Native and Easy-to-Grow Fruit

1. Native and Easy-to-Grow Fruit Nov. 4, 2012 Jon Traunfeld jont@umd.edu

2. How do fruit plants compare to tomato plants? • Perennials that require 12-month attention • Require “hardening” (chilling hours) to survive winter and produce fruit • Maximum yields come with the correct balance of root, leaf, and fruit growth • Important to know when and where they produce flower buds and fruit • Correct pruning is essential to control and direct growth and encourage fruiting

3. Plan ahead • Do I have enough room? Enough time? What’s practical for me? • Start planning one year before planting • Select a full-sun, well-drained site • Amend soil to achieve correct pH and high organic matter content • Work with your macro- and micro-climates

4. Picking cultivars • Select well-adapted, recommended cultivars with good disease resistance. Buy high quality plants- “certified” free of pests and diseases • Bareroot plants will catch up to container plants • Do I need a special rootstock? • Do I need more than one cultivar for pollination?

5. What if my plants arrive too early? • Keep roots moist and keep plants cool • “Heel in” plants outdoors OR • Keep plants in garage or refrigerator

6. Hydrating an apple whip in a bucket of water for 12 hours prior to planting 3-year old bare-root apple whip has just arrived from the nursery. Notice graft union where the scion is joined to the rootstock.

7. After planting…establishment • Regular watering throughout the year is essential; shallow-root small fruit plants are especially vulnerable to drought stress • Be careful not to over-fertilize • Avoid herbicides • Keep mulch away from trunks and crowns

8. Strawberry Two main types for Maryland gardeners: the “June-bearing” type (predominate) and “day-neutral” type. King berry is largest in a cluster and has the most seeds. Aggregate fruits have many stamens and pistils.

9. Pineberry (pineapple strawberry)- white strawberry with red seeds; has some pineapple flavor. Small berries, low yield = not worth it!

10. Blackberry • Perennial crown; biennial canes • Very well adapted to all parts of Maryland • Four types: • Thorny erect (excellent flavor) • Thornless trailing (rampant growers; large fruit) • Thornless erect (good choice for small spaces) • Primocane-bearing, thorny erect

11. ‘Prime-Jim’ thorny erect blackberry that bears on first-year canes in late summer-frost.

12. Raspberry • Perennial crown; biennial canes • Less heat-tolerant than blackberry, but ok for all parts of MD • Types: • Red, purple, black; June bearing • Red, yellow; primo-cane or “fall-bearing”. These can be cut 6-8 inches above ground-level in late winter or early spring.

13. Black raspberry- new shoots (primocanes) are thinned to 6 inches apart. Purple raspberry (cross between black and red raspberry); plant tied to a single wire between posts.

14. Tip rooting New raspberry plant from tip rooting Landscape fabric laid down to suppress weeds and raspberry suckers

15. Seedless table grape cultivars ‘Himrod’ ‘Mars’ ‘Canadice’

16. Blueberry

17. Underused small fruits Elderberry- Sambucus Ribes spp.- • Currant- red, black and white • Gooseberry- American, European and crosses • Jostaberry

18. Black chokeberry- Photinia melanocarpa

19. Beach plum- Prunus maritima Native to U.S. Atlantic Coast

20. Wineberry- very invasive! • Rubus phoenicolasius- China native that displaces native plants • Spreads by seed, suckers and tip rooting • Delicious fruit- but Do Not dig up and transplant into your landscape

21. Some keys to apple success: • Dwarfing rootstock- BUD 9, EMLA 9, EMLA 26 • Disease-resistant cultivars (scions); e.g. ‘Liberty’, ‘Goldrush’, ‘Enterprise’ • Support with stakes and wire (vertical and oblique cordons work well) • Close attention to pruning, pest monitoring • Don’t over-fertilize

22. ‘Olympic’ Asian pear- good alternative to apple and European pear but can have insect pest and disease problems.

23. Peach Peach fruits need to be hand-thinned to increase fruit size and decrease disease problems. Peach is best pruned to an open vase shape to maximize captured sunlight and fruit production.

24. “Portable” fig in ½ whiskey barrel is moved into garage for winter rest. Protected Baltimore City fig (tree form) with Southern exposure.

25. Shrub form with multiple fig stems pulled to center, tied and covered for winter protection. Same plant during growing season.

26. Bird netting surrounds entire fig plant. Most birds will peck through netting and some may get tangled. Root containment and root pruning will promote fruiting.

27. Have questions? • Call or e-mail the Home and Garden Information Center- 1.800.342.2507; www.hgic.umd.ed • Consult UME Fruit Resources PLANT FRUIT!! GROW FRUIT!!