Methley Plum x Bruce Plum x Texas Star Peach grafting!

[Chuck]

Actually, I have another question!

What if I have stone fruit with low chill hours and I over-winter them in a garage after they've neared their required chill hours?

For instance, I have a Plum that requires 400 chill hours. After about 400 chill hours into winter, I bring it into a garage that is about 50-60 degrees? Would that be fine ? I know it sounds like a lot of work, but, I have nothing better to do loool

Here is a Cherry that requires only 400 hours. https://www.fast-growing-trees.com/Lapins-Cherry-Tree.htm I really want a Cherry tree really badly! Do you think this method could work for a small personal crop?

If you do that the tree will think its spring and start to bud.

 

[Chuck]

I was interested in purchasing some land to do a larger-scaled project, but I am not so sure now..

Regarding Avocados, I'll likely over-winter them in the greenhouse which should never really be below 50-60 F so if cold and size is the only issue, I think I can work around that. I'll likely heavily prune Avocados even if that means fruit every other year. I'll just get another one and rotate. Much like I plan on doing stone fruits. The Mango is mostly for ornamental purposes. I'll cut it back too, each year. If I get fruit then yay -- a bonus.

I suppose I should stop shopping at Home Depot!

Thanks for all of your help! I just moved to Round Rock from Central Austin so I'll give the stone fruit a year or two and see how it goes. I have plenty of space left for my veggie beds which I just started filling with strawberries and pineberries!

Take care, Chuck! You're always extremely helpful.!

How cold did it get 2 weeks ago in Austin and stay in the 20's for for 2 days. It got down to 17F here. How in the world are you going to keep a green house warm in those kind of temperatures. I had a small green house for awhile that I kept a potted lime and Myers Lemon in. My temperatures are a lot warmer than at Round Rock and the cold killed them both even though the 6' x 8' greenhouse was heated with 2 big electric heaters. It got down to 13F here and stayed below 20F for almost 2 days and not above 32F for over 5 days. This happened about 10 years ago. And Home Depot is a great place, just not for plants.

 

[Montray Davis]

If you do that the tree will think its spring and start to bud.

Good point!

How cold did it get 2 weeks ago in Austin and stay in the 20's for for 2 days. It got down to 17F here. How in the world are you going to keep a green house warm in those kind of temperatures. I had a small green house for awhile that I kept a potted lime and Myers Lemon in. My temperatures are a lot warmer than at Round Rock and the cold killed them both even though the 6' x 8' greenhouse was heated with 2 big electric heaters. It got down to 13F here and stayed below 20F for almost 2 days and not above 32F for over 5 days. This happened about 10 years ago. And Home Depot is a great place, just not for plants.

Heat lamps / Infra red lighting and probably some heated mats.

I mean occasionally it may get a bit cold but not too often. I mean yeah, it got to the teens a few weeks ago but that was like 2 maybe three nights. In the worst of days, I could just bring the tree inside for the night.

 

[Chuck]

Good point!




Heat lamps / Infra red lighting and probably some heated mats.

I mean occasionally it may get a bit cold but not too often. I mean yeah, it got to the teens a few weeks ago but that was like 2 maybe three nights. In the worst of days, I could just bring the tree inside for the night.

How long have you lived in Texas? For the past 6-8 years, maybe a little longer, the winter weather has been EXTREMELY MILD, in fact no real winter at all. The weather we had a couple of weeks ago would not be unusual at all, in fact it would be normal. I am just trying to tell you that you will be making a huge mistake in thinking you can care for tropical and sub-tropical plants in those kind of temperatures, no matter how many heat lamps and mats you have. Believe me, I've been there and done that. If you believe in Global Warming and think this weather will stay then go ahead but don't say I didn't tell you.

 

[Chuck]

If you are thinking of buying some land think about pomegranates. They grow really well in the area, you can plant probably three times as many trees on a given area and there is a huge commercial market for them. Have you checked out the price of pomegranate juice and of how many products have the juice in them. At my age its too late to do much of anything but if I were your age I would at least research it.

 

[Montray Davis]

How long have you lived in Texas? For the past 6-8 years, maybe a little longer, the winter weather has been EXTREMELY MILD, in fact no real winter at all. The weather we had a couple of weeks ago would not be unusual at all, in fact it would be normal. I am just trying to tell you that you will be making a huge mistake in thinking you can care for tropical and sub-tropical plants in those kind of temperatures, no matter how many heat lamps and mats you have. Believe me, I've been there and done that. If you believe in Global Warming and think this weather will stay then go ahead but don't say I didn't tell you.

Yeah, it has been really warm. I was born here. 25years here and I definitely feel the difference. And yeah, I believe in global warming.

Worse case scenarion as I said, I will just bring the trees inside if the weather gets too cold. It may seem like a lot of work but its really only a few trees. I won't be moving an entire garden lOl. Its for fun so even if it doesn't work out it's a learning experience.

If you are thinking of buying some land think about pomegranates. They grow really well in the area, you can plant probably three times as many trees on a given area and there is a huge commercial market for them. Have you checked out the price of pomegranate juice and of how many products have the juice in them. At my age its too late to do much of anything but if I were your age I would at least research it.

Oh wow no, I did not know that Pomegranates were expensive. I will definitely research into that. I was actually considernig purchasing a Pomegranate tree a few days ago but then decided not to. I'll look into this asap .

I've never tasted Pomegranate before.
Thanks a bunch for the suggestion!

 

[Chuck]

There are other new pomagranates that I a not familiar with that will grow well here but the old time pomagranate is the excellent variety called Wonderful. You can't go wrong with it but the newer ones may be as good or better. Food for thought is the following link.
http://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.html?number=C997