Fruit trees at Aldi Thursday 22nd Feb

[greatpalm]

Just to let you know that Aldi are selling the following next Thursday:

Cherry
Pear
Apple - dessert and cooking
Apricot
Nectarine
Plum

All at £3.99 each

Doesn't mention varieties or rootstocks in the advert

Last year I bought an Apricot, Plum and Cooking Cherry. All took really well and I'm hoping for some fruit this year.

They are also selling three tier plastic Greenhouses for £11.99 and a triple propagator set for £2.99. Also seed and cutting trays for £1.99, compost for 99p and rubble sacks for £1.59

[greatpalm]

[Chris Graham]

Yeh they look good, gonna get a cooking apple tree and pear.

Just bought 5 packs of those fruit trees bushes today.  ;)

[manicscousers]

thinking of trying a nectarine..we had some beautiful ones in greece, I know they need babying!  ;D

[quizzical1]

It's actually only the fruit trees that go on sale next Thursday.

All the other stuff is available from Sunday 18th Feb..


Regards Alan.

[Chris Graham]

Bump  ;)

They are available today

[debjay]

Hi all. Newbie here. :D
Just to let you know the stocks of fruit trees are selling fast.
Just got a stella cherry & morello cherry. They look good got
some nice new buds on.  :)
Debs

[manicscousers]

just got a nectarine , not many in the box  ;D

[adrianhumph]

 Hi all,
          dashed to ALDI`s, got a nectarine, now what?  Any tips on nectarine production?
                          Adrian.

[manicscousers]

your guess is as good as mine, adrianhumph..all I know is they need babying a bit  ;D

[cambourne7]

Hi

I was planning on picking up Apricot & Plum does anyone know if they need any special attention?

Cambourne7

[urbandruid]

Just bin 'n got mine.  I got:

Cox's Orange, Golden Deicious, Jonagold apples.
Doyenne du Comice, Conference pears.
Morello Cherry.

Knowing nowt about fruit trees, I didn't give much thought to how they were going to get pollinated.  However it might work out okay.

Jonagold needs 2 of either of Granny Smiths, Cox's Orange, Elstar or Golden Delicious.  Okay with this one.
Cox's Oange needs Granny Smiths or Elstar (so I need at least 2 more trees?).
Golden Delicious needs Granny Smith's, Cox's or Elstar.
Comice pears need Concorde or Gorham.  Buggrit!  Still, Aldi do Concorde...
Conference is partly self-fertile.
Morello is self-fertile.

Can any experienced fruiters tell me if I NEED these extra trees, or is there a chance that the varieties I have might be successful?  If they DO get pollinated from the varieties I have, is the worst that can happen that I'll get fruit but not necessarily what I'm expecting?  ???

Steve.

[Chris Graham]

 :'( :'( :'(

I only managed to get one tree - cooking apple.

Really wanted a pear tree but they were sold out

[tomatoada]

I saw pear trees in Aldi Reddich today.  Bought a Brambly apple tree.  Never thought about pollination.  Do I need to get another tree?  Help please.

[greatpalm]

Hi Steve

The pollination guides were just examples.

Your apples are fine. The cox and golden delicious will pollinate each other.

Your two pears will also pollinate each other, so no problems there either.

The fruit you get bears no resemblance to how it was pollinated. This only affects the resulting offspring housed in the pips. However don't try to grow these pips as it is almost certain the result will be worse than either parent.

One bugbear I have is that these stores will sell varieties like Granny Smith and Golden delicious which really are not suited to our climate (unless you live in the south and we get a very hot summer).  Always stick to English varieties (or those that grow well in our conditions). I got myself an Elstar apple - well chuffed. I guess most people left this and went for varieties such as Golden Delicious.

If we get an average summer Granny Smith and Golden Delicious would be better used as cooking apples. Cox and Jonagold will give you great dessert apples straight from the tree. Not this year though as they're only babies.

[greatpalm]

Hi Maggie

Whether you need another tree really depends on whether any of your neighbours have an apple tree. If they do then no worries.

If there are no apple trees nearby then you may have a problem and actually might need two more trees. This is because the Bramley will not pollinate other trees. Therefore you would need a tree such as a Cox to pollinate the Bramley and then a third different variety to pollinate the Cox.

If space is a problem I suggest you wait a couple of years as insects can travel a fair distance. If no apples grow to maturity then you will need to introduce a couple more trees. Don't expect any apples this year as the tree is too young. You could train these trees to fan against a wall or fence to minimise space.

[Hyacinth]

How tall will the plum trees grow? And when could I expect plums?

Ditto the cherries...

Thanks, Lishka

[Bryan]

I grabbed 2 Morello Cherry trees this afternoon.
I was a little upset to see how these trees were, well, just dumped in a cardboard box, all mixed up, no care for their well being at all.
I had to search for a couple of trees that looked healthy, with buds, and also that were not just "sticks" with the ends cut off.
Maybe, it is the fact that it is the policy of the traders to get them in, sell off cheap quickly, to realise profit quicker.
Shame really, but as an understanding gardener as to the wants and needs of a plant, i will be giving 2 cherry trees a lot of TLC.
I should reap the rewards at a later date.
Also a bit of a trial for me, as i think i don't like cherries. Won't know till i try them. :-[

[carolinej]

My mum turned up with three trees for me for my birthday. I read the card and it said that the pear and apple would need other trees. I tok them back and they  let me exchange them without a reciept, as I explained I didnt want to upset my mother by saying they were unsuitable. I found two apples that would pollinate each other according to the card. I wonder if she'll notice that the pear tree has apples on it :o

From the posts on here, I may have been ok anyway then. I wanted a bramley, but that needed apples that werent available. This is SO confusing ??? ???

They are lovely tall trees, but now, looking at the mechanics of it all, they are a bit too tall to train into the shapes I want properly. The cherry tree will look like a fan with a long handle!!

I suppose though, that they will have a head start on smaller trees, so that can only be a good thing.

cj :)

[dtw]

I've got a Stella cherry tree in my garden which is a couple of years old now,
and when the cherries are fully plump, the ends of the branches touch the ground.
They are usually ready to pick in September.
I get a couple of pounds off each branch.  :D

[urbandruid]

The pollination guides were just examples.
Your apples are fine. The cox and golden delicious will pollinate each other.
Your two pears will also pollinate each other, so no problems there either.

Thanks palm, that's put my mind at rest.  I must confess to being a little doubtful about the success of Golden Delicious up here in Manchester, but you know what it's like when you're in the grip of a buying frenzy!  :D

I'll buy another Cox's and an Elstar and give the GD away.

:) Steve