The Yard Stop Garden Center Podcast
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The Yard Stop Garden Center Podcast
Fruit Trees
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Join our fruit tree conversation with Dennis and Emily.
We're answering questions on, "What fruit trees are best suited for Lake County zone?"
"How does pollination work for fruit trees?" "How long does it take before a tree bears fruit?" and so much more.
Listen to our podcast and learn something new!
Share your feedback with us. We'd love to hear from you.
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Welcome back to the Arts Dope Garden Center podcast. I'm Emily and today we're gonna be talking about fruit trees. Our guest speaker is Dennis. Welcome Dennis.
SPEAKER_00Thank you.
SPEAKER_01We're looking forward to hearing your expertise on fruit trees today. So uh should we jump right in? Sure. We should. Okay. So I think can I start off by asking you what trees would you recommend for the Lake County zone? What fruit trees would you recommend?
SPEAKER_00We have several. Obviously, citrus trees grow well in Florida. And then there's other kinds of fruit trees. We have apple, peach, plum, there's loquat, there's cumquats, there's avocados, um, all kinds of stuff.
SPEAKER_01Wow. Okay. And what zone is Lake County again? I should have asked that in the beginning.
SPEAKER_00So it's 9B.
SPEAKER_019B. Okay. And you'd recommend those for 9B?
SPEAKER_00Correct. There are some that'll do okay here. They prefer a little, maybe a little warmer, but they'll still do okay here.
SPEAKER_01Okay. What would you say is the best season for planting fruit trees?
SPEAKER_00Probably the rainy season. So spring.
SPEAKER_01Okay, so spring. Um, would you recommend putting soil in the ground before planting a fruit tree?
SPEAKER_00It depends on what kind of soil you're planting in. So if you're planting in the the regular normal Florida sand, Florida sand doesn't have any nutrients. Okay? Yeah. Facts. The trees have grown accustomed to that, lots of them. But if you want really nice fruit and trees, I would say just don't over don't over-amend the soil. So, like some heavy compost or heavy manure or anything like that, you don't want that. You want your soil to be well draining.
SPEAKER_01Okay, so would you use mulch? Is mulching a thing before planting?
SPEAKER_00It it does. It doesn't amend the soil right away. It'll help maybe with some drainage if you've got heavier soil.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_00But it's going to decompose eventually into soil.
SPEAKER_01Would you recommend planting fruit trees in the ground? Do they do better in the ground or can you grow them in pots?
SPEAKER_00It it just depends on on your area. Um when we recently had a a grower here that supplies us with our citrus trees, and he said they are trying to encourage people to do more of their citrus trees in pots.
SPEAKER_01Oh, why is that?
SPEAKER_00Because then you can move them into more of a protected area when we get our freezes or our fronts. So yes.
SPEAKER_01So it's like a no-brainer. Yeah. But like then you don't have to cover. Okay, wow. Can you tell us what a good watering schedule, if you will, would be for fruit trees when it comes to summer and spring months?
SPEAKER_00Okay, so when you first plant them, you want to water every day for 30 days. That gets the the roots going down deep, gets them established quite well. And then just regular irrigation, so I'd say two, three times a week is all.
SPEAKER_01And how much would you water? Um versus if you're watering with hose versus uh hooked-up irrigation?
SPEAKER_00Um, yeah, so with a hose, I would recommend approximately 15 minutes.
SPEAKER_01Oh gosh. All right, okay.
SPEAKER_00Um if you're doing it with the sprinklers, just your regular, like you would water your lawn.
SPEAKER_01Okay, like your regular watering cycle.
SPEAKER_00Correct.
SPEAKER_01Okay. What fertilizer do you recommend for fruit trees?
SPEAKER_00And again, it's going to depend on the fruit tree. Okay.
SPEAKER_01So let's say, let's let's say avocado. Or do we sell apple trees?
SPEAKER_00We do sell apple trees. Yes, we do. Yes. Uh there's a couple of varieties that grow well here. Okay, so I'm from Michigan. So I'm from the middle of orchard country. I was like shocked when we got apple trees in here at the yard. Because I just didn't, I thought they had to go through that cold spell.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um, but they have developed these hybrid apple trees for Florida. Um, there's I know one variety is Anna's. Uh, there's some Golden Delicious, I think, that they've developed for down here. Uh I think that's all I've seen here at the yard stop. But yeah, uh a regular fertilizer, a nice slow release, you know, all-purpose fertilizer will do fine for fruit trees. If you're doing citrus trees, you need to do two things. You need to fertilize the ground, and then you need to fertilize the tree at with a spray. You need to feed the tree part as well.
SPEAKER_01Okay. Yeah, I was gonna say you probably would recommend you were referring to the Harold's fertilizer.
SPEAKER_00The Harolds that we use as uh even applicators. Correct. Okay. I think that has the best numbers of all of them that I've seen that we sell. Yes.
SPEAKER_01What varieties of fruit trees do we sell here? Uh you said apple, which was I didn't know we had apples.
SPEAKER_00We do, we have apple trees. That's probably awesome. We have cherries, we have plums, we have peaches. There's um certain varieties that have been developed just for Florida. So there's a Florida Gulf Blaze plum. There's a Tropic Beauty Peach.
SPEAKER_01We have those here?
SPEAKER_00We have those here. Yes, we do. Uh, and there's a couple kinds of cherries. They're kind of sour cherries. We don't you can't really grow sweet cherry down here in Florida.
SPEAKER_01Oh that's a bummer.
SPEAKER_00Right. Um, lychees, avocados, mangoes, papayas, uh those are some of the tropical ones. Yeah. Loquats make a nice tree with nice canopy. Um we've got like all the citrus ones, obviously. Several different varieties. And we have even blueberries and raspberries we can grow here. And then there's another one that nobody ever kind of thinks about, and that's the pineapple guava.
SPEAKER_01A pineapple guava?
SPEAKER_00Pineapple guava.
SPEAKER_01Wow.
SPEAKER_00The fruit isn't real much to talk about, but it flowers in the spring, these red and white flowers that are gorgeous, and you can eat the flower.
SPEAKER_01Oh, how about that?
SPEAKER_00So and it's a really hardy plant the rest of the year. It's an evergreen, it doesn't lose its leaves.
SPEAKER_01Wow.
SPEAKER_00So it makes a nice decorative tree as well.
SPEAKER_01I didn't know we sold all that here. I should I should take a walk back there and and look at all of it. Um, how does pollination work for fruit trees? And do you, if you have only one tree, will it still bear fruit without another tree?
SPEAKER_00Again, depends on the tree.
SPEAKER_01Well, a lot of it depends.
SPEAKER_00Citrus trees don't need two. Um, and the the varieties that we sell here of the other kinds of trees. Uh I'm told by the owner that we don't sell anything that needs two trees.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_00Even the avocados or all of that.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_00So uh they only get the varieties that are self-pollinating.
SPEAKER_01Okay. When would you say is the right time to prune your fruit tree? And how far back do you prune it?
SPEAKER_00Okay, so pruning should be done probably after it fruits, like in the fall or early spring before it's starting to send out the new growth. Um, and I would prune, you don't want to prune way back. I recommend that you just kind of shape it to a nice pleasant shape, like symmetrical things like that. You don't want too thick of branches and everything, because you want the tree to put all of its energy then into the branches that you do have that are gonna fruit. So all of the bottom sucker, what we call sucker branches and things, prune those off. Uh thin it out enough that the sun is getting to all the parts of the tree and that you're not pruning back more than maybe a third of the tree.
SPEAKER_01Okay. And you always fertilize right after you prune, right?
SPEAKER_00Correct. Always feed it when you're gonna prune it.
SPEAKER_01Thought so. Okay. Um, what pests and diseases are fruit trees prone to? And I know you're gonna say it depends on the tree, but in general, um, in general, what what pests you can see?
SPEAKER_00So there's a there's a disease called citrus greening or bronzing, okay?
SPEAKER_01I heard of bronzing.
SPEAKER_00It's it's a bug. And once you see evidence of that, you're pretty much gone for your tree. I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_01It's really sad.
SPEAKER_00So, right. Um, and you want to make sure that if you do see it or if somebody points that out, some kind of a fruit or a tree expert that says you've got citrus greening, get rid of them right away. You don't want any of that spreading to your other plants or anything like that. Um, the other things are that are more common, maybe, are are regular pests that you can get on any of your plants. Yeah. Um, the treatment for that is just a good insecticide. Uh neem oil is probably the one of choice. Uh, we have a product here called Triple Action that will do insects, fungus, and mites in the same treatment. Uh it also has nemoil in it, so that'll work. Uh and then the other thing is fungus. Right. So when you see fungus is stuff, you want a good fungicide like copper sulfate, which is a nice organic copper or organic fun fungicide.
SPEAKER_01Okay. I'm assuming we sell all that here at the yard step.
SPEAKER_00We do. Okay.
SPEAKER_01You have, do you have fruit trees of your own?
SPEAKER_00I do. I have uh actually it's called a lemon bush.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_00Uh I that was something I learned because I bought this what I thought was a lemon tree, and it wouldn't grow. It got up so high and and it kept growing this way instead of this way. And I'm going, what am I doing? And I asked the the citrus grower and he said, How big was the pot when you bought it? And I said, Well, it's you know, like a one-gallon pot. And he said, That's it. It's a bush, it's not a tree, it will never be a tree. They developed these things in these, like citrus, limes, lemons, things like that, to be hedges. And so people would hedge them, hedge a lemon hedge. You still get lemons. I get lemons off mine. Uh, but they they're only gonna grow so high, and they grow this way. Okay. Uh, so I have that, and then I have a a grapefruit tree, and I just put in a brand new plum tree. So I'm looking forward to plums.
SPEAKER_01Cool. Did you ever work in the apple orchards when you um growing up in Michigan? Did you ever work on a fruit farm?
SPEAKER_00I did.
SPEAKER_01Do you really?
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_01We had So you really do have organic experience.
SPEAKER_00We had we had where I lived, as far you could look out, and as far as you can see, it's nothing but trees and rolling hills. Uh apples, peaches, cherries, all kinds of cherries, like sweet cherries, sour cherries, plums, uh apricots, even, and all of that. It's just wonderful up there.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And I was really surprised when we had those kinds of things. Or and I think it's because we have so many people that are moving to Florida from these northern states, and they want those things. And so they've developed a product for them.
SPEAKER_01Right. Fruit trees would be an annual, right?
SPEAKER_00So all trees are really perennials. Annual just means that it blooms or it it grows one season and then it's dead. Perennials will grow that season and then, depending on the cold or whatever, will come back. So they might go through the winter and then come back. So that would be a perennial.
SPEAKER_01And it probably depends on the fruit tree, but most fruit trees, how long does it take before they actually bear fruit?
SPEAKER_00The citrus trees need to be five, seven years old. So if you buy a tree and it's in a say a 10-gallon pot, so it's like, you know, maybe that high, that's probably about a two or three-year-old tree from the time it started. Um, so you've got another five years before you're gonna get any good fruit. Now it may fruit, but the best thing to do would be then to just twist that fruit off before it gets very much size on it, let the tree put the energy into growing before it fruits. Right. And then you'll get good fruit at the end.
SPEAKER_01Okay. I also was gonna ask you: will treatment, whether it's a pesticide or a chemical to spray bugs or pests off of fruit trees, does that harm pollinators?
SPEAKER_00It can, yes, definitely.
SPEAKER_01Wow.
SPEAKER_00Uh so you want to be very careful. Now your copper sulfite's not going to. Okay. For the fungus and things. Yeah. But any kind of insecticide is going to kill whatever bug.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So you want to be very careful if you're in and look at the label. Yeah. And if you're treating with an insecticide, you've got to get rid of the harmful bugs if you've got a problem. Um, it's good to plant pollinating pollinator attractor plants around your trees as well. Yeah. So that once you do have a bug problem like that, you treat it, and then it's still gonna attract those pollinators back so that you can get those. And truly you don't have to worry about pollinations or pollinators except in the spring when the flowers are up.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_00Once it once the flowers are gone, your pollinators are done. They're useless. So all those bees that you were attracting for the spring can go away after that.
SPEAKER_01Okay. I forgot you. Well, Dennis, this has been a really, I feel like it's been a very informative uh conversation about fruit trees. So thanks so much for coming on the podcast.
SPEAKER_00No problem.
SPEAKER_01Is there anything else that you'd like to add that I forgot about?
SPEAKER_00I think we should all enjoy plants. I just love plants.
SPEAKER_01I feel like you really do love plants.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And so whether you have to put them in pots, whether you have small spaces, I have vegetables in a raised bed, because I don't have a yard. I don't have a spot for a garden.
SPEAKER_01You're making do with what you have.
SPEAKER_00So I think anybody can do plants and should. I think they're they're just they give good good feelings.
SPEAKER_01Yes. I think they should come see us. They should come see us and talk to you.
SPEAKER_00They should come here and and look around and see what we've got. We've got gorgeous stuff.
SPEAKER_01That sounds great.
SPEAKER_00All right.
SPEAKER_01Well, guys, I think that's it for today. Thank you so much for tuning in to the podcast. If you have more questions for Dennis, you can find him here at the yard stop. He's one of our customer service reps, and he'd love to help you out. So we'll see you guys in the next episode. Bye.