Topic: Mini apricot trees

[tricia]

Since I live in the southwest I want to try to grow an apricot tree in a tub. Has anyone bought one from Bakkers? They have a dwarf apricot (one metre supplied) for £13.50 plus £4.75 p&p. 

I've seen apricot trees offered in the T & M catalogue costing £24 or £25 plus p&p and at £19.95 plus p&p in Marshall Seeds online, so I'm wondering about the considerable difference in prices. The prices are all for container grown trees.

Tricia

[Baccy Man]

I think you misread the description they supply 30-40cm dwarf apricot trees not 1 metre.
I would not reccommend bakker/spalding for fruit they do a very good range of flowering bulbs but the fruit is rarely as described and the trees ae usually maidens so you have a long wait for your first harvest.
Someone I know bought a dwarf cherry & dwarf apple from them about 5 years ago they are both supposed to grow to a maximum height of 2m the apple is currently 3.5m the cherry is 4m the apple produced it's first few fruits last year although only one ripened the cherry hasn't even flowered yet. Several years ago I ordered strawberries, blueberries, grapes and a kiwi. The grapes & kiwi were dead when they arrived, the blueberries had some kind of fungus & didn't last long, about half the strawberries grew but yields were very low. The 5 year growth guarantee they advertise seems to vanish after you part with your money, after a very lengthy dispute I got a full refund although I can't seem to get off of their mailing list.

If you want a dwarf apricot look for "Isabelle" or "Aprigold" from a reputable supplier. Bear in mind apricots really do need proper frost protection in the winter peaches & nectarines are hardier if you wanted a similar but easier fruit to grow.

[Amazin]

I bought an apricot from Woolies 2 years ago for £7.99 and planted it in a big terracotta pot. It flowered the first year and fruited last year - 6 apricots!

Will dig out the label and let you know the variety. Woolies usually get their fruit trees and plants in mid-Jan - Feb. so keep an eye out at your local.

[tricia]

 Baccy Man - Sorry to hear about your bad experience with Bakker. I won't go there then! But I'm reading from their catalogue as I write and it does read quite definitely "Height supplied 1m" followed by the full sun icon and growth to 1.5m.

Hey Amazin! Thanks for the reminder about Woolies  8). I seem to vaguely remember they had apricot trees two years ago when I bought a "family pear tree" which gave me 7 Williams Chretien, 5 Concorde and 16 Conference pears last year. I was well pleased, so will wait till the trees come to Woolies methinks.

Tricia

[Jeannine]

As someone else said watch your apricot in the cold, I have numerous fruit trees in huge pots but my apricot didn't make it last year, even though all my others including peaches and cherries did. XX Jeannine

Mine came from Buckingham nurseries I think

[Baccy Man]

Baccy Man - Sorry to hear about your bad experience with Bakker. I won't go there then! But I'm reading from their catalogue as I write and it does read quite definitely "Height supplied 1m" followed by the full sun icon and growth to 1.5m.

I was basing it on the website description as the catalogues go straight in the recycling unread.

[Amazin]

Sorry folks, senior moment - mine is a Nectarine (Lord Napier), but I think they have similar needs. I know mine flowers very early - it's one of the earliest fruit trees to blossom - around February, which is when they're most vulnerable. If you give them protection at that point, they should reward you with a nice crop later. I use those fab fleece bags with the drawstrings at either end (pack of 2 large for 99p at ...guess where?!).

[natasha]

Amazin, where??? :P

Tricia, pricewise it sounds like a good deal and you might be lucky and get a fantastic tree for a reasonable price, I ordered from these people a number of times and the quality of the plants was various, so I'm not risking with them anymore. I've done my home work and researched into rootstocks and got a good quality tree from a different place, more expensive, but I feel that it was a right decision for me.
Good luck with things!
Do you know what rootstock they use for grafting?
It will be worth to search Internet for how long will your tree live on this rootstock, how hardy it is and how productive it will be. 1.5m is a very appealing size and my guess is that if everything was perfectly fine with it, more nurseries would use this rootstock to propogate their trees, but why don't they?

[deadbird]

plenty of dwarf abrigold in west clandon garden centre@25....seems to compare favourably with wisley down the road @35  for  non dwarf specimens although they charge 50 for good looking fan trained specimens

[tricia]

Not to worry Amazin - I'll still hang on and wait to see if Woolies offer an apricot, their quality seems to be excellent.

Tricia

[natasha]

plenty of dwarf abrigold in west clandon garden centre@25

Yes, there are plenty of them on dwarf rootstock, but how many of them have 1.5 m as the final height of the tree, as far as I know most of them will grow up to 3-2,5 m and are grafted on  St Julien A rootstock, which is hardy and reasonably productive.
Most nurseries also give their customers information about what rootstock they use, so that we can obtain some knowledge about how productive and reliable is our tree on this rootstock, without mentioning that there is some uncertainty about the final result. If this tree will only produce a couple of fruit each year, is it worth it?  ???
Some dwarf trees do very well, I have an apple tree on budagovsky rootstock, it's worth having, but before buying I did find out as much as I could about it. I also have a tree which I bought without any info and I'll be removing it this year. :-\

I'm not saying bad or good, I'm just saying that it is nice to know what you are actually buying.  ;)

[jennym]

[...Some dwarf trees do very well, I have an apple tree on budagovsky rootstock, it's worth having, but before buying I did find out as much as I could about it. ...

Out of interest, there are several Budagovsky rootstocks, in the same way that there are several Malling rootstocks, and they have different attributes.

On the subject of apricots, you may find this link from the Fruit Group Newsletter useful, several folk comment on apricot varieties on pages 4 and 5.

[Barnowl]

Link ?

[jennym]

Ooops!
http://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/documents/FruitGroupNewsletter0206.pdf

[Barnowl]

Thanks JennyM.

We planted a (pot grown) apricot in the Spring and need all the advice we can get!

[natasha]

Out of interest, there are several Budagovsky rootstocks, in the same way that there are several Malling rootstocks, and they have different attributes.

Oh yes, sorry, mine is B62-396  ;)

[jennym]

Natasha, would be really interested to know where you got your apple tree from?

[tricia]

Bought a Nectarine and an Apricot tree at Woolies. Both are potted up and looking good. Now just have to wait and see how they do here in the southwest. At £9.99 each it is worth a try.

Tricia

[Amazin]

Tricia, you beat me to it! I was just about to post a message saying the Apricots had arrived at my local Woolies. As I recall, when I bought my nectarine - I think it was a bit later, maybe mid-late Feb - it was already coming into blossom, so I'd get some fleece ready now in advance to protect yours. Good luck - I'm sure you won't be disappointed!

 ;D