On 9/6/11 5:59 PM, Higgs Boson wrote:
On Sep 5, 3:17 pm, "David E. Ross" wrote:
On 9/5/11 11:28 AM, Higgs Boson wrote:

I put in two very young fruit trees about 4-5 months ago. Both are
doing well. However, there are suckers appearing from the bases. At
least I THINK that's what they are.

Any advice on what to do?

This is So. Calif coastal.

TIA

HB

What kind of fruit trees?

Were they grafted? If so, can you see the graft?

It looks like they were. I can see the graft.

The one in question is a Santa Rosa Plum.

I also noticed what looks like suckers on a Dwarf Washington Orange,
about 3-4 years old, that bore last year for the first time.


If they are from below the graft, remove them. Do NOT cut them.
Instead, try to pull them. You might have to dig down a bit and break
them from the root or base of the trunk. Cutting a sucker generally
guarantees that it will sprout again with more shoots.

I have a dwarf 'Robertson' navel orange, which differs from the
'Washington' primarily by ripening a few weeks earlier. I've had it
since about 1992. It bore fruit sporadically, sometimes going 2-3 years
without any oranges at all. Last year, however, it had a nice crop
following a crop in 2009 -- the first time it had fruit two years in a
row. This year, there are a few oranges (still quite green).

The problem with dwarf oranges is that they do not have a large enough
crop. I could eat twice as many as my little tree produces. On the
other hand, even a dwarf lemon tree produces far more lemons than anyone
can use. See my http://www.rossde.com/cooking/lemon_marmalade.html
for a recipe for lemon marmalade. Last year, I had enough lemons for
this recipe, lemons to give away, and lemons to juice for my wife to use
in cooking. We also have a large plastic bag of lemon zest in the
freezer.

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