Fruit Trees for your Florida-Friendly Landscape Wendy Wilber UF/IFAS Extension Florida Master Gardener Program wilbewl@ufl.edu
Good Reasons Harvest fresh fruits and vegetables Pick edibles at peak ripeness Know how it was grown Fun and exciting to return to the land Personal pride
Consider Power lines Septic systems Walkways How much sunlight Drainage of your soil Windbreaks
What fruit trees need to grow Full sun!!! 6-8 hours a day No tree root competition Well drained soil Appropriate soil ph Regular irrigation Fertilization The right chill hours And in some cases a little protection
Puts the Right Plant in the Right Place Fertilize appropriately Water efficiently Manage Yard Pest Responsibly (IPM) Mulch Recycle Reduce Storm Water Run off Protect the water front Attract Wildlife
Right Plant Right Place Chill Hours = # of hours below 45 during dormancy Grafted trees =grafting is the joining together of two separate structures usually from different genotypes so they function as a single plant Florida Varieties http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/mg/mg24800.pdf
We are going to talk about Blueberry Figs Grapes Peach, Nectarine Plum Persimmon & A few others
Blueberries Acid Soil ph of 4.5-5.5 Mulch heavily Sensitive to excessive nitrogen Fertilizer =Blueberry special 12-4-8 6 times year 1 to 2 oz. Per application Prune after harvest, thin and head back
Getting started Full Sun Get a soil test If soil ph is high plan on Mulching Mulch at least 6 inches deep Small nugget pine bark Drip irrigation Plan for weed control
Trait Priorities Low-- chill requiremen Disease tolerance(survivability) Early maturity($) Fruit quality Stem scar Size Color Firmness Taste
Blueberries Southern Highbush Varieties Sharpblue, Emerald, Windsor, Sapphire Springhigh, Primadonna, Jewel, Snowchaser, Sweet crisp These will produce in March, April or early May These are patented UF cultivars and cannot be propagated without permission
Rabbiteye Varieties Climax, Beckyblue, Austin Woodard, Bonita, early (plant together) Chaucer Tifblue, Brightwell, Powder Blue later (plant together) ALL need cross pollination These produce in late may, June, and July
Mulching is a necessity
Netting really helps!
Micro irrigation at least once a day in heavily mulched beds in the summer and drought
Prune Blueberries after harvest Even in the first year Pruning increases Productivity
Soils too alkaline Not enough H20 Leaf spots Stem blight VERY MANAGABLE Problems
Figs Deciduous Prefer rich soil 4-6 inch layer of mulch Nematode Problems Many Varieties
Celeste, Alma, Green Ischia Brown Turkey, Magnolia
Figs Water well during growing season Light, frequent fertilization 8-8-8 Bird netting necessary Rust spot on leaves is very common, and will cause early defoliation
Muscadine Grapes Muscadine Grapes Ripen August Few Sprays Seeds and Thick Skin Fry, Dixie (bronze) Jumbo, Cowart, Noble, Southland (black) Summit, Southland, Triumph (bronze) Southern Home hybrid Summit, Jumbo, and Fry are female
Grapes
Soil ph around 6 Grapes Prune in early spring Spurs and fruiting arms, Remove all other branches leave 2 to 3 buds per spur Fertilize in split applications March and May 2 nd year 1.5 lbs increase as the vines age, but not to exceed 4 to 6 pounds a year
Grape training
Loquat 20 25 feet Evergreen Fruit ripe in early spring Ornamental value Some selected varieties
Champagne, Gold Nugget, Oliver Loquat
Loquat Low maintenance Fertilize with 6-2-6 if needed up to 3 times a year during growing season No pruning necessary but you can to increase branching OK to mulch Look out for Mushroom root rot, Fire blight, and anthracnose on the fruit
Large tree to 30++ foot Bears in early spring Almost no care Red: Hicks, Stubbs or natives Black: Black Persian White: Downing, New American Mulberry
Pears Sand Pears=hard pear Deciduous tree Few pests Flordahome,Hood (soft)pineapple, Kieffer, Orient and Tenn
Pears Prune to modified leader system when dormant Difficult but necessary Fertilize with 1 lb of 8-8-8 a year per age of tree during dormancy and in June Leaf spots, Fire blight, rust
Peaches and Nectarine Soil ph 6.0-6.5 Train (prune) tree in late winter Pests: Peach Scale, Curculio Disease: Scab, Brown Rot, Rust Fertilize with 12-4-8 (Zn) Feb.1/8 lb, May ¼ lb, July ½ lb UF Gold
Peaches and Nectarines 15 feet = small tree Deciduous Fruits at young age Excellent Quality
Peaches and Nectarines Prune to increase production Peach: Flordaglo, Flordacrest, UF Gold Flordaking Nectarine: Sunhome Suncoast, Sunmist, and Sunraycer
Low and Medium Chill Peaches and Variety Nectarines Flordaglo 150 Flordacrest 350 UF 2000 300 Flordaking 400 Sunraycer 250 Sunhome 250 Sunmist 275 Suncoast 375 Chill hours Williamson, Anderson, Sherman 2002 IFAS
Chilling Hours Hours below 45 Choose plants according to your location in the state Get locally grown material where possible
Non-melting flesh 525 chill units FDP: 65 to 75 days Ripe fruit has 90% to 95% red color over deep yellow to orange ground color Gulfcrest
Non-melting flesh 350 chill units FDP: 77 days The variety produces good size, shape, and color in North Florida Gulfking
Non-melting flesh 300 chill units FDP: 83 The variety produces heavy annual crops of early ripening fruit with yellow flesh UFBlaze
Non-melting flesh 400 chill units FDP: 80 to 85 days This white flesh variety provides consistent yields in North Florida UFGlo
Non-melting flesh 325 chill units FDP: 105 days The variety has reliable cropping with excellent fruit size, shape, and firmness UFSharp
Open vase system
Medium sized tree Deciduous Gulf Gold, Gulf Ruby, Gulf Blaze With need cross pollinator Some borers or brown rot Plum
Peaches, Nectarines, Plums Soil ph 6.0-6.5 Train tree in late winter Pests: Peach Scale, Curculio Disease: Scab, Brown Rot, Rust Fertilize with 12-4-8 (Zn) Feb.1/8 lb, May ¼ lb, July ½ lb UF Gold
Plum curculio Weevil lays egg in fruit. Eats into fruit and seed (scar heals quickly) Spray with an insecticide like malathion, permethrin or Sevin. Timing is important so consult the Pest Management Guide
Ces.ncsu Brown Rot +Fungal disease Infects blossoms, twigs and Fruit. +Remove the mummies now. +Prune infected branches +Spray fungicide such as Captan next spring when blooms Are 25% open.
Japanese Persimmon Grafted to native rootstock Deciduous Few pest problems Astringent and non-astringent varieties Fuyu
Persimmon Astringent: Tanenashi, Hachiya, Saijo, Sheng Non-Astringent: Fuyu, Izu, Jiro, Matsumoto Wase Fuyu,
Persimmon Fertilize with a 10-10-10 in a split application January, June and Sept. ½ to 1 lb per year of age Not to exceed 8 lbs per year Modified central leader pruning Pests: Scale, borers, late frosts Hachiya
Pomegranate Grow throughout the state Prefer acid soil Small tree Christina, Azadi, Parfianka, Double Red
Avocado Grafted varieties best Mexican varieties are more cold tolerant Mexicola, Gainesville, Day Red bay wilt?
Banana Fast growing Tropical appearance Many varieties Best Dwarf Cavendish, Raja Puri, Lady finger Tender to cold
Hey you didn t mention Citrus Many varieties to choose from Choose early producers and cold tolerant varieties Citrus Greening is a bacterial disease that is effecting most of Florida s citrus Easy: Satsuma mandarin, Ponkan tangerine, Navel orange, Meyers Lemon, kumquat Full Sun, well drained soil, fertilizer frequently with citrus blend fertilizer, mature trees up to 4 times a year 3# each time, water 1 inch per week.
Animal damage can ruin your day Netting Scare devices Stop feeding the birds Fences! They might possess super powers
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