Fruit tree help

[rickell]

Last year my kids gave m two pear trees and one peach tree.

The man at the nursery said they would not produce fruit for about
five years. Well he was wrong I have peaches and pears like crazy.


How do I care for these trees to make sure we have a good harvest?

I am in Kansas

 

[Lizannd]

I've never had a peach tree but have had pear trees. The

only help I can give you is that for the type of trees we had(not sure what they were) we needed to pick the pears before they ripened on the tree. It seems as if they went from unripe to over ripe with no perfectly ripe in between. We never sprayed them so we had to put up cutting around the spots but I know many people spray. By the way I'm in central New York State.

 

[Chef_Jimmy]

i wouldn't go overboard on the fertilizer and chemicals, after all, fresh organic fruit is a beautiful thing. i would ask the person at the nusery something for bugs and that is about it, just don't use to many pesticides. I've never grown fruit, but for my veggies and herbs, i just let them grow and they are always the best. good luck. I wish i could grow fruit trees successfully

 

[AllenOK]

You'll also need to thin the fruit out a bit. Maybe one out of two fruits. Otherwise, the weight of the fruit will cause the limbs to break. You'll also want to prune the branches a little after you harvest (or is in the in the spring before they bloom?). Stronger branches will also prevent fruit damage.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

I too am new to fruit tree care. But I have been doing a lot of research as I have a couple of very tall apple trees that priduce abundant, but poor quality fruit.

My trees (which have similar charecteristics as pear trees) are too tall with too many branches. Teh trees are as tall as my two story house and have gone wild. The apples are small, and have good flavor, but are mushy in texture. This is because too much of the tree's energy is used up in growing taller.

I learned this from a man with an apple orchard. You have to prune in the spring, before the snow is gone. Remove any branches that grow upsward (once the tree is about 8 to ten foot tall). Allow branches that are strong, and spread from the trunk in a horizontal, or semi-horisontal direction to remain growing. In this fasion, you will be able to reach the apples, and the energy of the tree will go into the fruit rather than growing taller.

I wish I'd known this ten years ago. I might have great apples on those two trees by now.

Fertilizer spikes, placed in the drip zone of the tree, will feed the tree properly. The spikes come with directions. Just make sure the fertilizer spikes are formulated for fruit bearing trees. And also, get in touch with someone who owns an suitable orchard and do what they do.

And just for everyone's info, pears make an amazingly good pie. They are very much like apples to work with. There are several people I know, who after having been served a pear pie, (I was in an experimental mood ) prefer them over apple pies.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[Constance]

Here is a site than gives you a good schedule for fruit tree care:

http://www.ehow.com/how_137715_schedule-fruit-tree.html

Here is another that tells you how to prune your trees:

http://www.doityourself.com/stry/prunefruittrees

 

[jpmcgrew]

rickell, I envy you I wish I had some fruit trees.

 

[rickell]

hope you will be envy

rickell, I envy you I wish I had some fruit trees.

I hope too you will envy my fruit trees, sorta scared I can garden
vegies really well but this tree thing is new. Going to prune them
a bit tonight. First evening in 13 days it has not rained can't wait.

 

[CharlieD]

Do not prune now, it might be too late for your area. You have to check Is there University in your town/city. They might have the horticultural (sp?) department, call them and ask. Correct Pruning is crucial for the tree. You have to be very careful what you are pruning. As far as fertilizer, (sp?) nothing is better than cow manure.

 

[JohnL]

Hi Rickell,
I agree with Charlie, it may be too late to prune your trees in your area this year. I pruned mine two months ago, (Maryland). After cutting my lawn this evening, I culled approx 1/2 of the peaches on my tree, (there were lots of them) to allow the tree's energy to go to the remaining fruit. I did the same thing last year and had great results (at least the squirrels thought so). Guess I have to break out my slingshot this year so I can have a homegrown peach also!

 

[Constance]

I'm pretty sure you're right, John. Even though I'm a grower, I've never known a lot about fruit trees. From what I've heard, you prune in the fall, and spray dormant oil spray in February (in our climate).

I got a laugh at your comment about the squirrels. We live in the country, and are surrounded by ancient oak trees, and also have a persimmon and a walnut tree. As a result, we have no less than 4 squirrel nests in our trees.

They eat all kinds of things, including the cedar siding on the uppermost north corners of my house, which is up in the treetops, and the alcohol soaked maraschino cherries and orange slices from leftover party drinks on my deck.

 

[JohnL]

LOL!
I'm hardly a grower like you Constance, Heck, I'm not even qualified as a picker But, 3 years ago I went to a nursery with my Dad and purchased 3 fruit trees. One peach, one cherry and one apple. We just happened to have a dry spell that year and as I was working out of town a lot at that time, the new trees didn't get much water. As a result, the cherry died within three months. The apple held it's own, while the peach tree took off! I found my info about pruning peach trees in the spring on the net. I too was quite supprised as I though all cutting back was done in the fall. My apple tree is still is growing quite slow so I haven't looked into pruning that one yet. Maybe apple trees are pruned in the fall. I'll check on the net if the darn thing ever looks as though it needs pruning!!