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apricot trees
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Posted by andrew_london UK zone 8/9? (My Page) on Mon, Feb 5, 07 at 15:40
| I am intending to grow an apricot tree in a pot on my sunny patio here in London. My only real concern is whether it is likely to be affected by peach leaf curl. We had a peach tree in the ground in our previous garden which we had to have removed because of leaf curl (despite our spraying it religiously with Bordeaux mixture) and I don't want to have the same problem all over again - even though it would obviously be easier to cover a pot-grown tree in winter. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: apricot trees
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| Hi, Andrew, I live on the South Coast and have grown Apricot trees in pots twice. Never had a hint of Peach Leaf Curl but the trees themselves did not live long.(about 3yrs each) You have to hand-pollinate early in the season and you do get Apricots. Good luck |
RE: apricot trees
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| See page 4 of the attached link. |
Here is a link that might be useful: apricots in pots
RE: apricot trees
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Cajary - thanks for your reply but it raises as many questions as it answers:
(1) Why did you have to hand-pollinate? I thought apricots were supposed to be self-fertile.
(2) Why did your trees last only for three years?
Peach leaf curl is a particular problem in London and its spread is supposed to be related to the Clean Air Acts (as with blackspot in roses). Apricots are not supposed to suffer as badly as peaches, but ... |
RE: apricot trees
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Hi,Andrew, I had to hand-pollinate because there are no insects about when they flower. I think they sre self-fertile inasmuch as they don't need another tree. I think the pollen still has to be passed to the other flowers, so you have to do it by hand.
The first tree I accidentally killed by pouring BeerLees (Ibrew my own) on it in the mistaken belief tha it would help to feed it. The second tree just started oozing sap and died. I have grown Peach trees and had to give up because of the dreaded Peach Leaf curl.I have spoken to other guys down here and their impression is that Apricots just don' suffer from it. One guy said that P.L.curl is airborne and you should keep Peach trees under polythene. Just water the roots. I hope some of this helps. |
RE: apricot trees
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Andrew Apricot trees should be no problem for you in London.We have one fan trained on a south wall here in Derbyshire- well where I work- along with a peach and a nectarine. The apricots main downfall is it flowers early so if this clashes with frosts you get problems- and less fruit. PLC has never been an issue- we have a foot wide cover at the top of the wall to keep the rain off which carries the PLC- its mainly an issue when the tree is dormant and just past bud break really- thats when most infections get in- but never seen the apricot with it.
Being a stone fruit try not to prune it while dormant as various internal canker type problems can develop. We sell one or two varieties of Apricot however not usually for pots. Our experience of a number of stone fruits in pots is in wet winters they can often die due to some form of internal complaint brought on by stress with the excess water. |
RE: apricot trees
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I have now received assurances from two fruit nurseries as well as the Gardenweb Fruit Forum that peach leaf curl does not affect apricots but only peaches and nectarines.
The problem with early flowering and frosts surely affects peaches as well, and I never had any problems in that respect with the peach tree in my old garden - only with the dreaded leaf curl.
Apparently the crucial temperature is for apricots is 28 F and I am not sure that we have been below that all winter. Reads suggest growing apricots facing east rather than south so as to delay flowering a little - given that we are not going to have a problem with ripening here in London.
I understand that the main problem with apricots is dieback - which is one reason why I thought a pot might be better than the ground (better drainage - we have heavy clay soil), plus the fact that I don't have any room. |
apricot trees
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Please advise urgently. I have been growing peach and what I thought was a nectarine tree for the past three years. I have discovered this year that the Lord Napier Nectarine tree is actually an apricot tree. It was wrongly labelled by Woolworths which has gone out of business. The reason I discovered this is because this is the first summer it has borne fruit (seven in all) and they never looked like nectarines. They grew very large for apricots though but on eating them and looking up the leaf shape on line there was no mistaking it. I am cheesed off. My urgent question is do I prune this in a different way to my peach trees? My
peach and apricot trees are on the wall either side of my patio doors and face south west. Can I prune NOW in August and should I paint ALL wounds with Arbrex? Experts help requested and many thanks. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Web Europe
RE: apricot trees
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Hi,
Last year i came back from Sicily/Italy with some Apricot seeds and i planted them in pots but nothing grew. As i've found out this year the seeds need a process called stratification and that was what happened without me knowing. So when spring came guess what, one of the Apricot seeds did grow. At the end of August i re-potted the young tree because it was outgrowing the pot it was in. I have noticed that some of the leaves have dropped and at the same time i can see more shoots breaking through. My question is this: Are the leaves falling a normal thing for the time of the year, September, or is it because i've used the wrong type of soil? The soil i have used is a mixture of growbag soil and another kind of vegetable growing soil. And if the soil is the wrong choice is it a good idea taking it out and using the right one? Thanks in advance. |
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