growing fruit and berries - university of missouri...
TRANSCRIPT
Growing Fruit and Berries
Susanne Howard Research Specialist
Missouri State University
Location, Location, Location • 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
Which Type of Fruit ?
• Pome fruit: apple, pear, Asian pear, quince, hawthorn, service berry, loquat, medlar, rose hips, pyracantha
Loquat
Hawthorn
Medlar
Serviceberry
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)
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
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 15-18’
and standard 18-25’.
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
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 4.5-5.5 • 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)
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 • http://www.cranberrycreations.com/growing.html
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
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
• 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
Strawberries
• 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 • http://www.rareseeds.com/white-soul-
alpine-strawberry/
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
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 3-8 • 3-12 foot height and width, cultivar
dependent • Self fertile • Viking, Nero • Good, red fall color
Goji Berry (chinese wolfberry)
• Lycium barbarum • 10-12 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
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: • http://extension.missouri.edu/p/MP651 • http://extension.missouri.edu/p/g6010 • Multiple link listings: • https://ag.purdue.edu/hla/Extension/Pages/Publications-and-
Newsletters.aspx • http://byf.unl.edu/fruit-spray-schedules • http://mtngrv.missouristate.edu/Publications/ • Grapes • http://content.ces.ncsu.edu/north-carolina-winegrape-growers-
guide/ • Beginning farming blog: • http://missouribeginningfarming.blogspot.com/
Thank you! Questions ?