On 10/29/2014 6:19 AM, josephkk wrote:
On Thu, 9 Oct 2014 13:14:19 -0700 (PDT), Hypatia Nachshon
wrote:

Have posted in the past about two :"classic" variety fruit trees r+- 3-4 years old, planted same time. Blenheim Apricot doing well, Santa Rosa plum not. Lots of suckers which I remove -- Apricot has none --little and tired foliage.

NOTE that in the past I had same two trees, same two varieties; yielded for years like gang busters till they had to be "retired".

Even factoring in global warming; even gnashing teeth over TWO recent heat waves never before experienced at this season in my [censored] years in So.Calif coastal...

...with all this, I'm still thunderstruck to behold the "ailing" plum BLOSSOMING, when it's supposed to be shedding leaves (like its companion apricot), in prep. for "winter"!

Now I don't know whether to fertilize it or not!

Will post pic later today.

HB

All of the pitt fruit trees that i know of require some number of hours
under 40 degrees F (5 degrees C) to set fruit properly. different
varieties have different requirements, some as little as 200 hours to as
much as 750 hours that i have seen. I suspect this may be (at least part
of) what is bothering your trees.

?-)



I have seen 45F cited as the threshold for chill. That is the threshold
given in Sunset's "Western Garden Book" and in Wikipedia's "Chilling
requirement".

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary