Fruit Trees For Texas Presentation to Sustainable Foods, Coalition of Austin Community Gardens January 20, 2014 By Jerry Naiser for the Travis County Master Gardeners Generally, Central Texas gardeners can plant most bare rootstock between January 1 and February 15 and container-grown trees between January 1 and March 31 Bare root is the preferred method of planting. This is because of the amount of root trauma during digging and transplantation. Trees in the one to five gallon ranges are scarce. Bare root is by far the best method of planting during or after a drought. This is because most bare trees come with very few hair roots and generally 1-3 feeder roots. I also advise to provide some shade for the first year. In another words, buy bare root; establish in a pot, (for root regeneration) then transplant to a permanent location in a year or two. This helps with adaptation and resource management. I recommend 5-6 hours of sun the first year. Then after that, full sun. Drip irrigation, by an automatic system is the preferred method of irrigation during root establishment. Soaker hose is preferred in years 1 to 4. Chilling Hours are the number of hours between 45 and 35. Biologically, this is what matters. Some figure, just below 45…. In Austin, we see between 300 and 600. It important to note that radiant heat, as found near an urban area, can reduce the number of chilling hours by 100 or more. It’s very important to choose varieties that are below 500 hours. Some Apples, for instance can die, if they don’t receive the recommended number. Fruit trees requiring pollination should be planted within 100-200 feet away from each other. This will provide an attractive snack for bees and provide ample unfiltered sunlight. Nut trees are wind pollenated and should be about 50 feet or so away from one another. Pesticide use should be avoided, because of the toxicity to pollinators. Dorment oil like Neem Oil can be sprayed to protect against overwintering insects. This should be done in January and again in February. Be sure to spray the entire trunk and branch structure. During the growing season and in necessary, you can spray “Surround” (Kaolin Clay) on the fruit to deter insects. Calcium deficiencies are more severe when trees are under environmental stresses such as high heat or drought. Calcium sprays during fruit development and maturing are almost always recommended. Cottony Root Rot: There is no diagnostic test to let a grower know if there is Cotton Root Rot present on their site. Having cotton previously planted on that site likewise has no bearing on whether the disease may be problematic or not. Cottony Root Rot is common in central Texas and there is no cure. Orchard Floor Management Like all other perennial crops, fruit compete with native vegetation for sunlight, nutrients and water. Failure to control weeds in new orchards is the single greatest limiting factor to orchard establishment. While cultivation has long been thought to be the most cost-effective and environmentally sound way of managing weeds, potential losses of soil, and the detrimental effects on tree roots leaves cultivation as the method of last resort. The majority of a trees feeder roots are in the top six inches of soil. Cultivating weeds also cuts feeder roots leaving trees unable to absorb either water or nutrients. Erosion of soil from a cultivated orchard results in the loss of a valuable environmental resource. Olives Older trees tolerate a freeze better. Down to 17. Below that, they will freeze but will come back from the roots. Young trees- 25. Olive trees generally take 5 years to produce. Peaches Peaches are self-fruitful, so you can plant one, if that’s all you have room for. Parts of Central Texas are known for their peach orchards. Late frosts in the spring can damage peach crops some years, especially early-blooming varieties such as Bicentennial, Sentinel and Harvester. Springgold and Surecrop are good choices for cling peaches, while Milam, Dixieland, Redskin and Jefferson are freestone peaches recommended by the Texas Agriculture Extension Service for Central Texas. Belle of Georgia, Elberta, La Feeciana, Sam Houston and Loring also do well. Some newer varieties from Texas A&M include White Delight, Royal Zest and Golden Zest. All are between 500 and 700 chilling hours, which might be pushing it for Austin Metro. But worth looking at if you are north of town. Apricot Apricot trees are closely related to the plum and are self-fruitful. Most Apricot trees do well in Texas. It is common practice to graft a Apricot to Peach root stock, however, this is usually a failure when Ph is above 7.5. Since Apricot roots-stock isn’t readily available, the only practical way is to start from seed. Blenhein, Moorpark, Bryan and Chinese are some of the varieties to look for. Nectarines Nectarines are a mutation of the peach, that have no fuzz. Its not a cross between the peach and the plum as some say…. Nectarines are not especially suited for Texas, because it is not really cold enough and the flesh is too fragile, which makes it susceptible to insect, wind as well as fungal pathogens. Texas A&M has a new variety called the Smooth Delight 400-450 chill hours (estimate) These are the first sub-acid necterines for a medium chill zone. Pears Pears are subject to fire blight in Texas, so youll need to select blight-resistant varieties. Keiffer, LeConte, Ayers and Maxine pears produce well in Central Texas. Pears are self-fruitful, but you will get more fruit with two. Asian Pears have really awesome flavor. Asian pears ripen on the tree and are firmer than regular pears wich are usually picked green. Asian pear varieties would include Hosui, 20th Century and Ya Li. Persimmon Native, Mexican or Texas persimmon trees do not produce fruit that is of quality enough to eat. These trees mostly are self-fruitful. Trees that require cross-pollination are the seeded varieties like Eurika and Fuyu. Best not to plant these with other persimmon trees otherwise all your fruit will have seeds. Look towards the oriental varieties such as Hachiya, Tane-nashi, Tamopan or izu. Plums Red plums such as Allred and Bruce do well in Central Texas. Fruit sets on the previous years growth. For a purple plum, Texas A&M University recommends Methley. While most plum trees will self-pollinate, all will do better with a second tree, and the Bruce variety requires another plum tree for cross-pollination. Also look for Santa Rosa, Morris and Ozark Premier. Avoid the European varieties like Stanley as they require colder climates and therefore are susceptible to fungal diseases. Apples Apples require cross-pollination to produce the best crop of fruit, so you should plant at least two trees of two different varieties for the best results. Gala, Mollies Delicious, Starkcrimson, Red Delicious and Ein Sheimer (350-self pollenate) Gala and Fuji are good growing partners. Granny can self-pollinate. Anna and Dorsett Golden (200-300). Look for rootstock M9 or M7 for compact apple trees for this area. The major factor that limits most Apple production in central Texas is chilling hours. Most Apples require over 1000. The one listed are medium chill, unless otherwise noted. Please check and double check before going down this road… There are many fungal, bacterial and insect related issues. Pomegranates Well suited for Texas, and are related to the Crepe Myrtle. They will grow in pretty much any soil type and are high in Anti-Oxidants. These trees produce fruite in 3-4 years and the fruit ripen in about 6 months. Some popular varieties are: Al-sirin-nar, which is by far the best producer, and has a bit of a tartness to it, Russian 18, Salavanski, and Spanish Sweet. The main commercial varietal is “Wonderful” which is vary vigorous and produces many large fruit. The most serious problem with pomegranates is a fungal issue that causes the fruit to split and the leaves to fall pre-maturely. Applying a copper based fungicide in late spring and thru the summer can usually alleviate this.
Posted on: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 00:38:28 +0000
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