due to the cold. (plus others non fruit) Had bumper pear and apple crops though.

Bit mixed..

After a bumper year our plum trees seem to take a rest - it's almost biennial cropping. The gages did the same.

I agree with Beryl. A late frost around blossom time will severely reduce the fruit crop.
The trees need a good late summer and autumn as this is when next year's buds are formed. Then for a good crop in the following year I think the best conditions must be a cold spring which delays blossoming then a prolonged, relatively mild spell to allow blossom to form and set properly - with sufficient warmth to stir the pollinating insects into action.
A severely cold spell in the middle of winter probably has little if any effect.
John

weve bhad an early cold spell , now into a wet warm bit .... if the nild weather carries on chances are the trees will blossom... just in time for a late frost... or the way its raining now it could well carry on ... perhaps winters over? i wouldnt put money on it though

Without a crystal ball it's difficult to tell, I have a wide variety of fruit in the garden, and different years different things do well, this year it was cane fruit blackcurrants jostaberries apples pears and grapes that did really well next year may be strawberries cherries and kiwi and gooseberries? LOL i am still picking the grapes, a little wrinkled now, from the cold greenhouse for the chickens.! do check them first for mould or ferment, bearing in mind what happened to that flock of birds in the US,they fed on the residue from winemaking and died from alcoholic poisoning. Even with a small garden, use the walls/fences and think vertical and it's surprising how much you can produce.

One point I would make on tree fruit.
If like me your plot is now flooded, I am more ankle deep right now, several years ago I lost 2 apples trees in the same conditions because when the waters had subsided I mistakenly thought the trees had been watered enough but in fact they do need to be watered to settle the soil around the roots again to give something to achor to.

Beryl.

I'm thinking my plum harvest isn't going to be too good. Mr plum Beauty is in flower already, in fact it has been very individual and kept all it's leaves until a few weeks ago. Keeping the leaves may be the norm for this one but flowers this early can not be surey.

Is it worth getting the paint brush out and pollinating by hand and covering it with fleece or would any wind just blow the fleece against the flowers and knock them off anyway?

Westi

I've had my Plum Beauty for 3 years now. Is does flower early but so far not this early, the buds are still tight. Might be like the damsons and sloes sometimes they flower early.
Sometimes apples will flower a second time in the autumn. I put it down to our changing seasons.
Depends on how big your tree is to try covering with fleece. Are you in a sheltered spot or a frost pocket?
If you loose flowers you may get a second lot.
Personally I would wait and see - the choice is yours.

Lovely plum though isn't it?
Can you eat one without dribbling?
Beryl

Hi Beryl,
Apple trees blooming in the autumn are nothing new although those new to gardening put it down to global warming. My thoughts on the subject are that we have been having some pretty awfully low night temperatures in the last few summers and this is what causes autumnal flowering. This of course could be down to global warming but this has been going on for many years and certainly long before global warming was ever mentioned as a problem.
Some of the night temperatures at the beginning of this month (February)have been higher than those of May, June, July and August of last summer. February is a very unpredictable month for weather and always has been. One year warmth the next year blizzards or even both in the same year.
JB.

Your'e probably right JB. I think we all have memories of those 'long hot summer holidays' and the 'cold snowy winters' when we were kids but when you'r are that young how much notice did we really take? It isn't until we take up gardening that we notice the changes in temperatures more.

Beryl.

Hi Beryl

I only planted it last year and only got 1 fruit which was quite the nicest plum I think I have had. With only one fruit I had to hide it from my hubby and ate it when he wasn't around - selfish but so glad I did. Can't wait for more this year - these are definately not heading anywhere near chutney!

Westi

Well worth waiting for Westie - Good luck hope you get some more this year.

Beryl.