69°F
weather icon Windy

Cool, wet spring not good for producing quality fruit

Our spring this year was cool and wet. Even our early summer was that way. This kind of weather was good for producing a lot of tomatoes but not necessarily for high-quality fruit from fruit trees.

Early apricots and even a few varieties of peaches can be harvested in mid- to late-May in our climate. You just have to pick the right varieties.

The best early-season fruit is produced with bright, sunny skies and warm temperatures. This year our skies were overcast and temperatures were cool all the way into May.

Temperatures below 95 degrees Fahrenheit are great for producing tomatoes but not the best when it comes to producing high-quality tree fruit. The flavors developed by fruit is complicated. It isn’t just about sugar content.

Devices like refractometers only measure total soluble solids that are equated with sugar content. Sugars only make fruit sweet.

We need substances other than sugar to provide a good flavor profile for fruit. First, you have to pick a variety that makes good fruit in a specific climate.

Think of wine. Varieties of wine grapes make better wine in different climates. Tree fruits are the same.

Flavor begins with a balance between sugars and acids that we find favorable. These acids include a mixture of acetic, tartaric and malic acids and aromatic volatiles that provide that first whiff of the fruit even before it enters our mouth.

Commercial varieties are often picked too soon. This has an effect on fruit quality.

Cool temperatures and cloudy skies do not promote good sugar development. Under these conditions, sugar content stays lower than normal and the acid content remains high. So the ratio of acids to sugars is not the best.

When we have bright, sunny skies and warm to high temperatures, then sugar content is boosted and the ratio of sugar to acids can become “delicious.” Allow the fruit to mature so that those volatiles are released and fill our noses.

This is why when I use my nose before I buy fruit. You can smell good fruit before you taste it. Any fruit-loving bird will tell you that.

Q: My apple tree is not in good condition with leaves that are browning on the edges. Why? What can I do to help my tree?

A: Browning around the edges of leaves is called leaf scorch. Leaf scorch is caused by not enough water getting from the roots to the leaves during hot, dry weather. This does not necessarily mean to water more often.

A lack of water getting to the leaves can be caused by the soil: too much salt in the soil, not enough water in the soil, root damage, damage to the trunk or damage to the limbs that restricts water to the leaves.

When leaf scorch appears throughout the tree canopy then we pinpoint the trunk, roots or soil as the location of the problem. In your particular case, I think it is just not enough water applied around the roots. The tree appears healthy otherwise.

Take a hose and soak the area under the tree canopy with about 30 gallons of water. Basins around the tree 2 to 3 feet wide will help contain the water around the trunk. Repeat this twice during the week.

You should see new leaves developing without scorch in two to three weeks. The leaves already damaged will not recover. But any new leaves produced after you begin this new irrigation schedule should emerge without scorching.

If this is the cause, add more drip emitters around the tree or increase the number of minutes you water. Increasing the number of drip emitters is a better solution if everything else on the same circuit or valve is getting the right amount of water.

Q: How often and how many minutes of water should I give my pine tree this time of year?

A: It will do best if you can give the tree lots of water in one application, but very slowly, and then hold off on your watering for a time.

When a pine tree canopy looks sparse and not full, it is because of a lack of water. Add water to the base of the pine tree with a hose once a week during hot weather and, eventually, add more drip emitters around the tree if the problem persists. If this solution won’t work for you, put a basin around the tree and fill it every one to two weeks.

Because of how irrigation systems are designed, sometimes you can increase the number of minutes and sometimes you cannot, because the irrigation is tied to other plants and their watering schedules. If you can hold off on scheduling irrigations to no more than twice a week, it would be better for the tree.

As far as the number of minutes goes, I don’t know. Trees drink water in gallons, they don’t drink in minutes.

If you think the trees aren’t getting enough water, don’t solve the problem by increasing the number of minutes. The best solution is to increase the number of drip emitters or, if you are not using drip irrigation, increase the number of places that deliver water to the tree.

Q: I had a beautiful geranium with lots of flowers in a large pot that has a dripper. Now all the blooms have died, all the leaves are turning brown and they have holes in them. What went wrong?

A: Two things come to mind without looking at the plant: the soil or the container. First of all, geraniums are cool weather plants and don’t like the heat. If they are going to survive during the heat, then an eastern or northern exposure that protects them from late afternoon sun is best. They do best in bright locations that have filtered light.

Secondly, this is the time of year we start to see flowers decimated by tobacco budworm. Holes in the leaves are a dead giveaway for tobacco budworm damage. You can read more about it on my blog.

It is possible to cut them back, fertilize and water them and get them to regrow, but you should spray for the tobacco budworm to protect the new blossoms when they are ready to flower. If you have petunias, they can attack them as well.

Q: I put four African sumac trees in our backyard last September. I am watering them now every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday for 20 minutes. About two weeks ago the leaves turned brown and fell off. If this continues, will the tree lose all its leaves?

A: You can be watering newly planted trees and they can be suffering from drought at the same time.

Container and boxed trees are grown in soils that are totally different from the soils in the landscape. Container soils are looser and lighter than landscape soils.

When these trees are planted, the soil is pushed in around the root ball and, if you are lucky, the plants are watered in twice with a hose. A basin is placed around the trees so they can be given additional water until they are established.

Irrigation emitters are sometimes placed too far from the trunk and the water from the emitters wets the landscape soil but it does not move into the root ball because the soils are totally different from each other.

How to correct this? Always water newly planted trees and shrubs with water from a hose directed on top of the soil and at the base of the tree. Never rely on an irrigation system by itself to deliver the water where it is needed after an installation.

Hand water with a hose twice a week. Supplement the water from the hose with your irrigation system on the same days you water by hand. Select your irrigation days and give the plants a rest (no applied water) for one or two days between irrigations.

Bob Morris is a horticulture expert living in Las Vegas and professor emeritus for the University of Nevada. Visit his blog at xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com. Send questions to Extremehort@aol.com.

Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.
THE LATEST
Do honeybees prefer pink flowers over white ones?

All of the so-called temperate fruit trees flower in the spring. The white-flowered types such as almonds, plums and pluots, apples and pears usually flower a bit later.

Is redbud tree a good choice for pool area?

My landscaper is recommending a redbud tree in the planter attached to my pool. I asked him if that’s a good tree to plant so close to the pool.

Can scent tell me what kind of plant this is?

You should smell a big difference between bay laurel and cherry laurel, which come from different plant families despite their similar names.