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#1
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Whats a good Nectarine Tree to grow?
I was thinking of growing a Nectarine tree in my backyard. My Uncle used to
have a really great one - it produced these fantastic fruits which we allowed to ripen on the branch - then we plucked them when they were ripe. They were the most sweetest things I've ever tasted. But they were very easily damaged by that stage; so I suspect thats why you can't buy them at the supermarket. Any recommendations for a Nectarine tree? |
#2
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Whats a good Nectarine Tree to grow?
YMC wrote:
I was thinking of growing a Nectarine tree in my backyard. My Uncle used to have a really great one - it produced these fantastic fruits which we allowed to ripen on the branch - then we plucked them when they were ripe. They were the most sweetest things I've ever tasted. But they were very easily damaged by that stage; so I suspect thats why you can't buy them at the supermarket. Quite right you never will. Any recommendations for a Nectarine tree? I have May Grand, it is just as you describe and quite addictive. David |
#3
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Whats a good Nectarine Tree to grow?
YMC wrote:
I was thinking of growing a Nectarine tree in my backyard. My Uncle used to have a really great one - it produced these fantastic fruits which we allowed to ripen on the branch - then we plucked them when they were ripe. They were the most sweetest things I've ever tasted. But they were very easily damaged by that stage; so I suspect thats why you can't buy them at the supermarket. Any recommendations for a Nectarine tree? We are in Melbourne eastern suburbs (clay soil). We have from memory a Nectarine Goldmine. It is fantastic. Doesn't need spraying for anything (did have leaf curl when it was younger but that is easily fixed with a copper spray). The variety that would suit you depends on where you live. Also in some locations i believe you are obligated to perform certain pest control activities such as spraying on certain fruits. I recommend you get a free-stone nectarine. You do get the odd bug in the fruit and with a free-stone nectarine, you can easily remove the stone to look for insect damage (and cut that bit out - the bugs seem to eat mostly near the stone but they don't eat much). Our tree produce a huge amount of fruit - right now is the middle of fruiting season, which is only a few weeks. Unless you have a large family, you may find you need to give some away or preserve some. We have tried bottling but have settledon dehydrating in an electric dehydrator (dipped in lemon juice first to reduce discolouration). We do have a vast array of wildlife eating the fruit (not just the nectarines). I marvel at people who tell me they don't even need nets. We have nets to keep out: ringtail and brushtail possums, birds (biggest problem is introduced birds, particularly the thrush), flying foxes and rats. Nets are a pain. They continually need repairing and are very difficult to get over the tree. We use a frame made from electrical conduit to hold the net up and make it easier to get the net over the tree. For temporary repairs of small holes, we use cloth pegs. If it is a large hole, just put another net over it. Rats will gnaw a hole through the net, Also they don't eat a whole fruit - they will test fruit with a bite or two. The rats are not tempted by rat traps nor rat bait. These factors make them a real problem. Birds (particularly thrushes) will find the smallest hole made by the rats and get in. Flying foxes are easily kept out by nets. Possums just sit on the net and stick their paw through and then eat through the net. They tend to consume the whole fruit and to not bite fruit they are not going to eat (unlike rats and birds). So possums aren't too much of a problem on nectarines (there's a lot of fruit to go round). However possums have nearly stripped our apricot tree bare of leaves and fruit (no net there). They also do this to various native and decidious trees. They eat our apples and they will rip a hole in nets over apples. They are eating the new leaves off the apples but haven't stripped them bare. We haven't had much of a crop of apples in recent years and I was told this year (too late) that it is because possums eat the apple blossom so you have to net from before blossom time. I recommend using stiff wire netting (not chook wire) at least from ground up to around 1m around the drip line of the tree, then put bird neeting above that. You probably need to fold out the bottom so it lies on the ground for say 10cm to stop them burrowing. It needs to be 12mm x 12mm mesh to keep rats out (might also keep out bees if your variety requires bees to fertilize it). This wire netting should keep the rats from gnawing holes and letting in themselves and the birds, as they always gbaw holes at ground level. Don't know whether they are smart enough to climb up to find they can gnaw a hole there - probably they are. We haven't yet used wire netting on the nectarine. We have a new Ballerina apple in a waterwell (self-watering) tub, and I have built a cage out of stiff green wire netting, wire, cable ties and those stakes made of plastic-covered metal tube. This encloses the tomatoes in tubs, blueberry (does well here), raspberry and the ballerina apple. It works well. Next time I would make a series of frames 0.9m x 1.8m (suits the dimensions of the wire netting and the stakes), then join them together to make a cage. This would be easily packed away for next year, and rearranged to make a different sized cage. Another good thing about the cage is that you can easily put shadecloth over the top when it is going to be very hot. We've also got citrus, lemon, ruby grapefruit, tahitian and kaffir lime and orange. Citrus gall wasp has become quite a problem and there is nothing much you can do about it except pruning, traps and Vasili's method of cutting the bark open and peeling it back a bit (very labour intensive). The lemon does well. The others probably need more water to get more fruit - they are still a bit young for this drought. Plums (2) - not worth the effort - small crops and not that delicious anyway. Olives - good - no pests - but you need to treat the olives to remove the bitter taste to make them edible. Figs - for some reason our fig is extremely slow growing and is still only about 1.8m high and spindly, despite being about 12 years old. Not a lot of fruit. Avocado (bought tree, not from seed) - never had any flower or fruit on it. Apricot - very good before the possums started eating all the leaves. We have found it spindly and hard to prune so it develops a good shape. Grapes (2) red and white - all eaten by wildlife - hard to net. Blueberry - very good for a small bush in a waterwell tub. Need to keep birds out. Raspberry - nice fruit but not a large quantity. Need to keep birds out. Apples (2) fuji and granny smith. The fuji never fruited much but the granny is excellent, provided the possums are kept out. Suffers from codling moth so needs to be sprayed (or some other organic treatment). But a home grown apple that ripens on the tree is absolutely delicious and puts even the best commercial apples to shame. It's even better than a really good nectarine. Nectarine - the best fruit tree we have. Apart from netting and pruning, in our climate it requires no care and fruit is very good. None of our trees get watered. The citrus needed water to get established - the others didn't need so much. I think if we were starting again we would get dwarf fruit trees such as Ballerina Apples (there are dwarf varieties of all fruit). These would be easier to maintain and pick and net. I would consider a permanent or semipermanent wire cage around all fruting trees except olives and citrus. Possibly an electric fence of some kind. However in some areas people seem to get away with no protection at all from wildlife. Other things we've tried: strawberry (regular watering required - not enough fruit - fungal problems although lessened if you get the large fruit varieties), tomatoes (not much fruit, regular watering required and fungal problems), rocket (great plant, doesn't need regular watering, self seeding, looks after itself, can still eat when it goes to seed, unlike lettuce), silver beet (doesn't need regular watering, self seeding, looks after itself). Herbs; rosemary and mint will last forever. Coriander is a waste of time - goes to seed if you look sideways at it. What would we plant again: nectarine, granny smith, lemon, olive, lime. blueberry, orange (if a good water supply), rocket, silver beet. Kaffir lime is good (and it makes a good lemongrass substitute). |
#4
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Whats a good Nectarine Tree to grow?
On Sat, 31 Jan 2009 04:07:35 +0000, Totoblue wrote:
Any recommendations for a Nectarine tree? We are in Melbourne eastern suburbs (clay soil). We have from memory a Nectarine Goldmine. Anyone care to make a recommendation on a suitable variety fo SW Sydney (Camden-Campbelltown)? The chief gardener wants to try mini orchards, but I thnk we might just as well go a full tree since we planning on plonking five futi tress in the middle of the large garden bed. |
#5
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Whats a good Nectarine Tree to grow?
"Totoblue" wrote in message
... YMC wrote: I was thinking of growing a Nectarine tree in my backyard. My Uncle used to have a really great one - it produced these fantastic fruits which we allowed to ripen on the branch - then we plucked them when they were ripe. They were the most sweetest things I've ever tasted. But they were very easily damaged by that stage; so I suspect thats why you can't buy them at the supermarket. Any recommendations for a Nectarine tree? We are in Melbourne eastern suburbs (clay soil). We have from memory a Nectarine Goldmine. It is fantastic. Doesn't need spraying for anything (did have leaf curl when it was younger but that is easily fixed with a copper spray). The variety that would suit you depends on where you live. Also in some locations i believe you are obligated to perform certain pest control activities such as spraying on certain fruits. I recommend you get a free-stone nectarine. You do get the odd bug in the fruit and with a free-stone nectarine, you can easily remove the stone to look for insect damage (and cut that bit out - the bugs seem to eat mostly near the stone but they don't eat much). Thanks for that. I'm also living in the Melbourne Easter Suburbs near Warrandyte. The soil here is mainly clay. But thanks to mulching and composting we have brought up the top soil level a bit. Thank God for the mulch. I bought about $200+ for the mulch and using old newspaper - placed mulched over the entire beds. The roses are much happier as a result. Back on topic - do you have any specific recommendations - names? for the Nectarine? Cheers, YMC |
#6
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Whats a good Nectarine Tree to grow?
mmm. Any nectarine tree is a good one to grow 8)
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#7
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Whats a good Nectarine Tree to grow?
YMC wrote:
"Totoblue" wrote: YMC wrote: I was thinking of growing a Nectarine tree in my backyard. My Uncle used to have a really great one - it produced these fantastic fruits which we allowed to ripen on the branch - then we plucked them when they were ripe. They were the most sweetest things I've ever tasted. But they were very easily damaged by that stage; so I suspect thats why you can't buy them at the supermarket. Any recommendations for a Nectarine tree? We are in Melbourne eastern suburbs (clay soil). We have from memory a Nectarine Goldmine. It is fantastic. Doesn't need spraying for anything (did have leaf curl when it was younger but that is easily fixed with a copper spray). The variety that would suit you depends on where you live. Also in some locations i believe you are obligated to perform certain pest control activities such as spraying on certain fruits. I recommend you get a free-stone nectarine. You do get the odd bug in the fruit and with a free-stone nectarine, you can easily remove the stone to look for insect damage (and cut that bit out - the bugs seem to eat mostly near the stone but they don't eat much). Thanks for that. I'm also living in the Melbourne Easter Suburbs near Warrandyte. The soil here is mainly clay. But thanks to mulching and composting we have brought up the top soil level a bit. Thank God for the mulch. I bought about $200+ for the mulch and using old newspaper - placed mulched over the entire beds. The roses are much happier as a result. Back on topic - do you have any specific recommendations - names? for the Nectarine? As I said, IIRC ours is a Nectarine Goldmine. But we got it 15 years ago. |
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