by Greg Alder | May 17, 2019 | Fruit |
Spring is for pinching. Nothing to do with Saint Patrick’s Day, this is using your fingers to prune. In the spring, trees are growing new branches that are succulent and easily snapped off by hand: no tools required. But why pinch? And what and where to pinch?...
by Greg Alder | May 10, 2019 | Avocados |
It was my first avocado tree’s first winter when a couple leaves started getting yellow veins. Oh no, what disease was this? I sent a photo to a seasoned avocado grower and he wrote back, “This is leaf senescence. The leaf is just dying naturally.”...
by Greg Alder | Apr 26, 2019 | Fruit, Watering |
Here in late April, it’s about time to water my deciduous fruit trees for the first time since winter. I water most of my fruit trees — both deciduous and citrus and avocado — using micro-sprinklers. Micro-sprinklers are small emitters that work on...
by Greg Alder | Apr 5, 2019 | Fruit |
Deciduous fruit trees demand to spend their winters in certain ways. Peaches, plums, apricots, apples, cherries, nectarines, they like to get chilly in the fall, then shed their leaves and stay chilly for a certain length of time, then warm up in the late winter or...
by Greg Alder | Mar 29, 2019 | Avocados |
I think of my Hass avocado tree as small even though it is far bigger than the newly planted trees above. As I looked at my Hass last week, it stood 17 feet tall. It was time to prune. I prune it every year in order to keep it down to 15 feet. This post is about...
by Greg Alder | Mar 8, 2019 | Avocados |
In 2013, I planted a Lamb/Hass avocado tree because its fruit was said to be ready for harvest in summer. I didn’t know much else about the variety, and I’d never tasted its fruit (knowingly). During the past five or six years I’ve learned a lot more about Lamb...
by Greg Alder | Feb 15, 2019 | Avocados, Fruit |
Cherries are tricky in Southern California. Only a few varieties will fruit here with our relatively warm winters. Six winters ago, I planted two cherry trees for my mom in her backyard. The two needed each other in order to fruit. The flowers of Minnie Royal could...
by Greg Alder | Feb 8, 2019 | Avocados |
When it comes to buying an avocado tree, is bigger better? In one major aspect, yes, because a bigger avocado tree is capable of giving you more fruit sooner. On the flipside, bigger avocado trees come with three disadvantages, which is why I have purchased and...
by Greg Alder | Jan 25, 2019 | Fruit |
What do you think about when you’re pruning your nectarine tree? I think about sunshine. Myriad smaller thoughts also go through my mind, but my overarching thought is about imagining rays of sun hitting the tree’s canopy and working their way down and in. The reason...
by Greg Alder | Jan 11, 2019 | Fruit |
While family was visiting for Christmas I invited my niece to prune a fruit tree with me. Is pruning your fruit trees intimidating? What to cut? Where to cut? (You can’t reverse it after you’ve cut.) This post is narrowly focused: Let’s only talk about where to...
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