Location, Location, Location. Planting. Spacing. Ozarks Ag 101 Short Course, Mountain Grove, MO 3/17/2015. Growing Fruit and Berries

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1 Location, Location, Location Growing Fruit and Berries Susanne Howard Research Specialist Missouri State University Most fruit trees can tolerate a wide range of soils, except for areas where water tends to stand for a long time Full sun Frost pocket Micro climate: north vs south slopes, buildings POWERLINES!! Planting Bareroot vs container Planting time Planting hole size, depth, soil amendments Graft union 2-4 above soil level Fertilize a few months after planting If tree is not pruned, prune at planting Spacing dwarf (8-12 ) semi-dwarf(10-16 ), full size or seedling(15-20 ) Allow space/access all around for mowing, spraying, picking Consider espalier if space really is a problem or a 2-in-1 tree Irrigation 1

2 Pome fruit: apple, pear, Asian pear, quince, hawthorn, service berry, loquat, medlar, rose hips, pyracantha Which Type of Fruit? Loquat Medlar Serviceberry Hawthorn 2

3 Which Type of Fruit? Stone fruit: apricot, peach (nectarine), (almond), plum, cherry, chokecherry Crosses: peachcot, plumcot (which can be pluots or apriums, depending which parent they resemble more), cherrycot With the exception of almonds, seeds and leaves of all stone fruit contain amygdalin, a cyanogenic compound Aprium Why do I not have any apricots? Bloom time Determined by chilling requirement Apricots; plums, cherries; peaches, pears; apples Other fruit Jujube: rust colored when ripe, need to soften, often sold dried Persimmon Pawpaw Aronia Azarole Apple Varieties Thousands of varieties! How to choose: check with other tree owners, local extension offices, or just trial and error Pollination: bloom time, some cultivars have sterile pollen, some are self-pollinating but will set better if cross-pollinated Crab apples have a long bloom time, can pollinate most varieties (Dolgo, Whitney) 3

4 Apples Many rootstocks have been developed, but commonly trees are sold as dwarf or semi-dwarf, rarely as full sized, or seedling, tree The more dwarfed a tree is, the sooner it will flower and bear fruit, but don t be tempted! Spacing for a dwarf tree is 8-10, semi-dwarf 12-15, standard 18-25, miniature 6 and colonnade 2. Pears and Asian Pears More than 3000 varieties, but only a handful are available: Anjou, Bartlett, Bosc, Comice, Concorde, Forelle, Magness, Seckel, Sunrise Space semi-dwarf pear trees 12 feet apart Most pears and Asian pears can cross pollinate Asian pears bloom earlier than other pears Shinsui, Hosui, Korean Giant Peaches and Nectarines More than 2000 varieties Nectarines are really peaches, though without the fuzziness Bloom slightly later than plums, but crops will be lost every few years All peaches and nectarines are self fruitful Clingstone: mostly for canning, vs freestone White flesh vs yellow flesh Donut or flat peaches Chilling requirements and cold hardiness Apricots Mostly self fruitful, planting 2 or more varieties improves fruit set Moongold, Goldcot, Harglow, SweetHeart Will seldom bear fruit because they bloom well before the last freeze date Plums Bloom early, crops will be lost more often than peaches European plums: Stanley, Earliblue, Greengage (reineclaude); mirabelle Asian plums: Methley, Shiro, Ozark Premier They do not cross-pollinate European plums are self fertile 4

5 Cherries Sweet and pie cherries Over 1000 varieties Lapins, Stella, Bing, Blackgold, Whitegold Montmorency, North Star Many are self fruitful, pollinate others Sweet cherries are slightly less hardy; bloom before pie cherries Spacing: dwarf 12-14, semi-dwarf and standard Harvesting Apples, pears, quinces: will ripen after picking Peaches, plums, cherries: will soften, but not ripen after picking Don t let red color fool you! Ground color should be yellow-gold Not all fruit on one tree ripens at once, outside fruit ripens 5-10 days sooner Fruit for pies or cooking can be used slightly under-ripe Storage Stone fruit (peaches, plums, cherries) do not store well, use within a few days Pome fruit (apples, pears) store well in a refrigerator, for cooking purposes they can be stored for several months in loose plastic wrap in the refrigerator or other cold place Fruit with insect damage will develop rot, so check on this to keep it from spreading 5

6 Pawpaws and Persimmons So many berries Strawberries Blueberries, cranberries, lingonberries Currants, gooseberries, jostaberries Brambles: red, yellow, black raspberries, blackberries Aronia, seaberry, goji berry, goumi, juneberry Elderberry, honey berry (Grapes) Growing conditions Except blueberries, cranberries, lingonberries: regular amended garden soil, ph 6-7 Vaccinium: ph Generally full sun, some afternoon shade Brambles - Primocane - Floricane Floricane bearing (Nova, Titan, Encore) New shoot, year 1, vegetative Same shoot, year 2, flowers Primocane bearing (Caroline, Heritage, Kiwigold) New shoot, year 1, flowers Primocane bears fruit late = fall bearing Raspberries Red, yellow: fall bearers will also produce fruit on old canes on buds below those that fruited in the fall Black: do not make suckers, long canes need summer tipping Purple: cross between red and black, treat like black raspberry Raspberry canes that overwinter are often damaged by fluctuating spring temperatures (High tunnel) 6

7 Blackberries Thorny, thornless (Tupi) Upright (erect), semierect, trailing Trailing (Marionberry) are the least cold hardy Erect: Cherokee, Shawnee, Navaho Semierect: Triple Crown Very vigorous, benefit from winter and summer pruning Primocane bearing: Prime Jim, Prime Jan, Prime ARK Freedom Blueberries Highbush and lowbush are different species Lowbush aka wild 1-2 foot, sprawling, small berries, intense flavor Highbush 6-8 foot, more and larger berries Northern and southern highbush Southern does not require chilling Blueberries Northern: Bluecrop, Jersey, Elliot, Rubel Southern: Cape Fear, Gulf Coast, O Neal Half-high: Northblue, Polaris, 2-4 foot Rabbiteye, not cold hardy, Bonita, Climax Cranberries Acid, peat soil, ph 4-5 Long growing season Trailing vine Cranberries Flowers, fruit need protection from frost Red fruit tolerates lower temperatures than green Vines also need protection from frost: Commercially: flooding Home: row covers and mulch Sanding: in late winter, early spring 7

8 Lingonberries Acidic soil, high in organic matter, shade Northern plant, summer heat is a problem Well drained soil Not a lot of fertilizer Both lingonberries and cranberries contain a lot of benzoic acid, a natural preservative, so they keep for a long time Lingonberry Vaccinium vitis-idea- Koralle Zone 2, heat tolerant to 7 Acid soil, shade Fruit twice a year Less than 1 foot high, makes a good groundcover Strawberries Strawberries June bearing, short day flowering One crop, generally in May Everbearing and day-neutral: blurred lines All day-neutral are everbearing Not all everbearing are day-neutral Day-neutral bred to flower continuously, but they stop when temperatures go > 90F Older everbearing have low yields Vigorous day-neutrals: Seascape, Tribute, Tristar Everbearing: Ozark Beauty, vigorous Quinault, Ft. Laramie, less vigorous Both types produce less runners Good for borders, hanging planters, containers Alpine strawberry Runnering or seed propagated Sometimes used as groundcover Elderberries Flowers as well as berries Adams, Johns, Nova, York are American varieties Johns, Adams and York pollinate each other Nova is self fertile, York has the largest berry Black Beauty, Black Lace, Variegated: European varieties Shallow rootsystem, need mulch 8

9 Ribes: Currants, Gooseberries Red, white currants self fertile Black currants partially self fertile Used to be banned because of White Pine Blister Rust Better adapted to cold climates Can tolerate SLIGHTLY acidic soil, high organic matter Need low fertility Ribes Gooseberries: American: Poorman, Pixwell, Captivator European: Green Hansa, Speedwell, Invicta European have larger fruit, but are susceptible to powdery mildew Black currants: Consort, Coronet, Crusader (need pollinator) Polar, Titania, Ben Sarek, Willoughby (more sun tolerant) Ribes Red currants: Red Lake, Cascade, Jonkheer van Tets, Wilder White currants: Blanka, white Imperial Pink currant: Pink champagne, Rosasport Jostaberries: Josta, Jostine, Jogranda Aronia Aronia melanocarpa, black chokecherry Zone foot height and width, cultivar dependent Self fertile Viking, Nero Good, red fall color Goji Berry (chinese wolfberry) Lycium barbarum foot shrub, sometimes spiny Zones 5-9 Goumi Eleagnus multiflora 6 foot shrub Zones 4-8 Fragrant flowers, bees Nitrogen fixing, tolerates poor soils Only partly self fertile, 2 varieties 9

10 Honeyberry Lonicera caerula 4-5 foot shrub (2-4 foot cultivar) Zones 3-8 Moist, shady soil Needs 2 varieties Not heat tolerant June Berry Amelanchier spp Large shrub to small tree Spring flowers Good fall color Native species Seaberry Hippophae rhamnoides Buckthorn, sandthorn Male and female plants Zones 2-9 Leikora, Russian Orange, Byantes, Frugana Named cv s are less thorny than seedlings Been used by Alexander the Great to add to horsefodder, berries and leaves Resources Spray guides: Multiple link listings: Newsletters.aspx Grapes Beginning farming blog: Thank you! Questions? 10