More fruity business

Oh dear I hope I don't get hits from people who misunderstand the meaning of the title. My regular gardening readers will know that this is just another post about the progress of our fruit collection.

As well as having fruit on the plot we also have some fruit growing in the garden and in the garden greenhouse.

In the greenhouse we have the Lazarus fig that I posted about recently. The figs that it is carrying are swelling well and it looks as though we are in for our first real fig harvest.

So far no sign of the red spider mite that tends to plague both it and the Issai kiwi berry. Issai has plenty of flower buds but as yet they have to open.

It would be great to get some kiwi berries as I have no idea what they will be like. I'll need an insecticide that can be used on edibles and it seems that one using rapeseed oil will be the one to use. Being a contact insecticide I also will avoid harming other insects.  Anyone any experience of using it?

We have a grapevine in the garden greenhouse - Himrod - that has supplied us with a good harvest of sweet seedless green grapes for years. Other than severe pruning throughout the season - or it would take over the greenhouse - we don't do anything to help it's fruit production. I used to thin the grapes but don't bother any more as it was a neck aching task which resulted in tiny green immature grapes in unmentionable places. I'm not too concerned with beautifully shaped bunches of grapes, we just want tasty fruit.

Outside of the greenhouse the fruit trees growing in pots haven't done very well at all. Both the nectarine and peach developed peach leaf curl and neither set any fruit. I've removed the affected leaves but this has left the trees quite bare and it is debatable as to whether they will recover. We did take the opportunity to reduce the height of the peach tree.

I had high hopes for the nectarine that was smothered in blossom which I diligently hand pollinated but it was not to be. Next year we will try and take some preventative measures.

The apricot wasn't affected by the peach leaf curl and is looking healthy but without fruit.

The cherry tree is only just beating these three by having a couple of fruits.

I did say a couple! 

These trees are all with the exception of the peach very young trees so this year I will forgive their fruitlessness.

Even younger is the apple tree Baya Marissa which I didn't expect to produce any fruit this yet. It's growing well so that is good news. It's not easy to get a good photo of it as it merges into the background.

Fairing better are the pear and apple trees that have a mind of their own and were once cordons that we thought we had chopped down. Behind the greenhouse they happily had other ideas and now regularly produce fruit. 

Finally are the couple of troughs of strawberries - Finesses - that never made their way to the plot. Hopefully we will get a bowlful or two of berries from them.

Then there is the medlar which I have mentioned in an earlier post. It's a little too early to be able to tell how much fruit has set but knowing it's a fruit that we find challenging to use what are the odds that it will produce a bumper crop!

Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett