In article , anton
writes


You will get a crop from a single, self-fertile tree. It is said,
although I
don't speak from personal experience, that you'll get a heavier crop from
a
self-fertile tree if it is pollinated by pollen from a different
individual
tree.

Which apples are self fertile?


Crab apples !

;-)


Seriously - other posters in this thread seem to be suggesting that
some culinary apple varieties are self fertile. Are there any self
fertile culinary apples?
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

In article ,
Kay wrote:

Seriously - other posters in this thread seem to be suggesting that
some culinary apple varieties are self fertile. Are there any self
fertile culinary apples?

"Queen coxes" are supposed to be. We have one but have other apples,
so we aren't a useful testbed.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Kay wrote:

Seriously - other posters in this thread seem to be suggesting that
some culinary apple varieties are self fertile. Are there any self
fertile culinary apples?

"Queen coxes" are supposed to be. We have one but have other apples,
so we aren't a useful testbed.

Acc. to Buckingham nurseries, the following are 'reasonable self-fertile':

Arthur Turner
James Grieve
Charles Ross
Worcester Pearmain
Scrumptious
Herefordshire Russet
Ellison's Orange
Egremont Russet
Red Falstaff
Laxton's superb
Sunset

Joan Morgan's 'Book of Apples' says some varieties are partially
self-fertile, but in the British climate all produce better crops if
cross-pollinated. 'Tetraploids tend to be self-fertile'.

--
Anton

gasdoctor wrote:


bigboard Wrote:
gasdoctor wrote:
You will get a crop from a single, self-fertile tree. It is said,
although I
don't speak from personal experience, that you'll get a heavier crop
from a
self-fertile tree if it is pollinated by pollen from a different
individual
tree.

--


My garden is south facing, so should get plenty of sun shine

The trees will have to be free standing (not against a wall)

I want them to to have an ornamental element to them as well as
producing a crop. I love trees. (not in a tree hugging sense though)

The garden is ~50' by ~70' (i think)

Im only interested in desert types.

Thoughts:

- grow two apple trees (?most reliable and foolproof)

- grow two plums (?high risk of total failure)

-grow a self fertile plum and apple (one might work), adding in an
apple in a pot if pollination problems or ?artificial pollination.



Juat a quick thought. Do any of your neighbours have fruit trees?
Pollinators don't have to be in your garden!

--
If at first you don't succeed, give up, no use being a damn fool.

On Tue, 09 Nov 2004 20:45:32 +0000, gasdoctor wrote:


bigboard Wrote:
gasdoctor wrote:
You will get a crop from a single, self-fertile tree. It is said,
although I
don't speak from personal experience, that you'll get a heavier crop
from a
self-fertile tree if it is pollinated by pollen from a different
individual
tree.

--


My garden is south facing, so should get plenty of sun shine

The trees will have to be free standing (not against a wall)

I want them to to have an ornamental element to them as well as
producing a crop. I love trees. (not in a tree hugging sense though)

The garden is ~50' by ~70' (i think)

Im only interested in desert types.

Thoughts:

- grow two apple trees (?most reliable and foolproof)

- grow two plums (?high risk of total failure)

-grow a self fertile plum and apple (one might work), adding in an
apple in a pot if pollination problems or ?artificial pollination.


Bramley apple (O.K. it is a cooker but can be used as desert if left to
ripen in a good year).
Victoria plum.

No idea where the nearest apple tree is but there is a fairly good chance of one within a couple of miles (bees apparently will travel miles), so I think i may be safe on that though its risk.

Plum trees are rare (i understand)

Cheers for the response, all opinions gladly appreciated.

Thanks

Ed

gasdoctor wrote:

My garden is south facing, so should get plenty of sun shine
The trees will have to be free standing (not against a wall)
I want them to to have an ornamental element to them as well as
producing a crop. I love trees. (not in a tree hugging sense though)
Im only interested in desert types.
Thoughts:
- grow two apple trees (?most reliable and foolproof)
- grow two plums (?high risk of total failure)

Hi Gasdoctor,

In my small kitchen garden I'm growing four desert apples (Tydemans
Early, Granny Smith, plus 2 others I can't remember) (chosen to have
co-incident blooming periods and provide the maxuimum length of crop - 1
early, 2 mids and 1 late (or was it 1 mid and 2 lates?)), 1 victoria
plum (self fertile) and 1 family pear tree (beth, concorde and comice).

I've chosen restrictive root stocks, and have the trees firmly staked. I
have had OK crops so far for the age of tree - they were planted in
autumn 2001.

I also grow stawberries, raspberries (autumn & summer) and blackberry,
and work a vegetable crop round the fruit crops!

Sarah

Is the plum easy to grow, good to eat, Ive heard good and bad things regarding victorias.?

The message
from gasdoctor contains these
words:
Sarah Dale Wrote:
1 victoria

plum (self fertile) and 1 family pear tree (beth, concorde and
comice).

Sarah

Is the plum easy to grow, good to eat, Ive heard good and bad things
regarding victorias.?

Victorias are excellent, and some trees have to be propped in a good
year. They are excellent fresh, when ripe, make a crumble to die for,
they preserve well, and make good jam.

The shop-bought ones are usually picked when they are hard and unripe,
and ripen to be hard with little flavour. To be avoided, however cheap
they are.

HTH

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

gasdoctor wrote:
Sarah Dale Wrote:
1 victoria
plum (self fertile) and 1 family pear tree (beth, concorde and
Is the plum easy to grow, good to eat, Ive heard good and bad things
regarding victorias.?

Hi Gasdoctor

The victoria plum tree pretty much looks after itself. Prune once a
year, a good feed once a year, pick fruit and eat it!

Sarah

The message
from Sarah Dale contains these words:
gasdoctor wrote:
Sarah Dale Wrote:

1 victoria
plum (self fertile) and 1 family pear tree (beth, concorde and
Is the plum easy to grow, good to eat, Ive heard good and bad things
regarding victorias.?

Hi Gasdoctor

The victoria plum tree pretty much looks after itself. Prune once a
year, a good feed once a year, pick fruit and eat it!

My book says never prune plum trees unless it's really necessary.
Pruning them can stop them from fruiting.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

In article ,
Jaques d'Alltrades wrote:
The message
from Sarah Dale contains these words:

The victoria plum tree pretty much looks after itself. Prune once a
year, a good feed once a year, pick fruit and eat it!

My book says never prune plum trees unless it's really necessary.
Pruning them can stop them from fruiting.

Typical book advice - simplified to the point of meaninglessness.

As I understand it, they fruit on old wood (typically the previous
years's), much like most of the Rosaceae trees. So, provided that
you leave a decent amount of that, you will get fruit.

I pruned my damson hard - and why? If I had not, it would have
fruited on long, straggly branches, which would then have broken.
No, I am not guaranteeing that I pruned it to best effect.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Sounds encouraging, so is Victoria a safe bet?

Any suggestions on where to buy, Ive found "keepers nurseries" they seem pretty good

In article , gasdoctor writes:
|
| Nick Maclaren Wrote:
| The victoria plum tree pretty much looks after itself. Prune once a
| year, a good feed once a year, pick fruit and eat it![/i][/color]
|
| Sounds encouraging, so is Victoria a safe bet?
|
| Any suggestions on where to buy, Ive found "keepers nurseries" they
| seem pretty good

I didn't write that, don't grow a Victoria, and don't regard them
as worth bothering with. All right, they are good of their kind,
but not very exciting. My taste runs to some of the older gages
and damsons.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

You have my appologies, sorry.

This is goung to be my first effort at growing fruit, so "anything" is "exciting".
I really just want something that will grow easily and give a decent crop, in a smallish garden in Staffordshire.

Thanks for all the advice. Even if its conflicting, at least Im seeing both sides of opinion from pepole like yourselves with experience

Cheers