04-14-2014, 08:40 AM
I have heard the defoliation/deadheading advantages also...but have seen folks with low chill fruit that just let nature take its' course...
That said, we have had a peach from the Kea`au Puna Hongwanji plant sale some years back....I saw it, & wanted a peach, but I was sure that it wasn't for the area near the mission... the lady that propagated the plant was there & lives nearby, so I bought & planted the treelet...next year ou new dog strangled the treelet with her leash & I was sure it was a goner, but trimmed it back & gave it time...
Last year it had a bunch of blossoms, but I plucked them all, as the tree still looked tiny for fruiting. It strengthened a bunch last year & I pruned it. This year I allowed the flowers to set & have quite a few peaches set... enough so that I got brave & planted 2 low chill apples (Anna & Dorset...was hoping to also get an ein Sheiner, but they were Out of Stock by the time I ordered...)
I have heard that you can also place a frozen ice block near the base of the tree on the coolest nights to simulate the low chill hours (our trees are 100 hours rec. @ 49deg or less...so a block a night for a week or so would get you close to simulating that...
Anyhoo here is a pic of one of our peaches taken last month:
http://ulocal.kitv.com/mediadetail/18752...?gid=79867&uid=&sort=hits%20DESC&offset=8
ADD: I re-found this nice comprehensive list of attributes for low chill & very tropic apples while looking for something else:
http://www.kuffelcreek.com/favorites.htm
That said, we have had a peach from the Kea`au Puna Hongwanji plant sale some years back....I saw it, & wanted a peach, but I was sure that it wasn't for the area near the mission... the lady that propagated the plant was there & lives nearby, so I bought & planted the treelet...next year ou new dog strangled the treelet with her leash & I was sure it was a goner, but trimmed it back & gave it time...
Last year it had a bunch of blossoms, but I plucked them all, as the tree still looked tiny for fruiting. It strengthened a bunch last year & I pruned it. This year I allowed the flowers to set & have quite a few peaches set... enough so that I got brave & planted 2 low chill apples (Anna & Dorset...was hoping to also get an ein Sheiner, but they were Out of Stock by the time I ordered...)
I have heard that you can also place a frozen ice block near the base of the tree on the coolest nights to simulate the low chill hours (our trees are 100 hours rec. @ 49deg or less...so a block a night for a week or so would get you close to simulating that...
Anyhoo here is a pic of one of our peaches taken last month:
http://ulocal.kitv.com/mediadetail/18752...?gid=79867&uid=&sort=hits%20DESC&offset=8
ADD: I re-found this nice comprehensive list of attributes for low chill & very tropic apples while looking for something else:
http://www.kuffelcreek.com/favorites.htm