Over the weekend, yesterday and the day before, we had moderately high wind, then rain. Just in time to compromise the bloom and fruit set on Canadian White Blenheim apricot, Blenheim (just finished bloom, susceptible to blossom rot), Chinese apricot, Golden Amber apricot, possiblly the Sugar prune and Emerald Beaut plum (just finishing bloom). Don't know if it will affect the peaches and nectarines. But I wouldn't be surprised if it affected at least the nectarines.
Earlier rain probably reduced fruit set on Royal Rosa apricot, Blenheim, Royalty and to some extent on Harcot. All had damaged fruits. Dapple Dandy and Flavor Queen Pluots. Haven't checked Flavor Supreme. It never sets a lot of fruit, and tiny fruitlets are hard to spot in the big tree.
Flavor Delight Aprium set a lot of fruit in spite of the weather, as usual, and most of it looks healthy. Time to get serious about thinning. This fruit may be the best choice for an "apricot" here for gardeners who don't want to bother with things like spraying copper in winter or other fungicides in spring.
Friday, the high temperature was 79 degrees - 10 degrees lower than the record for the same date. Last night's forecast was for 35 degrees - the kind of temperatures we would like in the middle of winter to chill the stone fruit buds. We're past the typical "frost watch" date here - about March 15. Time to plant some veggies.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Low-acid Peaches and Nectarines
There are thousands of varieties of peaches in the world, and quite a few varieties of nectarines. Our Central Valley is one of the few places where nectarines can be grown successfully on a commercial basis, and it's also a great peach climate. Many varieties developed here also grow best here. Some have wider climate adaptability.
Floyd Zaiger is a fruit breeder who risked his financial future to "go independent", and in his case, it paid off to a modest extent. He has developed some great fruits. Early on, he developed some important hybrid rootstocks for trees. Over the years, he has developed very distinctive Plums, Pluots, Apricots, Apriums, Nectarines, Peaches, Nectaplums, Plumcots and plum/peach hybrids. Which is not to say that all of his varieties are great. There are some knock-off Pluots which are frankly described even in commercial wholesale catalogs as having flavor inferior to the Pluots they resemble.
One of Zaiger's developments has been low acid/high sugar peaches and nectarines. These are attractive for commercial growers because they taste good even before they are fully ripe. Even when they're crispy. They are easy to ship because they can be picked while still very firm. They get even sweeter when tree-ripened until juicy. The first low acid/high sugar peaches and nectarines were white-fleshed. There have long been low-acid/normal sugar white varieties like Babcock, but they don't taste good until they are ripe.
Several of the new low acid/high sugar varieties have become available to home growers. Some of them have commercial drawbacks, but excellent characteristics for home growers. Other breeders are now entering the "low acid/high sugar" field, too. Their varieties are also likely to be available first for commercial market. Some will eventually be available to home growers.
Many home growers prefer the old-fashioned peaches and nectarines which develop a nice acid/sugar balance and complex flavors when perfectly ripe and juicy. The most luscious to many fruit fans are described as having "melting" flesh. But most people seldom taste a peach or nectarine like this. They don't ship well. Zaiger has also developed some "balanced" high-sugar varieties. These tend to get high ratings from fruit tasters, but are less attractive commercially because they are more acid before they are fully ripe.
One of the frequent contributors to the Fruit and Orchards forum at Gardenweb goes by the nom de blog "Fruitnut". The name describes him well. As I have noted earlier, he moved from the Central Valley to the mountains of Texas because of allergies, but build a big greenhouse so he could bring his favorite fruit varieties with him. Not long ago he described the low-acid white nectarine "Arctic Star" as his favorite early fruit. I bought a tree on his recommendation, and have been more successful with it than with other nectarines.
Last night, I read a thread in which Fruitnut gave me some clues as to why I do better with such an early variety: peaches and nectarines require just the right amount of water to produce the best fruit. Too little water and nectarines will be rough, misshapen and will develop "off" flavors. This is my typical experience. Too much water, and they will lack flavor, but will look perfect. Just the right amount of water and they will have a touch of russeting at the tip. My early Arctic Star doubtless suffers less from our inconsistent watering than do later varieties.
Fruit Nut now recommends Zaiger's low-acid yellow nectarines and peaches as 'the best fruit in the world". These include Honey Kist and Honey Blaze nectarines, which ripen at about the same time, and Honey Royale, which ripens later. Others include early Honey May and late Honey Diva. Another contributor noted that Honey Blaze needs high heat in summer, while Honey Kist has a wider climate adaptability. Honey May is a low-chill variety which would bloom too early in many climates. Only Honey Kist is listed by Dave Wilson Nursery for its retail nursery clientele.
The low-acid yellow peach recommended by Fruit Nut is Valley Sweet. You apparently have to "have connections" to get one if you're not a commercial grower. More fruits for my "dream orchard".
In our climate, Japanese plums and Pluots and even apricots are more forgiving than peaches and nectarines. Apricot yield may suffer due to the rain we are currently having during bloom season. This year, our Plum/Pluot bloom is more concentrated than usual. The early bloomers are also closer to the peaches and nectarines in their bloom time. In the past, our earliest varieties of apricot/Aprium and Pluot have sometimes started blooming in January. This year, Flavor Supreme Pluot on the early end has overlapped nicely in bloom with Burgundy, Santa Rosa and Catalina plums and most of the Pluots in the other yard. Emerald Beaut on the late end will overlap by at least a third of its blossoms with Casselman and even to some extent with Flavor King. We may have had more winter chill than usual, or the chill may have come at just the right time to concentrate the bloom.
Floyd Zaiger is a fruit breeder who risked his financial future to "go independent", and in his case, it paid off to a modest extent. He has developed some great fruits. Early on, he developed some important hybrid rootstocks for trees. Over the years, he has developed very distinctive Plums, Pluots, Apricots, Apriums, Nectarines, Peaches, Nectaplums, Plumcots and plum/peach hybrids. Which is not to say that all of his varieties are great. There are some knock-off Pluots which are frankly described even in commercial wholesale catalogs as having flavor inferior to the Pluots they resemble.
One of Zaiger's developments has been low acid/high sugar peaches and nectarines. These are attractive for commercial growers because they taste good even before they are fully ripe. Even when they're crispy. They are easy to ship because they can be picked while still very firm. They get even sweeter when tree-ripened until juicy. The first low acid/high sugar peaches and nectarines were white-fleshed. There have long been low-acid/normal sugar white varieties like Babcock, but they don't taste good until they are ripe.
Several of the new low acid/high sugar varieties have become available to home growers. Some of them have commercial drawbacks, but excellent characteristics for home growers. Other breeders are now entering the "low acid/high sugar" field, too. Their varieties are also likely to be available first for commercial market. Some will eventually be available to home growers.
Many home growers prefer the old-fashioned peaches and nectarines which develop a nice acid/sugar balance and complex flavors when perfectly ripe and juicy. The most luscious to many fruit fans are described as having "melting" flesh. But most people seldom taste a peach or nectarine like this. They don't ship well. Zaiger has also developed some "balanced" high-sugar varieties. These tend to get high ratings from fruit tasters, but are less attractive commercially because they are more acid before they are fully ripe.
One of the frequent contributors to the Fruit and Orchards forum at Gardenweb goes by the nom de blog "Fruitnut". The name describes him well. As I have noted earlier, he moved from the Central Valley to the mountains of Texas because of allergies, but build a big greenhouse so he could bring his favorite fruit varieties with him. Not long ago he described the low-acid white nectarine "Arctic Star" as his favorite early fruit. I bought a tree on his recommendation, and have been more successful with it than with other nectarines.
Last night, I read a thread in which Fruitnut gave me some clues as to why I do better with such an early variety: peaches and nectarines require just the right amount of water to produce the best fruit. Too little water and nectarines will be rough, misshapen and will develop "off" flavors. This is my typical experience. Too much water, and they will lack flavor, but will look perfect. Just the right amount of water and they will have a touch of russeting at the tip. My early Arctic Star doubtless suffers less from our inconsistent watering than do later varieties.
Fruit Nut now recommends Zaiger's low-acid yellow nectarines and peaches as 'the best fruit in the world". These include Honey Kist and Honey Blaze nectarines, which ripen at about the same time, and Honey Royale, which ripens later. Others include early Honey May and late Honey Diva. Another contributor noted that Honey Blaze needs high heat in summer, while Honey Kist has a wider climate adaptability. Honey May is a low-chill variety which would bloom too early in many climates. Only Honey Kist is listed by Dave Wilson Nursery for its retail nursery clientele.
The low-acid yellow peach recommended by Fruit Nut is Valley Sweet. You apparently have to "have connections" to get one if you're not a commercial grower. More fruits for my "dream orchard".
In our climate, Japanese plums and Pluots and even apricots are more forgiving than peaches and nectarines. Apricot yield may suffer due to the rain we are currently having during bloom season. This year, our Plum/Pluot bloom is more concentrated than usual. The early bloomers are also closer to the peaches and nectarines in their bloom time. In the past, our earliest varieties of apricot/Aprium and Pluot have sometimes started blooming in January. This year, Flavor Supreme Pluot on the early end has overlapped nicely in bloom with Burgundy, Santa Rosa and Catalina plums and most of the Pluots in the other yard. Emerald Beaut on the late end will overlap by at least a third of its blossoms with Casselman and even to some extent with Flavor King. We may have had more winter chill than usual, or the chill may have come at just the right time to concentrate the bloom.
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