Citrus and Peach trees

[PeakOiler]

Hey PeachOiler - I mean Peakoiler - how do I know when my peaches are ready to pick? I've only got 3 but they look like they're getting to be the right color. They still feel kind of firm, they're a mix of yellow orange and red streaks.

I don't want to force it, but I don't want to lose them to birds or bugs either. If I pick a peach too early, will it still continue to ripen, or am I screwed?

PeachOiler--lol--that's good, jdmartin. The longer you can leave the peach on the tree, the sweeter it'll get. You may want to get some bird netting for protection. If you let them ripen too long on the tree, they will have a shorter "shelf life" after picking of course. That would be a concern if you have dozens or hundreds.

[PeakOiler]

I just finished processing 22 peaches for the peach wine. I'm making a double batch. Shown below are the crushed peaches in a nylon strainer bag in the primary fermenter. The recipe also called for about 6.5 quarts water, four pounds of sugar, 2 campden tablets (potassium metabisulphite), acid blend (citric, malic, and tataric acid), pectic enzyme powder (pectinase, maltodextrin), yeast energizer, and tannin.

The recipe says to cover and let the slurry sit for 24 hrs before adding the yeast.

[jdmartin]

I picked my first peaches from my tree on Sunday~! They were just starting to have a little give to them. I probably could have left them for a few more days, but we had some bad storms rolling through so I figured why chance it?

They came off the tree pretty easy - I didn't have to do anything more than give a little twist. They smell delicious! So there's only 3 of them this year, but hey you gotta start somewhere :D .

I will post a picture of my three princesses sometime later

[PeakOiler]

@ jdmartin: Glad to read you saved your peaches. With proper care, your harvest will hopefully increase as the trees get older, and you'll be trying to figure out what to do with all of them!

[PeakOiler]

I picked the last peach of the season (168 g) today.
YTD (final): 2,021 peaches weighing 224 kg (494 lb).

Meanwhile, over a dozen limes are forming nicely, a few oranges, a few lemons, and one grapefruit. Satsuma, nil. The aphids really took a toll on the citrus production this year. I need to learn how to raise ladybugs. My battle with aphids has begun...

[PrestonSturges]

peaches will ripen some off the tree, and still be better than supermarket peaches.

[jdmartin]

OK, still haven't posted a picture (yeah, like anyone really wants to see 3 peaches :D ) but I will say this: my peaches were delicious! So juicy that the first bite spilled all over my shirt. Nice, meaty flesh but incredibly juicy. How I did it, I don't know, but I picked them at just the right time apparently.

Can't wait for next year....in the meantime, I've got a bunch of cantaloupe that'll keep me occupied...

[PeakOiler]

jdmartin, glad to read your peaches were awesome! Weather permitting, I'm sure your next harvests will be better as the trees get older. From this season's experience, you now know what they look and feel like when they're ready to pick.

I mentioned in the "Today I M/B/L" thread that I bought some ladybugs and a ladybug house in an attempt to help control the aphids on the citrus.

[jdmartin]

Next year I may try some citrus in the house...haven't quite worked out the logistics of that yet.

In the meantime, here's a picture of my 3 peaches

[PeakOiler]

Yesterday I harvested the first of about two dozen limes from one of two young potted trees this season. Great taste. I drank one small shot of tequila to celebrate the harvest with a quartered section of the lime.


I also like lime in iced and/or hot tea.

A few oranges, lemons, and one grapefruit are still forming. I expect them to be ready to harvest late this Fall.

[PeakOiler]

Saturday I finished harvesting the limes this season.
History:
2010: 27 fruits weighing ca. 1.6 kg (3.6 lb). Avg wt per lime: 61 g.
2009: 16 fruits. Avg wt per lime: 61g.
2008: 11. Avg wt: 102g.
2007: 13. Avg wt: 88g.

[PeakOiler]

I've started moving some of the potted citrus trees into my greenhouse since the first freeze of the season is not too far away now. Some of the citrus, (those that still have some immature fruit,) I'll bring back into the house. The furniture has been rearranged again to make room for the trees near the windows. The rest of the citrus, esp., the satsuma, will stay in a temporary "hoophouse" outside, right next to the house.

I found one more over-ripe lime and also noticed one of the lime trees already has some new fruit forming!

The peach trees are getting pruned. I found this great article on growing peaches in Texas:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/peach/peach.html

I don't necessarily agree with the water requirement for the peach trees given in that reference. I've used a lot less water per tree, and as some of y'all might know, my peach yield was great this year...

I used collected rainwater for most of the peach tree's irrigation while the fruits were forming, so I know there wasn't but perhaps trace amounts of salts in the water.

[PeakOiler]

Yesterday I learned that what I thought were oranges were in fact satsuma tangerines after harvesting one of the nearly completely orange fruits and peeling it. I had mislabeled the pot. D'OH! I thought those fruit looked a lot like tangerines! It was delicious. There are six fruits left. The remainder are still mostly green but getting a little more orange each day now.


Satsuma harvest history:
2007: 29 fruits
2008: 3 fruits
2009: 15 fruits

So, it has taken about four years for the amount of tangerines harvested to have "paid back" the cost of just one of the trees. Hopefully future harvests will be better...

[PeakOiler]

Once upon a time, MercuryGirl wrote:

Help again!!

Now I have aphids on the trees, like thousands, ants are still around. Maybe my moat went dry, I didn't look very close, but I thought there was still a bit in it.

Anyway, they weren't there until recently. Do the ants bring them to the trees? And aren't the ants in the soil multiplying now? Unless I kill every insect won't they just come back?

What should I do? Please forgive my ignorance.

I'm so pissed!!!!!

At the time, I had no answer to her question from my experience since my citrus had not had a problem with aphids until this last season.

What I've done is routinely spray off the aphids from the small potted trees with just water and use a small brush to clean the limbs and leaves while spraying. I tried some dilute soapy solution on one of the grapefruits last year and it almost killed the tree.

I also tried releasing 1000 ladybugs onto the trees which helped too. I'm thinking that if the potted trees were in a greenhouse or some other enclosure that could hold the ladybugs a little longer, the aphids would be under better control. (That's the experiment I'm going to try soon. The citrus in the greenhouse will get another visit from some more ladybugs soon.)

Definitely keep the ants away which aid aphid infestation.

[SpringCreekFarm]

Last summer, the summer of 2009, I thought my 3 peach trees were in big trouble because of a horrible case of peach leaf curl. I overlooked spraying dormant oil on them and paid the price, or so I thought. This spring I sprayed them with the sulphur mixture, spread compost liberally and because of the generous rains this year, they flourised. There was only one tree that had one leaf that curled. I think I got lucky and will not be forgetting anymore.

A few small but inedible peaches showed themselves for the first time this year. I'm hoping that next summer there'll be a harvestable crop.

[Pops]

In my mailbox:

Dear Michael:

NCAT horticulture specialist Guy Ames is embarking on a comprehensive update of our ATTRA publication Organic & Low-Spray Peach Production (2003), probably also incorporating information on organic and low-spray plum production. As always, we are interested in institutional research but also GROWER EXPERIENCE.

Because farmers (especially organic farmers) are so often conducting their own research, and because organic production of peaches and plums is so difficult, Guy is interested in what worked for growers and--just as important--what didn’t work. He is especially interested in grower experience in the humid eastern half of the U.S., but information from anywhere would be helpful.

If you are willing to talk to Guy and share your experiences and information, write him at guya@ncat.org . Also, if you work with an organic growers’ group, please share this request with them, perhaps even through the group newsletter.

Thank you for your assistance.

[PeakOiler]

In my mailbox:
<<snip>>

Did you send the mailer a link to this thread?

Fortunately, and perhaps I've just been lucky, but so far I have had no major problem with bugs in the peaches. I've never needed to spray them. I planted my first peach tree here over 14 years ago.

I harvested and ate another satsuma tangerine today. Yum! Only five left!

The first frost of the season hasn't arrived here yet, and none is forecast in the next seven-days or nights--but we're getting close...). I'm planning on moving a few more of the citrus into the greenhouse this weekend. I need to re-pot the largest lemon tree. That old plastic pot it's in is really starting to crumble and split.

[PeakOiler]

Deleted. Double post.

[PeakOiler]

Yesterday I moved the second orange tree into the greenhouse. Today I moved the second lime tree into the greenhouse. Tomorrow I'll move a lemon tree in there. I'm still taking things pretty slowly after that hernia operation six weeks ago. The hand truck helps a lot moving these potted plants about 40 ft from the porch/deck to the chain link fence gate, and at least another 100 ft around the fence over to the greenhouse.



Once two of the three lemon trees are moved in here, I'm going to buy another 1000 ladybugs and release them in here. The third lemon tree will get re-potted soon and will come into the house to serve as a Christmas tree again.

Still no overnight freezing temps in the 7-day forecast...

[PeakOiler]

Today I moved the sixth citrus tree into the greenhouse and bought 1500 ladybugs since there are still some aphids on them. The ladybugs will arrive in about a week. I mounted the ladybug house in the greenhouse, seen on the lhs of the picture



I sprayed off most of the aphids from each tree (with just water) before moving them in here.