Allotments 4 All
Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: Digeroo on April 16, 2017, 16:12:30
-
Apple trees are looking particularly gorgeous. More or less a month earlier than last year. And the three trees which did not flower last year are making up for it with a great show. Pixirosso has dark pink blossom and looks stunning. Though I am not convinced about the taste of the apples.
But there are very few bees. One bee yesterday and a huge bumble today. Not sure whether I ought to get out with a paintbrush or feather.
Very thrilled because the two I grafted myself are now flowering. Not sure they are big enough yet to allow them to fruit.
-
I have recently planted out two apples (Chivers delight and Arthur turner) a victoria plum and a conference pear. The two apples and the pear have flowered so I have pinched the flowers out. There look to be more coming so it breaks my heart but I will be pinching out all the flower buds so that the tree does not suffer from stress.
Hope you have lovely blossom and beautiful fruit this year Digeroo.
Best wishes
Bill
-
All our fruit trees are full of blossom but sharp frosts have been forecast for the next few days with -7 predicted. I hope we don't all lose our fruit!
Those with small trees could cover theirs with fleece but ours are too big.
-
it`s fingers crossed time. Haven`t seen bees about but am suppounded by yellow rapeseed fields and I expect they are on there, for easy pickings
-
ive 28 apple trees various varieties all are now in flower my 8 pear trees all have fruit my 6 cherry trees are full of blossom my apricot, necterine, two peach trees all have fruit the perfume on a warm evening is fantastic no frost forecast for the week just down to 4 so should be ok looking forward to a bountiful harvest
-
whoops forgot about my 2 gauges and 6 plum trees all full of fruit fingers crossed it will stay like it
-
I have recently planted out two apples . . . . but I will be pinching out all the flower buds so that the tree does not suffer from stress.
I have a similar problem. A set of four two-year-old trees on M9 rootstock. All beautiful my shaped, healthy, and growing well. But they are young and small. I wanted to see a couple of more year's growth and a larger framework before they started fruiting. But they are covered in blossom while not yet strong enough to support a crop.
I too will remove any fruit that sets, as I fear the tree may otherwise "mature" into full fruiting stage while too small, and cease getting much bigger.
Does anyone know of techniques to prevent this happening? I'm thinking it would be better in the long term to forgo any fruit for a couple of years to get a larger overall tree and yield.
-
full blossom on my 7 apple trees and starting also in the orchard around me. Rape seed in full yellow bloom close by. Not many bees here, recently noticed one bumble bee and one bee. I think they are finding much easier pickings in the yellow fields. The blossom is gorgeous but I am not expecting a good crop this year, however that would mean bigger apples. They are also in clay ground that has not seen rainfall for 6 weeks
-
I have a Bountiful, James Grieve and a new baby Heritage called Martins Custard.
The Bountiful & James Grieve showed signs of calcium deficiency in the fruits last year, apparently its due to lack of water!
(http://)
If the picture appears, it's the current blossom on my Crab Apple.
-
Not many bees here,
This worries me a bit!
I am wondering if it is partly (if not all)down to the weather at this time last year.(2016)
Last year was quite warm in April and I noticed lots of bees at that time. Then the weather turned decidedly cold in May and thereafter i.e. I didn't see as many bees about during the summer months.
It poses the question in my mind were lots of bees killed off last May due to the cold weather and subsequently this resulted in less offspring being produced.??????
If this is the case this might be a reason for so few bees about now!
For once I hope I am wrong!
-
here on the sunshine coast there are plenty of bees all my early flowering peach apricot plum and cherry all set fruit well gooseberries the same
-
Looked yesterday and there were about 10 bees in the back garden and about 8 in the front. Not very many! A few years ago the whole tree would be buzzy. They are flowering very early. I am hoping this will be enough,
We had a ground frost last night but I do not think it was cold enough to affect the trees.
My gooseberries and red currants have set well.
-
I hope the June drop works well this year otherwise I shall have to do some heavy thinning in the orchard or I will end up with some poor fruit. Left to nature only one in twenty blooms will make the grade, but with us interfering with feed etc. we could be doing more harm than good.
-
Not many bees here,
This worries me a bit!
I am wondering if it is partly (if not all)down to the weather at this time last year.(2016)
Last year was quite warm in April and I noticed lots of bees at that time. Then the weather turned decidedly cold in May and thereafter i.e. I didn't see as many bees about during the summer months.
It poses the question in my mind were lots of bees killed off last May due to the cold weather and subsequently this resulted in less offspring being produced.??????
If this is the case this might be a reason for so few bees about now!
For once I hope I am wrong!
I'm afraid I hope you are right Tee Gee ... for all that it is annoying to have fewer pollinators for a season, if it was only a cold snap that reduced numbers then they will quickly multiply back up again in future years. However if it's due to the insidious use of neonicotinoid insecticides which have been proven to poison bees (although not enough to ban them!) - well, that's an altogether more difficult hurdle for the bees and a dreadful indictment on man's capacity for destruction.
-
So apparently tonight is going to be the cold snap, fleece at the ready.
Might be goodbye crab apple blossom. You were fab.
-
cold snap here two min 2 degrees for a few nights then back up my kiwi fruit has a lot of buds on it so out came the protection will keep it on until night temps go up to around 4 then its ok
-
Stop worrying and get the old smudge pots out and working.