I’d prefer that you not remember that I predicted in early August that the heat of this summer was going to soon decline. But I admit that I did, and I could not have been more wrong.
Now at the tail end of August, I can look back to July 3 when the heat began and count the days on my calendar that were 100 degrees or higher: 30.
This summer has had more sustained heat than any since I started keeping temperature records at my place in 2014. It’s been relentless.
This summer’s heat has also been coupled with higher-than-usual humidity.
Prior to summer was an exceptionally warm winter. At my place, there was less frost than usual — almost none. The lowest temperature of the winter was 32. Most winters in my yard dip into the upper 20’s at least once.
The end of winter also had a strange heat wave, where from March 12 to March 29 it was 90 degrees or higher for 13 of the 18 days. One day reached 101. In March! Some plants actually got sunburned. In March!
What does all of this mean for fruit trees?
In my yard, the happiest fruiting trees and fruiting plants this year have been . . . as expected . . . the tropicals: bananas, pineapples, guavas, mangos.
But also, as expected, subtropicals are doing well. Citrus are the best performing, with lots of fruit and tolerance to the high heat.
My macadamia nut tree and my avocados and dragon fruit have lots of nuts/fruit, but they also show some sunburn and water stress.
Temperate fruits, on the other hand, are hit and miss. Grapes have been a hit. Apples have also been a hit, surprisingly. Fruiting well in my yard this year are the varieties Fuji, Pink Lady, Gala, Hudson’s Golden Gem, and Ghost.
But pluots are a mixed bag. Only one pluot variety performed well, and that is Splash. The others had little fruit.
The biggest miss in my yard is the other stone fruit trees. Cherries, peaches, nectarines, and apricots all were nearly barren. More than that, some did not even completely leaf out until very late in summer. My read is that they needed a colder winter.
I’ve seen similar results in other yards in Southern California.
Stone fruits have performed poorly in general, except that some gardeners had a yield from early peaches.
Tropicals and subtropicals are mostly feeling at home. The mango tree at the top of this post with lots of fruit on it is the Peg Winters variety growing in Earle’s yard in San Diego. Litchi trees I’ve seen had bountiful crops this year too.
Which fruit trees have done poorly or well for you this year, through a warm winter and hot summer?
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