Harvestman says that Early Blush is very good and very early, maybe 7-14 days before Tomcot. You can buy it from Adams County Nursery. Not sure it would pollinate Tomcot but probably would. Strangely ACN doesn't carry Tomcot. If you want to try another cot 7-10 days later than Tomcot, I can highly recommend Robada for eating quality. I don't think it has been widely tested out east.

My thinking is Early Blush might be early enough to escape some pest pressure. But that is based solely on what others have said about Tomcot escaping some pressure because it is early.

tavalenti:

Go with one Tomcot. The only reason to plant two would be to have more Tomcots. I have tried a dozen varieties, and Tomcot is head and shoulders above any variety I know of for the Washington, D.C. area, where I also live.

Tomcot is self-fruitful. If you get a good spring, with no late frosts, you won't have to worry about fruit set, but you will have to thin.

I cannot explain why this variety is so much better in so many different ways for this region, but after over 30 years of trying apricots I am convinced this is the case.

I have two fully mature Tomcot trees, and this year we picked over 100 pounds of perfect fruit in the 3rd week of June. You will have to spray early for plum curculio, about 4-5 sprays spaced a week apart. I use permethrin. And you will have to prune the trees, (which are vigorous) once they begin to mature, every single year. I do the pruning on these trees about now, in late July. Dormant pruning results in extreme busy growth.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Thanks for your help - since it seems one Tomcot will produce quite a bit when mature even without another Apricot - I am going to go with one Tomcot.

Thanks!

Sugar Pearls was bred for the mid-Atlantic region.

I disagree with Don unless Tomcot is more self-fruitful than any cots I grow or if being a couple hundred miles further south makes apricots more self fruitful, both of which are entirely possible.

When I started growing apricots here the literature said they were entirely self-fruitful but my experience told me different. A few years later Adams was suggesting planting two varieties in east coast conditions for more consistent cropping.

Don, have you tried growing any of the varieties recently bred for east coast conditions? There were no New Jersey releases available when you and I started growing fruit. I suspect something they've released will be at least as good as Tomcot as its good performance here is really an accident. It wasn't actually bred for production here.

TV, if you have room form more than one apricot, I suggest planting another that bears at a different time, which I believe Early Blush would do.

Meanwhile, I have to order a Tomcot! I take Don's endorsement seriously.