0:13

They were talking about a fruit that frankly I

0:15

really didn't think I had a shot at growing

0:17

here in Southern California until I discovered our guests

0:20

materials. We have Tom Snullen back on the show,

0:22

backyard orchard culture, Dave Wilson nursery. We've

0:25

talked a lot about what it is,

0:28

some basic rules of thumb. I thought maybe

0:30

we could dive into some specific types of

0:32

fruit trees starting with this whole category of

0:34

stone fruits and maybe just defining

0:36

what makes a stone fruit a stone

0:38

fruit. Okay, let's do

0:40

that. Stone fruit are

0:44

generally in the parent

0:46

classification that we call prunus. We've

0:50

got six main categories. We've

0:52

got peach, we've got

0:55

nectarine, which is just a peach that's

0:57

been hybridized not to have fuzz. We

1:00

have apricots, we have

1:02

plums, we have cherries

1:05

and then an almond. The

1:08

almond is also in the same general

1:10

family as all those other prunus. The

1:13

one thing they all have in common is

1:15

they have a single seed that we call

1:17

the stone. The name

1:20

stone fruit comes from the fact that they just have

1:22

that one centrally located

1:24

single seed. Those

1:28

all fit into a category that

1:31

is very diverse. We have varieties

1:33

that ripen up from the end

1:35

of April all the way up until October.

1:39

We have some inter specifics that

1:41

have been hybridized off of those pluots,

1:43

for example, are inter

1:46

specific hybrids between plum and apricot. Apriums

1:49

are the reverse cross. They're inter

1:52

specific hybrids between with an apricot

1:54

as the maternal parent and the

1:56

plum as the contributing pollinator. We

1:59

have... nectar plums that are nectarine

2:02

plum hybrids. We have peach

2:04

plums, you know, we have all kinds of inter

2:06

specifics that have developed off of that category

2:09

and people are people sometimes think

2:11

well those are

2:13

genetically altered but they're not.

2:15

They're not genetically altered. There's

2:18

nothing in those crosses that wouldn't

2:22

be there had the trees

2:24

had an opportunity to overlap in nature.

2:26

Right. So if a plum

2:28

was growing next to an apricot in nature

2:31

they can naturally cross-pollinate with each other

2:33

and the seedlings from those two

2:35

trees can be crosses between the two.

2:38

Yeah. It's much like when we talk

2:40

about in vegetable culture this

2:42

idea of the F1 hybrid. Exactly. And

2:44

a lot of people confuse that sometimes

2:46

with a GMO so-called. Right. And it's

2:48

only a GMO in the sense that

2:51

you know

2:53

when species reproduce the genetics are

2:55

modified. Right. In a more natural

2:57

sense there's no you know sort

3:00

of trans species crossing that would

3:02

require like scientific intervention in that

3:04

way. No. Nothing is incorporated

3:07

into that hybridization like I said that

3:09

wouldn't be there naturally. Right. Had they

3:11

had the opportunity to overlap in nature.

3:13

Just they wouldn't often have that opportunity.

3:15

The only thing the hybridizer is doing

3:17

is speeding up that process. Right. Right.

3:19

And then we're able to grow

3:22

those on grow those seedlings on evaluate

3:24

those for their individual characteristics make new

3:26

selections. And when you say like a

3:28

tomato is an F1 hybrid an F1

3:30

hybrid is a simple cross

3:32

one variety with another variety. Well some

3:34

of the the inter specifics that we're

3:36

introducing are F4, F5,

3:39

F6 they've been they've been grown through

3:41

and rehybridized several times

3:43

to incorporate other

3:46

characteristics whether it's a smaller seed

3:48

and earlier ripening season a later

3:51

ripening season specific

3:53

flower type there's all kinds of reasons that

3:55

they'll incorporate something else into

3:57

a cross and then and then

3:59

reintroduce. So, I mean, we

4:01

have the opportunity now to have 60

4:03

years worth of hybridization under

4:06

our belts through the introductions that

4:09

Zaeger hybrids in Modesto has

4:11

allowed us to produce. And we've got

4:13

some fantastic varieties. So, those

4:15

are all included in that stone

4:17

fruit or prunus category. So,

4:21

if we bring it back down to the basics and

4:23

just say someone wants to grow an apricot, a

4:25

nectarine, a peach, what

4:27

do they need to know that we haven't

4:29

already talked about this week about its care?

4:32

Good. Good. The first two things

4:34

you want to look at are,

4:37

is the variety adaptable

4:39

to my climate? Yeah. Is

4:42

it a variety where I'm going to accumulate enough

4:44

winter chill hours for it to

4:47

bloom well instead of good crop of fruit? Is

4:50

it a variety that will take a

4:52

late frost in a cold area? So,

4:55

and we have varieties that we've introduced over

4:57

the years that have all

4:59

different requirements for accumulation of

5:01

chill hours, from

5:04

a hundred up to a thousand. So, you know,

5:06

we have varieties that will adapt all over the

5:08

country. The next most important

5:10

consideration is what rootstock

5:13

is that tree grafted onto? Every one of

5:15

those trees is two

5:17

components. It's a root, which

5:19

is the heartbeat or the motor of that plant.

5:21

It's going to give you the nutrient

5:24

uptake and the irrigation uptake and the flow

5:26

up into the structure of the tree so

5:28

that the tree can do its work through

5:30

the growing season. So we

5:34

use for apple varieties

5:36

or for peach varieties or plum varieties,

5:38

sometimes four, five, six, seven different

5:41

rootstocks that could be

5:43

adaptable to different geographic areas in

5:45

the country. So if

5:47

I'm selling a peach

5:49

tree to a nursery in San Diego, I'm

5:52

going to give them a peach tree that's low chill

5:54

adaptable, 100, 150, 200 chill hours. I'm

5:58

going to give them a variety that's

6:00

grafted on. to a rootstock that will

6:02

take our warmer southern California climates and

6:04

our sandier soils that we have here

6:06

close to the coast. So

6:09

if I'm selling a tree to somebody in

6:12

Denver, Colorado and they want

6:14

a peach tree, it's going to be a variety that blooms later.

6:16

It's going to be a variety that takes a

6:18

different amount of chilling hours. It's going to

6:20

be on a variety of rootstock that's more

6:22

adaptable to their climate than a southern

6:25

California climate. So you not only want to

6:27

understand your cultivars, you want to understand the

6:29

root system that they're grafted onto. So

6:31

doing that homework up front, making sure you've

6:34

got the right variety on the right rootstock

6:36

will equate to success. So

6:38

let me bring a couple terms to the

6:40

forefront here. First you have this concept of

6:42

the chill hours. So that is

6:45

an accumulation of time,

6:47

hours, under about 45 degrees Fahrenheit

6:50

or so, that if a tree does

6:52

not experience that during its winter dormancy,

6:54

it struggles to produce that next year,

6:56

right? Yes, it

6:59

could mean that the tree doesn't go into

7:01

a good natural dormancy. So if

7:03

I say planted a peach

7:06

variety that requires 800 chill

7:08

hours in San Diego where you get an

7:10

average of maybe 200, then

7:13

that variety is not going to get a good sleep during

7:15

the winter. So it's

7:17

not necessarily going to wake

7:20

up with the vim and vigor that you want it to

7:22

where it gives you a good bloom set and gives you

7:25

a good fruit set. You could still get a small crop

7:27

of fruit from it, but it's not going to be anything

7:30

that a commercial grower would accept or anything

7:32

that a homeowner would would want to have

7:34

to deal with. We want to make sure

7:36

we're growing the adaptable varieties so

7:38

that we get a decent set for our climate and

7:41

our soil type. Not really worth the effort if you

7:43

can't accumulate the chill hours. So then the next piece

7:45

that I want to express and

7:47

tell me if I'm accurate just to paint

7:49

a picture of how these trees really work

7:52

is you have your rootstock, which

7:54

like you mentioned it's a different

7:56

genetics than what is actually above

7:58

which is then grafted on. So

8:00

every tree is sort of two genetics in one.

8:02

Yes. And what you can do

8:04

is you can select sort of under the

8:06

soil with one of, sounds like about six

8:08

or seven different rootstocks for peaches or stone

8:10

fruits. And then of course you have what

8:13

you're grafting on as well. Yeah. And so you have

8:15

a selection there of four,

8:17

five, six on top

8:19

of that. So just with what,

8:22

a half dozen of rootstock and a half

8:24

dozen of top graft material, you can create

8:27

quite a few different combinations of

8:29

quote trees. So it's really hybrid

8:32

species of trees put together, right? Yeah, exactly.

8:34

Yeah. So that's, I think that's probably what

8:37

can confuse a lot of beginner growers. Because when you think

8:39

about growing a peach, you're like, well, isn't

8:41

there just one peach? And the truth is, not

8:44

only is there not just one above the ground,

8:46

there's multiple below as well. Yeah. Yeah. And

8:48

then you've got the dwarfing characteristics, right?

8:50

Maybe we could talk about that for a second. So,

8:54

you know, that paying attention to

8:56

that adaptability is extremely important. And

8:58

that's probably, that's why I always

9:00

recommend, deal with a

9:02

retail nursery or garden center that you

9:05

trust. Somebody that is a professional in

9:07

that business that understands what's going to grow

9:10

right in your area. Now,

9:12

not that long ago, I walked

9:15

into an unnamed, large

9:19

chain store. And

9:21

in their garden department, and this was

9:23

in Long Beach, California, which is a

9:26

very similar climate to what you have

9:28

right here. Yep. They

9:30

had Bing cherry trees. And

9:33

I thought, okay, they're in Long Beach,

9:35

you got 200 chill hours here, Bing

9:37

cherry trees require seven to 800. So

9:40

everybody that buys a Bing cherry tree and plants it

9:42

in Long Beach is going to fail. Yeah. Because

9:45

number one, they didn't do their homework

9:47

and neither did the retailer. Shouldn't

9:49

even be in the store. Shouldn't even be in

9:51

the store. Yeah. Yeah. It's just setting them up

9:54

for failure. And it's, we've talked about with orcharding,

9:56

it's a long failure. It's not like you just

9:58

failed to grow the lettuce. The tree

10:00

may grow for five, six, seven, eight, 10

10:02

years, and you're gonna say every year, I

10:04

didn't get any fruit. I didn't get

10:07

any fruit. You think you're doing something

10:09

wrong. Exactly. Yeah, so the tree can't

10:11

exactly do that. Selecting those right varieties

10:13

is extremely important. And then understanding your

10:15

chill, your chill in your particular area.

10:18

So the main concepts, the Western model

10:20

for accumulation of chill hours that we

10:22

like to go by, runs

10:25

from November 1 until January 31.

10:29

Sometimes if it stays cooler, you can get another

10:31

couple of weeks or three weeks. Last year, we

10:33

probably had an extra three weeks chill

10:35

accumulation out of that that we didn't have in a

10:37

normal year. So you got about

10:39

a 90 to 120 day accumulation period. We're

10:44

accumulating hours that are

10:47

between the freezing level, 32

10:49

degrees Fahrenheit, up to about 45 to

10:52

50 degrees Fahrenheit. So

10:54

what we wanna do is we wanna

10:56

understand how many hours in

10:58

between those two numbers did we have in

11:01

that 90 to 120 day period. And

11:03

then if we had daytime hours that were

11:05

above 70 degrees, theoretically

11:07

we should subtract those from that accumulation. I see,

11:10

because it's getting too hot in the day. Right.

11:12

So in my area, in a normal year,

11:15

I get about 250 to 300 chill hours. Last

11:19

year, I had about 650. Wow.

11:22

So we had a much longer period of

11:25

accumulation and we had virtually no hours above

11:27

70 within that 90 day

11:30

period. Wow. And this

11:32

year, it's only been the last couple of days that we've even

11:34

had a 70. So we're

11:36

gonna have a pretty good solid accumulation of chill for

11:38

this year as well. Yeah, it should be pretty good.

11:40

Okay. Well, a good primer on

11:43

not only planting stone fruit, but some of

11:45

the different considerations on selecting trees in general.

11:47

We're gonna dive into some more trees. Coming

11:50

up with Tom this week, Good Buck in

11:52

the Garden, the Bongrot. One

11:55

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11:58

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