Flowering out of season (forum)

amanda starts with ...
Here is my crazy low chill peach tree (today).... it has survived 100 - 120km/hr winds 3 times (from south, north and west) in the last month! I think (hope) the fruit are here to stay!?
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Time: 12th July 2009 2:55pm

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About the Author amanda19
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au0rey says...
Oh yours is fruiting while mine is totally bare? Is that why it is crazy? :) Wow we are only having 40km/h winds and that was already bad...

Time: 13th July 2009 12:06am

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amanda says...
Hi au0rey - yes it's a pain too..as I haven't been able to do the pruning or spraying for leaf curl this winter...hopefully it will be ok. We are expecting 7oC for next few nites which is cold for here..It will be interesting to see if the fruit drops..and then if it does go thru' to ripen - what they will taste like without the warmth of summer to make the fruit sweet?..just a waiting game now.

I have had to teach myself pruning out of books...but all of my trees have made it thru' the recent storms without breaking any branches etc...so I figure I must have done something right! :-?

Time: 13th July 2009 11:28am

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Kath says...
Hi Amanda, there is a very simple trick with low chill stone fruit that keeps them flowering at the correct time of the year - that is spring. You need to prune your tree at the end of fruiting. Eg when your tree finishes fruiting in October prune 1/3 off it. This is your main prune. If you take anything off in the winter this is about shaping and removing any stray branches to open up the tree.
Mind you my nectarine has pushed all its buds, I guess that must mean spring is here and our very mild winter is drawing to a close.


Time: 13th July 2009 12:20pm

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amanda says...
Thanks so much Kath - that's a good tip! my nectarine, plums (Jap') and dwarf peach + nectarines have all behaved themselves!.. maybe just this type of low chill peach (it was supposed to be a white flesh "tropic snow"...but it's definitely not white fleshed...so who knows wot i got!?.it tastes sublime anyway)
My grape vine has just started pushing out buds too - which has caught me totally unawares as I haven't got around to pruning or spraying yet...oops. So much to do so little time ..sigh.. ;-)

Time: 13th July 2009 10:48pm

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peter says...
i have the same problem! my china flat peach and my dwarf sunset red leaf peach
are growing flowers and leaves.i can't prune them as this is the first time fruiting. should i just leave them?

Time: 20th July 2009 11:46pm

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amanda says...
Peter - where r u? Maybe it's ok for your location.


Time: 20th July 2009 11:57pm

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peter says...
i live in adelaide south australia

Time: 21st July 2009 12:22am

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amanda says...
Hi Peter...I'm not sure - but I would guess it's probably too late to do much about it now (see Kaths post further up). Jantina r u there? Can u help here?

I didn't let any of my stone fruit bear fruit for first two seasons - so wasn't really aware of the need to main-prune after harvest - and got caught out with the peach above.

No amount of pruning was going to stop it from doing what it wanted - it has been flowering non-stop for months now and is bearing way too many fruit for it's size.

I have been expecting them to drop ...but with the shocking weather we have had lately - they are still hanging in there no prob's.

I have given my peach above a light "tidy" up - removing crossed and dead bits - but will do the main prune after fruiting as Kath suggests. I hope this helps...maybe jantina could suggest something better?



Time: 21st July 2009 9:41am

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peter says...
hi amanda
keep in mind that your not supposed to
prune your nectrine during winter or you could get infections in all the
cuts you make.
i waited till spring when flowers were
starting to come to prune mine.

Time: 21st July 2009 6:11pm

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amanda says...
Hi Peter...I guess if the main prune was done after harvest then it would solve this problem...?

I get fairly good breaks in the winter with warm sunny days and plan the prune for then - so far no problems (but i do use a sealer for any large cuts tho' - this works well for me n tree)

I do agree tho' - I don't like making cuts in winter either - maybe I will do my "tidy up" in spring too. Our winter rain period is very short - usually May - Sept only so it would work nicely.
Our worst months are July/Aug.

Sorry - didn't realise it was you b4 - adelaide peter!?

Time: 21st July 2009 7:05pm

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peter says...
actually its not me from b4.

Time: 21st July 2009 11:10pm

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Julie says...
This sort of confusion is annoying! I have suggested to whoever takes care of the website that once a name is used, no-one else can take that name. They will have to pick another name or ID.

EVERY website I have ever visited has these rules. It makes life a lot simpler.

Time: 22nd July 2009 4:07pm

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amanda says...
Hi Cawongla Kath and others who have acreage - I wanted to show u my best weed control buddy at work..the humble lupin...

This section of the home paddock was chockas with wild turnip and pattersons curse 3 yrs ago. 2 yrs ago I broadcast lupin seed and this year is the natural self seeded crop...

I haven't sprayed, I don't dig the seeds in (just throw them about when autumn rains break). They are nitrogen fixers - deep rooted, and chunky (good for biomass). I pay $30 for 40kg (a lot of seed) and the mice/birds don't eat them. They will germinate once they get the rain they need (could be weeks apart) And just mow them down b4 seeding if u want to get rid of them.

I reckon they are great - and u can see from the pic that there's not many weeds doing very well...


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Time: 29th July 2009 6:19pm

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Jimmy says...
According to Wandilla, they reckon in the first year as the trees come from such a cold area, a nromal Perth winter is warm to them and they start to m ove.

Eg their peaches are in full flower ex East, but my trees growing nearby for the second year in WA are still doemant.

Time: 30th July 2009 3:12pm

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BJ says...
Should I be worried that my stone fruit are flowering again? They've been in the ground about 12 months now and I thought they would be going dormant but I've got little baby peaches and such? Is it best to knock the flowers and baby fruit off (with the risk they will continue trying to flower in autumn) or let nature take its course?
(They did receive a recent 'prune' in the Perth storms which may have messed them up)

Time: 30th April 2010 3:23pm

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Original Post was last edited: 30th April 2010 3:26pm

About the Author BJ11
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amanda says...
Oh BJ - my low chill peach is flowering too - grr!! Kath from Daleys said the low chills should be pruned after harvest to control this...but I just didn't get around to it - now I will pay the price.
I think mine is too low chill for my area (but would be a great tree for someone further north!)
Isn't it crazy to have passionfruit n peach flowering madly at the same time???

Are yours low chill? I think Jimmy said somewhere that deciduous trees make take a cupla yrs to get in rythm with the seasons...?

Time: 30th April 2010 6:45pm

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BJ says...
Mine fruit trees are from Olea (south of Perth) - so not particuarly low-chill (they are varieties that still require 300-400 chill hours). I think the mini-prune some of them were provided in the storms may have excited them because it is those plants that appear to have decided it is spring again.
I'm thinking I should just knock the flowers off and hope dormancy kicks in soon

Time: 1st May 2010 10:28am

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Julie says...
My Tahitian lime is covered in flowers, although the current fruit is not yet quite ripe. So are my three blueberry varieties.

May was much warmer than usual, so I guess that's the reason. Not sure whether I should do anything about it?

Time: 30th May 2014 8:47pm

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MaryT says...
Julie we have the same happening in Sydney. The long term forecast is for a warm dry winter here so I'm leaving the flowers on the citrus. Not sure about blueberries; it might depend on whether you're likely to get frost.

This link suggests removing off season flowers/fruit (oranges) as the fruit flavour would not be good:

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/can-orange-trees-ripe-fruit-flowers-same-time-64090.html

Time: 31st May 2014 8:27am

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Original Post was last edited: 31st May 2014 8:26am
About the Author MaryT
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