Apricots sweeter when picked ripe

Q: I would like to buy some fresh-picked Las Vegas apricots. Most apricots I've seen here were not ripe when picked and are sour. I've had Royal apricots trees in two other places I've lived in Las Vegas but now I'm in a condo and do not have a tree and miss my sweet apricots very much. I like to just eat them, not cook or can them. Do you have any advice for me as to when and where I could get some?

A: Let me put you on a notification list of when and where local fruit is available. There is no better apricot than picking one off your own tree and eating it out of hand. Apricots continue to add sugar as long as they are left on the tree. The longer on the tree the better.

The problem with leaving them on the tree until they are soft is that they are very subject to being devoured by birds, they bruise easily when picked and even more so if they have to be transported somewhere. It is best to come to the trees and harvest them yourself.

Gilcrease Orchard in the northwest part of the valley is a pick-your-own orchard and it does have apricots already picked for you as well if you want to pay a little extra.

Our University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners Orchard, 1½ miles east of Gilcrease near North Decatur Boulevard and Horse Drive, does not allow the public to pick the fruit. Because our fruit is grown for research and demonstration our apricots are only available picked for you. We do evaluations on all our fruit so that we can make recommendations about what fruit to grow in our climate.

Orchard apricots are sold by the variety, such as Royal Rosa, Blenheim or Royal, Katy, Gold Kist and others. You can get apricots while the fruit is firm and just leave them laid out in a single layer at room temperature for one day and they will fully ripen. Commercial apricots that have to be shipped hundreds of miles must be picked a week or more early to survive the shipping and they will never develop high sugar content because they are picked so early.

Once the apricot has reached the desired softness for your taste buds, you can then put them in the refrigerator and keep them at 42 F for a few days. Actually the best environment to keep ripe apricots at their peak and for the longest is at 32 F and 95 percent humidity.

If you are going to put them in the freezer, make sure your freezer is exactly at 32 F, not any lower than this, or they may freeze. The high sugar content keeps them from freezing at 32 F.

Q: Attached please find two photos of this year's fruit from our six-year-old apricot tree. In prior seasons, we had an abundant crop of apricots, with many beginning to ripen around the third week in May. This year's crop is marked with spots that appear reddish in nature. Can you diagnose our problem and suggest a cure?

A: The pictures were a little hard to see but my guess would be that it is shothole fungus, also called Coryneum blight. This disease is more frequently seen just on the leaves rather than the fruit in our hot, dry climate.

With Coryneum blight or shothole you will see it on the leaves as red or purplish spotting. The spots frequently die and fall out of the leaf leaving behind "shothole" in the leaves about one-sixteenth to one-quarter of an inch in size. When the disease is severe enough, it will attack the fruit as well leaving red spotting, sort of like an acne appearance.

We have the same problem this year on our nectarines but not our apricots. It may also occur if the tree is stressed, such as water stress. Much of this has to do with the variety of fruit tree you are growing, its health and current weather conditions.

Because our weather has been cooler and more humid than in past years for this time of year we are seeing the development of certain diseases and insects that are not typically normal for us. This includes shothole fungus on some peaches, apricots and nectarines; powdery mildew on roses, Japanese euonymus and other susceptible species; the lingering of aphids and their honeydew deposits (shiny and sticky glistening on leaves) and others as well. Some of this will stop when the weather changes gets hotter and drier.

The most effective control for this fungal disease is to apply a fungicide, such as a Bordeaux spray, in the late fall just after leaf drop. The second best time is to apply the same fungicide in early spring when the weather conditions promote disease activity. Fungicides are usually applied as a preventive for the disease, not a curative.

Since this is not a common problem here year after year, and when we get a weather anomaly such as this prolonged cool weather, the disease is hard to anticipate. Plant diseases on fruit will not hurt you so consuming the fruit is not a problem.

You can apply a Bordeaux spray now to help arrest further development of the disease but it will not reverse the problem, only help keep it from advancing.

Q: I planted a chitalpa tree about 10 months ago in my front yard. It's doing great, but I've seen a line of ants running up and down the tree. What can I do to combat them? Are they harmful?

A: Ants running up and down the tree usually mean aphids are present in the tree. Aphids suck plant juices and excrete the sugar content; the resulting honeydew that drops on the leaves and ground attracts the ants. The ants then travel up the tree to "milk" the aphids for the sugar content.

The aphids will more or less disappear when it gets hot. Or, you can spray the tree with soapy water several times about three days apart to reduce the aphid numbers and ants will no longer go up the tree.

Q: I'm interested in growing an avocado tree in the Summerlin area. Do you know of anyone doing this successfully?

A: Not really. They just are too cold sensitive. It would be a real challenge to pull this off since they get so big and could be fully exposed to the elements. You would have a chance if you focused on keeping them as low to the ground as you can and in a very warm microclimate.

If we have a few warm winters, you might have a little bit of success, but too many times the temperatures drop too low in the winter. There is a better chance of pulling it off in a protected area in the downtown area where it is warmer.

Bob Morris is an associate professor with the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension. Direct gardening questions to the master gardener hot line at 257-5555 or contact Morris by e-mail at morrisr@unce.unr.edu.