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Fruit tree winter behavior

20 years ago

New to the area and to gardening and not sure what is normal for this time of year in Deluz, CA (zone 10b?, near Fallbrook).

I planted several bare-root trees this spring and have these newbee observations:

1. My nectarines and peach trees leaves are turning bronze color and looking sickly.

2. Pears are still green with some new growth

3. Apples are still green but no new growth since mid-summer.

4. Asian pear (20th Century) still green and has several marble-sized fruit set.

None had fruit earlier this year, which I assume is normal for the first year?

Comments (6)

  • 20 years ago

    Lucky you! all symptoms seem normal. u may want to visit exotica nursery in vista. they have a large variety of fruit trees and they even have fruit to sample of whatever is in season.

    diana

  • 20 years ago

    You can also call the Master Gardener hotline at (858) 694-2860 with your questions. They can be very helpful.

    Here is a link that might be useful: San Diego Horticultural Society

  • 20 years ago

    Thanks. I've been totally confused about seasons since I came out from the midAtlantic region. Back there, it is ready for heavy frost on the pumpkins and leaves to drop on most anything not evergreen.

    Here I'm seeing my asiatic lilies come back from the dead, blooms on the citrus and azaleas, and small fruit on the asian pears. What a strange, wonderful climate.

  • 20 years ago

    I can only speak for the nectarines and peach trees as I had those in my old house.
    Here's a general outline of their behavior in relation to the seasons. Again these are just for my trees that I have observed, some may be different.

    October-November - leaves turn dark, some fallout.
    December-January - All leaves gone, tree is dormant.
    February - Flower buds emerge.
    March - Flower show!
    April - New leaf and stem buds emerge, fruits should be visible now.
    May-June - growing season, fruits maturing.
    July - Fruits are usually ripe by then.
    August-September - tree continues to grow.

    Its just a general outline and can vary depending on how soon or how late the climate changes for the year.

  • 20 years ago

    Those fruit trees that you listed all seem to be ones that need significant winter chilling hours. I'd check the chilling hour requirements of those particular variety of trees and see if they're compatible given the average chilling hours in your area. I tried to grow a pear tree and cherry tree in West Covina, Zone 9. The trees were a big disappointment. If you want a consistant bearing fruit tree in zone 10, make sure you have a low chilling hours variety. Persimmon, Fig, and Pomegranate, in general, are good deciduous Zone 10 fruit trees, among others. I'm sure you could get a lot of suggestions from the gardenweb. Good luck.

  • 20 years ago

    Thanks wetfeet101, I'm going to save that guideline in my reference file.

    All of the fruit trees I put in are supposedly low chill, but last year we only had 223 hours of chill on our property, so some are borderline. Having a smaller crop is fine with us, in fact we planted 2 different varieties per hole to keep them on the smaller side and to extend the harvest.

    We have an old Fuyu Persimmon that produces huge crops (350 lbs last year). If I let these new fruit trees get that big, I'll have to quit my job and open up a produce stand.