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Fruit
• Growing fruit takes time and effort.
• Gardeners who plant them are making a long-term commitment to their care.
• Every type of fruit takes yearly care.
• You must renovate strawberry patches after spring harvest.
• You must cut out the fruiting canes of raspberries and blackberries to promote new growth.
• You must prune fruit tress each year to maximize light penetration and ensure good form.
• Diseases and insect pests are a problem on almost all fruits.
• Growing that perfect red apple is difficult without controlling pests.
• You must honestly consider your willingness to use pesticides and other pest control measures before you make the long-term commitment required to grow fruit successfully.
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Introduction to Growing Fruit
• Horticulturists divide fruit into two categories: tree fruit and small fruit.
Tree Fruit
• Tree fruit comes from trees. Applies, pears, peaches, nectarines, plums, cherries are all tree fruits.
• Fruit trees can last a lifetime if well cared for.
• Fruits in the rose family may be further classified according to the type of fruit they bear.
• Apples and pears are called pome fruit.
• Each pome fruit contains several seeds.
• Peaches, plums, nectarines, and cherries are called stone fruit.
• Stone fruit contains one seed, referred to as a pit or stone.
Small Fruit
• Small fruit comes from herbaceous plants, shrubs, and vines.
• Strawberries, blackberries and raspberries, blueberries, grapes, currants, gooseberries, and kiwifruit are all small fruit.
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• Usually produce well for a few years.
• Small fruit from plants with thorny stems in the genus Rubus are often called brambles.
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Selecting a Site
• All fruit have similar soil and sun requirements.
• Almost all fruit produce best when grown in full sun.
• Most small fruit will tolerate very light shade.
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Tolerance of Indiana’s Climate
• Many, but not all, fruits can be grown in Indiana.
• Variety recommendations in Purdue Extension publications can guide you in finding plants that will tolerate Indiana’s climate.
• Apples, European pears, Asian pears, and European plums throughout.
• Japanese plums in southern two-thirds of state.
• Tart cherries do not thrive in long, hot summers and are best adapted to the northern two-thirds of the state.
• Sweet cherries, but not well-adapted to our climate.
• Peaches and nectarines can be planted, but are best suited to southern parts.
• Apricots can be grown, but are susceptible to spring frosts.
• Pawpaws grow wild throughout the state. Persimmons grow wild in the southern half.
• Grapes throughout if you select appropriate cultivar and site.
• Currants, gooseberries and red raspberries in cool climates.
• Strawberries and black and purple raspberries throughout.
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• Blackberries best suited for southern. New primocane can be grown north.
• With proper pH, blueberries throughout.
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Selecting a Site
• One of the greatest limitations to growing fruit in Indian is climate.
• Very cold winters can kill flower buds, even entire plants.
• A sudden spring freeze can kill open flowers or developing fruit.
• To reduce this hazard:
• Plant fruit varieties recommended for the Midwest.
• Avoid planting in low-lying areas that collect cold air (frost pockets).
• Avoid planting fruit on the south side of a house, tree line, or rise rather than the north. This reduces the chance that a few warm, sunny days in midwinter will stimulate new growth that the next freeze will kill. But remember, the plants should be in full sun during the growing season.
• Place fruit in a location with good air circulation.
• Soil should be well-drained but should be able to retain some moisture.
• If your soil is poorly drained, grow fruit in a raised bed. (More feasible for small fruit.)
• Ideal pH is 6.0 to 6.5, but 5.5 to 7.0 is acceptable. Blueberries require more
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acidic soil; pH 4.5 to 5.2.
• Don’t plant strawberries, raspberries or blackberries in soil where vegetables from the nightshade family have grown in the past 3-5 years.
• You will need to water your fruit during periods of limited rain.
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Selecting Fruit and Fruit Varieties
• Selecting fruit depends, of course, on what fruit you like to eat.
• There are other considerations too.
• You need to consider how well plants can resist pests and tolerate Indiana’s weather.
• You also need to remember that some fruit plants require another variety for cross-pollination.
• For fruit trees, you need to consider the plants size.
• Let’s talk first about pest resistance. The best way to reduce the need for pesticides is to use plants that have a genetic resistance to diseases and insects.
• Plants best able to produce high-quality fruit without the use of pesticides are strawberries, raspberries and blackberries, and blueberries. Pawpaws and persimmons, two tree fruits native to Indiana, often do well without pesticides (also need less care).
• If you grow other fruit and are not willing to use pest control methods, you may be disappointed in the results.
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Need for Cross-pollinators
• Almost all fruit crops require pollination and seed set for fruit to set and grow. Among these types are apples, pears, plums, and sweet cherries.
• Peaches, sour cherries, and apricots are self fruitful (however, I am told apricots do better with another variety).
NOTE: A few varieties of apples have sterile pollen so although they need to be pollinated by another variety, they themselves cannot pollinate other trees. Some cultivars that are not pollinators are Wine sap, Mutsu, Summer Rambo, etc.
• Pollination is generally affected by three factors. . .
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Factor 1
• A supply suitable pollen (from the pollinizer, the plant that provides the pollen).
• To have a supply of pollen, you may need to carefully select a suitable pollinizer, usually a different cultivar.
• Some fruit plants are self-fertile, self-fruitful.
• Do not need to provide a second cultivar to ensure pollination and fruit production.
• Examples: tart cherries, some sweet cherries, peaches, apricots, small fruit except blueberries and kiwifruit.
• Other fruit plants require cross-pollination.
• Must have pollen provided by a plant of the same species but with a different genetic background—that is, by a different cultivar.
• Must flower at the same time.
• Planted no more than 2,000 feet away from each other.
• Examples: sweet cherries, pears, apples, plums, and blueberries.
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• Not every cultivar within a fruit species can cross-pollinate every other cultivar.
• A few fruits are dioecious, which means they have male and female flowers on separate plants. The female plant bears the fruit, the male provides pollen. Persimmons and kiwifruit are dioecious.
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Most apples will pollinate other apples (even crabapples), but needs to be 2 different varieties and the flowers need to be open at the same time. JonaGolds and Mutsu are exceptions; they are triploids, so there pollen is not fertile.
Factor 2
• The transfer of pollen to the flowers of the fruit plant by a bee or other pollinator.
• The presence of bees can be influenced by temperature (few bees are active in cold weather).
• Overusing broad-spectrum insecticides can also reduce the number of bees.
• Commercial orchards often rent or even maintain their own beehives to ensure good pollination.
• Poor pollination can reduce the number of fruit or the fruit can also be misshapen.
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Factor #3
• Warm temperatures to promote pollen growth, fertilization, and seed set.
• A freeze during flowering or after fruit set can reduce or destroy the crop for that year.
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Plant Size
• Most fruit trees are grafted.
• In grafted plants, the upper part of the plant, which produces fruit of a specific cultivar (i.e., Red Delicious, Gold Delicious, Jonathan, Gala), is call the scion.
• The lower trunk of the plant that also forms the roots is called the rootstock.
• The rootstock is the main factor affecting size.
• You can select from a variety of rootstock—some that make the tree large and some that make the tree quit small.
• A rootstock that reduces the size of the tree is called a dwarfing rootstock.
• Dwarfing or semi-dwarfing rootstocks make for easier harvesting and works well in a small garden.
• Apples do well on dwarfing rootstock and are recommended.
• New dwarfing rootstocks for cherries are promising, but hard to find.
• Nurseries that specialize in fruit often have cultivars that are available on several different rootstocks.
• You can choose the rootstock that best fits your need.
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• All dwarf trees and some semi-dwarf trees require supports (such as trellises) for the life of the tree.
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Caring for Your Plants
• Details about planting and caring for different types are fruit are available in several Purdue Extension publications and in Midwest Home Fruit Production Guide (Ohio State University Extension publication 940).
• These publications provide information about the basic care these plants need: fertilizing, watering, mulching and weed control.
• Pest control measures are often an important part of care.
• You will need to research which pests are most likely to be a problem in your fruit plantings, the various ways to control those pests, and then observe your fruit plants on a regular basis so you can apply controls at the correct time.
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Caring for Your Plants
• Insects, fungal, bacterial, critters, (and maybe even neighbors) all want to attack your fruit!
• To name a few:
• Insects: apple maggot, plum curculios, codling moth, Japanese beetles, scale and mites.
• Fungal: apple scab, peach leaf curl, powdery mildew, brown rot.
• Bacterial: fire blight, sooty blotch, cedar apple rust.
• Critters: deer, mice, rabbits, and believe it or not geese!
• Use tree protectors, soap bags, sprays, shotguns for the above.
• Be proactive, not reactive. By the time you see damage, you are probably too late!
• Chemicals and other protective measures must be in place before the pest arrives!
• Correct timing of pesticides are applied at specific stages of flower and fruit development, not according to the calendar.
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Blossom Development
• Learn the stages of blossom development.
• Timing of sprays with insecticide must not harm the bees and other insects who work for us!
• Apple:
1. Dormant
2. Silver tip
3. Green tip
4. Half inch green
5. Tight cluster
6. Pink
7. Bloom
8. Petal fall
9. Fruit set
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Pesticides
• Home gardeners can expect reasonable results using multi-purpose fruit tree spray at recommended intervals.
• These can be found at most home and garden stores and will most likely contain Captan (fungicide) and Imidan or Malathion (insecticides).
Note: if your spray contains insecticide, do not use until after petal fall.
• Other products, some organic, are also available.
• Always read labels and follow directions when using chemicals!
• I start in early spring with dormant oil.
• At early bud development, I begin with a fungicide.
• After petal fall, I use a combination of insecticide/fungicide.
• This process will continue at about one to two week intervals (depending on weather) and continue until harvest.
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Pruning
• Why prune?
• Improve shape and balance.
• Optimize sunlight (fruit trees need good exposure to the sun for the fruit to ripen properly).
• Remove dead, damaged, or undesirable wood.
NOTE: Apple bears on old wood, while peach bears on new or “last year’s wood.” For example, pruning peaches after bloom or fruit set promotes new growth for next year’s crop.
• Three different styles of pruning system:
• Central leader
• Modified central leader
• Open center or vase
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Training
• Why train?
• Crotch angles are important for limbs to support a fruit load.
• 45 degrees maximum.
• Begin training soon after planting.
• Strive for good spacing of limbs.
• Widgets for training: spreaders, ground anchors, twine, weights, cloths pins, stakes, etc.
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Tree Fruit Choices
• Apples (cultivars in the genus Malus)
• Basics:
• Available on dwarfing rootstocks—dwarf plants are 7-10‘, semi-dwarf plants are 15-20’ feet, standard size plants (non-dwarf) are 20‘ or taller.
• Apples are pest-prone, so select resistant varieties.
• Pesticides are usually necessary.
• Apples need a pollinizer of a different variety.
• Critical Activities:
• Plant so graft union is 2-3 inches above soil level.
• Plants require initial training for form.
• Dwarf plants must be supported with posts or trellises.
• Prune yearly to maintain size and form.
• Thin fruit if set too heavy.
• Control Diseases and insect pests.
• Major Pests:
• Apple scab, Phytophthora root /crown rots, powdery mildew, rusts, fire blight, Botryosphaeria canker, sooty blotch, flyspeck, coddling moths, plum curculios, apple maggots, scales, aphids, spider mites.
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Tree Fruit Choices
• Pears (species and cultivars in the genus Pyrus)
• Basics:
• European pears (such as ‘Bosc’) can be grown in Indiana; Asian pears are less hardy but can be grown in Indiana.
• Pears are cross-pollinated, but not all varieties will cross-pollinate—plant two varieties that are known to cross-pollinate.
• European pears continue to ripen after harvest.
• Critical Activities:
• Plants require initial training for form.
• Prune yearly to maintain size and form.
• Thin fruit if set is too heavy.
• Control diseases and insect pests.
• Major Pests:
• Fire blight, plum curculios, pear psylla.
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Tree Fruit Choices
• Peaches and Nectarines (Prunus persica—nectarines are a variety of peach without the fuzz on the skin)
• Basics:
• Not particularly hardy, which may be a problem in northern Indiana. A very cold winter may kill flower buds.
• Peach trees flower so early they are susceptible to spring frost damage, which can result in crop loss some years.
• Both peaches and nectarines are self-fertile.
• There are two types of peaches: clingstone and freestone.
• Critical Activities:
• Plants require initial training for form.
• Prune yearly to maintain size and form.
• Thin fruit if set is too heavy.
• Control diseases and insect pests.
• Major Pests:
• Peach leaf curl, brown rot and scab, bacterial spot, powdery mildew, tarnished plant bugs, stink bugs, oriental fruit moths, plum curculios, peach tree borers, adult Japanese beetles, green June beetles, European red mites.
What is your use? Jam, pies, fresh, preserves?
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Tree Fruit Choices
• Cherries (Tart: Prunus cerasus, Sweet: P. avium)
• Basics:
• Both sweet and tart cherries can be grown in Indiana.
• Tart are more hardy and more likely to survive.
• Sweet often do poorly in Indiana because their early flowering is susceptible to spring frosts, rain at harvest can cause fruit cracking, and severe or fluctuating winter temps can damage or kill the tree.
• Some dwarfing rootstocks are available.
• Plant in spring.
• Tart cherries are self-fertile, sweet require cross-pollination by specific cultivars.
• Critical Activities:
• Plants require initial training for form.
• Prune yearly to maintain size and form.
• Thin fruit if set is too heavy.
• Control diseases and insect pests.
• Major Pests:
• Cherry leaf spot, brown rot, cherry aphids, plum curculios, maggots, birds.
Tart cherries are self fruited – only need one Sweet cherries need good drainage!
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Tree Fruit Choices
• Plums (European: Prunus domestica, Japanese: P. salicina, P. triflora)
• Basics:
• European plums can be grown throughout Indiana.
• Japanese plums are recommended for the southern two-thirds of the state only.
• Plums require two cultivars for cross-pollination—most European and Japanese plums will not cross-pollinate.
• Critical Activities:
• Plants require initial training for form.
• Prune yearly to maintain size and form.
• Thin fruit if set is too heavy.
• Control diseases and insect pests.
• Major Pests:
• Brown rot, leaf spot, black knot, plum curculios, European red mites.
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Tree Fruit Choices
• Persimmons (Diospyros virginiana)
• Basics:
• This tree is native to Indiana.
• Persimmons are dioecious, so both male and female trees must be planted.
• Oriental persimmons (Diospyros Kaki) are hardy only to 10 degrees F and cannot be grown in Indiana.
• Critical Activities:
• Provide the basic care given to any woody plant—this is one of the least demanding tree fruits.
• Major Pests:
• Free of most diseases and insect pests.
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Tree Fruit Choices
• Pawpaws (Asimina triloba)
• Basics:
• This tree is native to Indiana and is nicknamed “Indiana banana.”
• It has very few pests.
• Pawpaw requires cross-pollination—some gardeners pollinate by hand.
• Critical Activities:
• Shade young plants. Irrigate as needed.
• Major Pests:
• Black fungal patches on skin of fruit (do not affect flavor or edibility), pawpaw peduncle borers (will cause fruit to drop), Zebra swallowtail butterfly caterpillars feed on this plant but control is seldom needed.
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Small Fruit Choices
• Strawberries (Fragaria x ananassa)
• Basics:
• June-bearing strawberries bear fruit once a year and are the type best adapted to Indiana.
• Day-neutral types bear fruit several times each season.
• Ever-bearing types bear fruit twice each season.
• Strawberry beds usually need to be replanted with new plants every 3 to 4 years.
• Strawberries are self-fertile.
• Critical Activities:
• Thin runners.
• Mulch for winter protection, then remove mulch in spring.
• Renovate planting yearly after harvest.
• Fertilize yearly.
• Major Pests:
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• Leaf spot, leaf blight, botrytis fruit rot, verticillium wilt, tarnished plant bugs, slugs.
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Small Fruit Choices
• Raspberries (species and hybrids in the genus Rubus)
• Basics:
• Red, black, purple, and yellow-fruited varieties.
• Produce on 2-year-old canes called floricanes.
• Produce new canes each year (called primocanes).
• Some red varieties are every-bearing or primocane fruiting types—they produce late summer on first-year canes and a 2nd crop on same canes next year.
• Productive 5 to 8 years.
• Self-fertile.
• Critical Activities:
• Fertilize yearly in early spring.
• Remove bearing canes each year after harvest.
• Tip prune black raspberries in summer.
• Major Pests:
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• Mosaic virus, anthracnose, verticillium wilt, rust, botrytis, raspberry crown borers, raspberry fruitworms, adult Japanese beetles, birds, deer.
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Small Fruit Choices
• Blackberries (species and hybrids in the genus Rubus)
• Basics:
• Erect or semi-erect, thorned or thornless.
• Most produce primocanes and floricanes.
• Some primocane fruiting types now available.
• Can be grown in southern Indiana and further north with careful site and cultivar selection.
• Self-fertile.
• Critical Activities:
• Fertilize yearly in early spring.
• Remove bearing canes each year after harvest.
• Tip prune in summer to encourage branching.
• Semi-erect types are most easily managed if trellised.
• Primocane-fruiting varieties: cane grow, flower, and fruit in one season.
• Cut to ground in fall after frost.
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• Major Pests:
• Rust, botrytis, anthracnose, verticillium wilt, raspberry crown borers, red-necked cane borers, adult Japanese beetles, birds and deer.
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PF have the capacity to fruit in the fall and again the next summer. Primocane-fruiting raspberries also are easily manipulated to extend the season. Early- and late-fruiting cultivars, cultural manipulations, rowcovers, high tunnels, and greenhouses are all used commercially to extend the season of primocane raspberries year-round. "Raspberries are a perennial crop, but the shoots, or canes that grow are individually biennial," she said. "That means that each individual cane will only live for two years."The first year of growth, the canes are called "primocanes." In many raspberry cultivars, the primocanes do not produce flowers and fruit. In the second year of growth, the canes are called "floricanes" and they produce flowers and fruits. If you just let raspberries grow without pruning or cutting back, there would be a mixture of primocanes and floricanespresent at any given time."There are red raspberry cultivars available that are called primocane fruiting or autumn fruiting types. These will flower and set fruit on the primocanes, which means you can harvest fruit from them the first year they are planted. They will set fruit on the same canes in the second year (now called the floricanes), but in general this second crop is of lesser quality.
Recommended pruning for raspberries depends on whether you have primocane (autumn) fruiting or floricane fruiting cultivars. For both types of fruiting, you can choose to just remove the dead canes each year, leaving both primocanes and floricanes intact. Remember that floricane fruiting cultivars must be pruned this way if you want to harvest any fruit—they only produce fruit on the floricanes, so you can't remove those and expect to harvest any fruit."Autumn or primocane fruiting cultivars may be cut back to the ground after last harvest in the fall," she said. "This channels all the plant's energy into producing primocanes the following spring, which for these types yield the best quality fruit. It also reduces the chances of diseases overwintering in plant debris.
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Small Fruit Choices
• Grapes (species and hybrids in the genus Vitis)
• Basics:
• Grape plants are long-lived, perennial woody vines.
• Select varieties carefully to ensure hardiness, especially in northern Indiana.
• American and French-American hybrids can be grown in Indiana.
• European grape varieties are not hardy in Indiana.
• Plant in spring.
• You must train vines to a trellis system.
• Grapes are self-fertile.
• Critical Activities:
• Plants require initial training on support system.
• Prune each year in late winter.
• Major Pests:
• Black rot, downy mildew, powdery mildew, adult Japanese beetles, grape
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flea beetles.
• Sensitive to the herbicide 2,4-D and can be damaged by pesticide drift.
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Small Fruit Choices
• Blueberries (Vaccinium spp.)
• Basics:
• Highbush, lowbush, southern highbush, half-high, and rabbiteye types are available—highbush are most common in Indiana.
• Not all southern highbush and rabbiteye types will be hardy in Indiana.
• Absolutely require acidic soil: pH 4.5-5.2.
• Soil should be high in organic matter, low in clay, loose, and have good drainage.
• Improve soil and adjust pH before planting.
• Plant in spring.
• Blueberries require cross-pollination.
• Plants are long-lived.
• Critical Activities:
• Fertilize each year.
• Prune each year to remove the oldest stems and tip others.
• Irrigation is almost always needed. Mulch.
• Major Pests:
• Mummy berry disease, blueberry maggots, fruitworms, birds.
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Small Fruit Choices
• Currants (several species in the genus Ribes)
• Basics:
• Red, white and black-fruited varieties are available.
• Plants prefer cool climates and rich, moist soil.
• Usually planted in fall.
• Currants are self-fertile.
• Critical Activities:
• Fertilize each year in late fall or early spring.
• Prune yearly to remove oldest stems (called canes).
• Major Pests:
• Cane borers, currant worms, aphids.
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Small Fruit Choices
• Gooseberries (American gooseberry: Ribes hirtellum, European gooseberry: R. uva-crispa)
• Basics:
• European gooseberry has larger, better-tasting fruit but is disease-prone.
• American gooseberry is likely to be healthier and more productive in Indiana.
• Plants have thorns, and prefer cool climates and rich, moist soils.
• In southern Indiana, provide shade for part of the day.
• Usually planted in fall.
• Gooseberries are self-fertile.
• Critical Activities:
• Fertilize each year in late fall or early spring.
• Prune yearly to remove oldest stems (called canes).
• Major Pests:
• Powdery mildew, cane borers, aphids, spider mites.
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Reference Material
• A good book for home fruit enthusiasts, “The Backyard Orchardist,” by Stella Otto, can be found online or ordered at Barnes and Noble.
• As I mentioned before, there is lots of information available at the Purdue Extension office and online at their Web site.
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Questions and Answers
• This concludes our presentation. Do you have any questions?
• Speaker—please note reference sources at this time (Web sites, books, articles, etc.) Site pages 335-337 of manual, which list resources.
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