Where Does the Fruit Grow? Identifying Apple and Pear Buds

    

Flowers of Apples and Pears

Early spring means pruning season. Pruning is probably one of the least understood aspects of maintaining a home orchard and the most difficult to learn. I decided to start with apples and pears because they should be the first fruit trees you prune and they have similar flower and bud development.
 

Recognizing where the flowers and fruit develop on the different fruit trees is important. The location of buds and bud developments will determine how that tree is pruned.

There are two types of buds on fruit trees- terminal and lateral. Apples and and pears flower and fruit for the most part on terminal buds. A terminal bud is located on the tips of a shoot and is also called the apical bud. A lateral bud develops at the base of a leaf along the shoot.
 

Buds in apples and pears can develop on the ends of terminal shoots longer than 4 inches or on shorter shoots less than 4 inches which are called spurs. Spurs only grow a very small amount each year. They are slow to develop taking two years. Fruiting the second year. 

In the first year the bud is formed as either a lateral or terminal bud. If the bud is terminal, it may or may not flower . Lateral buds formed the first year may produce a flower, but the fruit that develops is usually small. Normally, the lateral bud thickens and grow only a small amount. It is on its way to developing as a spur. Those spurs then produce buds and fruit the second and third year.
 

Spur and terminal buds of both kinds can have both flower and vegetative parts with the bud. What that means is that the bud produces both flowers and leaves. Buds can produces any where from 5-8 flowers and a similar number of leaves.
 

Pruning will affect the amount and type of buds that form on fruit trees. The goal of pruning is to encourage the tree to produce fruiting wood. Trees can be over vigorous due to improper pruning or over fertilizing both of which will result in fewer flower bud developing and less fruit.

How to Identify Apple and Pear Fruit Buds

Being able to identify buds will enable you to prune to achieve an optimal harvest. It will also enable you to determine how that particular cultivar can be trained, espalier etc.
 

Fruit trees produce two types of buds: 

Fruit buds contain flowers that when pollinated become fruit.
 

Wood or growth buds develop into new shoots and leaves but no flowers. Growth buds finish developing after the developing fruit.

Being able to identify fruiting buds will ensure you do not prune off the fruiting wood and thus have no harvests.

Fruit buds

By November a plump, round bud will have formed which contains the flowers that will appear the following April and May. The bud scales on fruit buds are soft and fuzzy on apples, pears, peaches and nectarines. In summer, fruit buds are often surrounded by a cluster of leaves.

Wood or growth buds

Wood or growth buds which carry leaves but no flowers are slender, pointed buds found in a leaf axil. These buds are usually much smaller and more less noticeable than fruit buds.

This is a good picture of the king bud on an apple tree.  All the flowers have the potential to become fruit.  If undamaged the center king bloom is usually the fruit left on the tree after thinning because of its potential to develop the largest fruit.

Tip Bearers versus Spur Bearers
 
Apple and pear cultivars fall into three categories according to where the fruit bud is produced. They can be spur-bearers, tip-bearers, and partial tips bearers. The majority of pears are spur bearers. Apples can be tip or spur bearers.

• Spur-bearers produce fruit buds on two-year-old wood, and as spurs (short, branched shoots) on the older wood. 

• Tip-bearers produce very few spurs. Fruit buds are found at the tips of long shoots produced the previous year.

• Many apple cultivars are partial tip-bearers, producing fruit on the tips of the previous year's shoots and also on some spurs. 

 So head out to your orchard and look at each apple and pear tree.  Identify the fruit buds and growth buds.  Identify the spur bearers and tip bearers.  If you are able to do this you are ready to prune. 

Pruning Apples and Pears

Proper pruning increase the harvest.  The white powder is Kaolin clay an organic insect deterrant.

The goal of pruning is to improve the health, fruit yield, and appearance of the tree. 

When to prune:  Before the buds swell.  This is when the tree is dormant.  Late winter or early spring is ideal.

Three easy steps to pruning:

1.  Health and Healing

Prune out all diseased, dead, and damaged branches.  Prune out any branches that cross or rub.

No dead or diseased but lots of crossing and rubbing branches.

2.  Heading cuts:  

Purpose:  Heading cuts are designed to control the height of the tree and encourage branching off the main limbs.

 

Procedure:  With a heading cut, part of a shoot is  removed by cutting 1/4 inch above a lateral bud leaving behind a stub. Heading cuts stimulate growth of buds or branching below the cut because apical dominance has been removed.

 Another variation of the heading cut is to cut back to a lateral shoot instead of just a bud.  Choose a lateral branch that is directed outward and upward with a good angel and make cut just above that branch.  Less growth is stimulated by this type of cut. (Pruning Fruit Trees by Mark S Burnell)

This is a standard tree.  The canopy will be headed back by 10-20% to control the height.  I don't have a fence around my orchard so I don't want my trees too short or the deer get the harvest not me.

3.  Thinning Cuts

Purpose:  Thinning is necessary because fruit trees produce too much new growth which shades lower wood and will reduces flower bud formation and fruit development.  

The goal of thinning is to:

1.  Reduce crowding
2.  Increase air circulation
3.  Allow for sunlight to penetrate to lower parts of the tree

 Thinning cuts are also used to establish the main scaffold branches by removing unwanted lateral branches when the tree is young and being trained.
(Pruning Fruit Trees by Mark S Burnell)

Procedure:  Thinning cuts remove entire shoots, leaving no stub behind.

  When thinning branches, the angle of the branch will be the factor that determines whether to remove the branch or leave the branch.  The ideal branch angle is between 45 and 60 degrees.  

Branches with this angle will develop into very strong branches that can bear the weight of the fruit.  

Branches with a narrow angle, less than 45 degrees, can be bent down to the proper angle when they are young and flexible, using toothpicks, sticks, clothespins, or by tying them down.  Branches at a narrow angle that have hardened and can’t be bent are probably best removed.
(Pruning Fruit Trees by Mark S Burnell)

Thinning cuts are also used to thin out crowded spur systems. They should be 4-6 inches apart.

Too many vigorous shoots thinning needed.  The spurs on underside of  the branch can also be removed because they will be shaded.

Still a little unsure?  Here is a step by step process suggested by the Royal Horticulture Society:

To start with

• Always use sharp bypass pruners, loppers and a pruning saw
• Start by removing crossing, rubbing, weak, dead, diseased, damaged and dying branches

Then

• Shorten the previous year’s growth on each main branch  by about one third to a bud or branch facing in the required direction. This will encourage the development of new branches and spurs and maintain a good shape 

• Leave young laterals (side-shoots) unpruned so they can develop fruit buds in the second year 

• Only remove the young laterals if they are crossing or if the growth is too crowded, i.e. growing closer 4-6 inches at the base 

• Remove strong shoots 6in  growing towards the center of the tree 

• On older trees, remove/thin out any spur systems that have become congested. Where thinning or removal is required, remove spurs on the underside of the branches, where the developing fruit will not receive enough light, and produces inferior fruit (Royal Horticulture Society)

This apple variety Sungold seems to have a very upright growth habit.  It's best to spread limbs when the tree is young.  I did not do that, but suggest that training trees the first few years makes pruning easier and is less complicated and discouraging than correcting a mature tree. 

Problems

Watershoots

As sections of the branch framework are removed the pruned tree is likely to produce watershoots - which are tall, upright branches, that produce no flowers or fruit. By only removing 10-20% of the canopy per year fewer watershoots will be produced.

If watershoots arise, there is no need to remove all of them but they will need thinning out;

• Consider if any strong, well placed watershoots may be used for as replacement branches in the future and tip prune them by about a quarter to an outward facing bud to encourage branching 

• If well placed and not causing congestion of the crown, leave some of the weaker (thinner and less upright) watershoots unpruned. They may produce fruit buds and act as secondary branches 

• Remove any remaining water shoots 9 inches or more in length at the point of origin

 

• If you spot new watershoots, rub them off during the growing season as they appear

Avoid giving your trees a "hair cut"

 I cringe when I see tree topped off.  It looks like you took a chain saw to the tree and cut off the top.  So very sad.  

When this is done you will have a thicket of young growth shot up from each cut.  It will be non fruiting wood that will have to be removed each year.  Not a healthy practice for the tree or the pruner. 

Pruning is one area that I did not take the time to learn properly when I planted my orchard.  I did not train my trees when they where young because I didn't understand the purpose of pruning and how essential it is to having  larger yields and well sized fruit.  Also with apples lack of pruning will result in biennial fruit bearing and very small fruit.  So take the time to read and learn from experienced people in your area, the extension office, and other resources.  Managing an orchard is a lot of work but the harvests are worth it! 

Growing Organic Gourmet Lettuce

The days of only iceberg lettuce in a salad are gone.  Gourmet lettuces can even be found in the produce section of your grocery store.  An even better option, is to grow your own!  There are so many beautiful, open pollinated or heirloom varieties to choose from. So you can enjoy fresh greens and save seed for the following year. 

Types of Lettuce

Lets get familiar with the types of lettuce.  You will want to plant some of each type to really give a variety of textures and color to your salads.

There are five types of lettuce each with different growth habits and different harvesting methods.

Cos (Romaine): A head lettuce with large leaves, a thick midrib, and upright tall heads.  Most of us are familiar with Romaine lettuce used in Caesar's salads; however, there are many more color options than just green.  Cos lettuce is meant to be harvested as a head lettuce. 

Bronze Arrowhead an oak leaf leaf lettuce.  

Loose leaf or leaf lettuce:  

Loose leaf varieties do not form heads.  An array of leaf types and leaf color can be found in loose leaf lettuces. There are oakleaf and frilled leaf types just to name a few. Red, burgundy, freckled, and green are a few of the colors of loose leaf lettuce to choose from.

     There are 2 options for harvesting.  Outer leaves can be harvested any time. Cut the leaves with scissors or gently tear them off.  Harvest in early morning. Then wash the leaves and put the leaves in the refrigerator in zip loc bag for a day or two before using.  You can also use the cut and come again method.  This is done by cutting all leaves leaving a 2” stub which will not harm the growing point.  Tender, new leaves will regrow from that growing point. 

Butterhead or Bibb Lettuce:  This is a tender, delicious, gourmet lettuce.  It forms a loose head that is know for tender, buttery leaves. When harvesting butterhead types, pull the entire plant up, trim the root, and put the entire head in Ziploc bag or in air tight container with the roots intact. Wait to wash until you are ready to use the lettuce.  Use a salad spinner to remove the water from the washed leaves. Butterhead lettuce does not store as well as loose leaf varieties so don't wait too long.  

Crisphead or Iceberg:  This is the lettuce most people are familiar with.  It forms a tight head of crisp leaves.  It is more difficult to grow because it does not like heat of drought, but there are varieties that are slower to bolt such as Red Iceberg.

Summerhead, Batavian, or French Crisp:  This lettuce has characteristics of both crisphead and looseleaf.  It is resistant to bolting with excellent flavor.  The outer leaves are thick and crisp.  They can be harvested as a looseleaf until the actual head form.  The heart of the head is sweet and tender.

Lettuce mixes can also be purchased.

Growing Lettuce

Lettuce is one of the few seeds that needs light to germinate.  I like to start mine indoors; however, you can direct seed in the garden. 
Since the seeds are sown on the surface they tend to float where you don't want them when sown directly in the garden. I like to transplant in nice rows so I start them indoors.

 To start lettuce seed indoors, use a seedling mix and sprinkle a couple seeds on the surface and press them into planting mix. Use the same method when sowing directly in the garden; press seeds into the soil and keep them watered.

Plant lettuce seedlings outside into a soil with lots of compost when they have 4-5 leaves and the weather is right.  Lettuce will tolerate and even appreciate some shade.  Keep the soil evenly moist because the roots are very shallow. Mulch around plants to help retain moisture and keep soil off of the leaves. Don't wait too long to transplant lettuce does not like the heat.

If you direct seed I recommend using a pelleted seed which will make it easier to plant.

     I like to succession plant so I have lettuce throughout the season. The season includes early spring and fall.  Summer heat causes lettuce to bolt or produce seed so when the summer heat sets in I leave 3-5 plants in the garden to harvest seed from and pull up the rest and replace them with a summer crop.

     To have lettuce during the summer, you could try growing lettuce indoors in pots.  Look for slow bolt varieties to extend the harvest as long as possible in the garden.  Eventually nature will take its course.  The heat signals lettuce to go into reproductive mode and produce flowers and seeds.  This change causes the production of chemicals that make lettuce bitter.  

Lettuce is a quick growing short seasoned crop.  A early spring and fall planting will provide you with beautiful gourmet lettuce.  In early spring, I like to make salads with strawberries and raspberries which are in season at the same time. Add some spinach and Asian greens for even more variety.   Fall planted lettuce will be ready with your summer salad crops like tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and onions.  So many delicious options!

Strawberry Spinach Salad

Growing Greens

 

 Spring Greens

This is a fun group of greens to grow that adds variety and spice to the normal greens.  It includes the spicy frilly mustard greens, flat leafed tatsoi, pac choi and the tight heads of Chinese cabbage.  All are grown best in early spring and replanted in Aug/Sept for fall harvests.  Summer heat triggers bolting so plant in early spring or late summer for a fall crop. Greens are fast and easy to grow if planted in the right season.  They are a great source of vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals.  They can be used in soups, lightly steamed, raw, mixed in salads, stir-fries or dried and powdered for capsules or smoothies.

Oriental Greens

This category includes mustards, Chinese cabbage, and Pac Choi.  I love all these because they are quick growing, disease and pest free, and make delicious additions to stir-fries.

 

Culture of Greens

• Direct seed in early spring when soil temperatures are between 50-75 degrees Chinese Cabbage and pac choi can be started indoors
• Even moisture ensures quick growth
• Soil should be enriched with organic matter and a dry organic fertilizer
• I plant these greens under a low tunnel in early spring and then again in early fall.  The low tunnel allows you to plant and harvest earlier in the spring and harvest into the fall.
• Be sure to plant directly in the garden starting. St. Patrick's Day through the beginning of April and then again in the fall.

 Mustards

Mustards tolerate heat better than most greens and hold better in the garden.  They also tolerate light frosts.


Mizuna
Ruby Streaks and Golden streaks are beautiful with serrated, frilly leaves that add a little zing to a salad or can be used in stir fries. They are also a beautiful ornamental green

Japanese Giant Red Mustard
If you like it bold this is your mustard.  It has large purple red leaves and a strong garlicy flavor. It is a good pickling variety.

Mizuna

Tah Tsai
Is a milder mustard that resembles spinach with spoon shaped leaves.

Agricultural mustards are used as cover crops and will be discussed in another post

Pac Choi
This is a favorite early green that we use in stir-fries.  We chop the leaves and stems.  It comes in green and purple and baby pac choi.  It's a beautiful crop, quick and easy to grow.  A beautiful plant.

Tatsoi

Try this green with Pac Choi in stir-fries.  It has a mild flavor and can also be used in salads. Plant after last frost to discourage bolting.  

Chinese Cabbage

This mild flavored cabbage can be used in stir-fries, coleslaw and salads.  It is a quick growing cabbage that loves cool seasons.  When the outer leaves are peeled off it reveals a tight head.  I've had very good luck with Soloist. It can be started indoors and transplanted after danger of frost.  Frost sometimes encourage early bolting.

Gourmet Greens

These are spring greens that will tolerate light frosts and do very well under low tunnels for early spring planting.  For the best flavor daytime air temperature should be between 60-70 degrees.  Higher air temperatures make greens strong and bitter.  Harvest frequently when leaves are young and tender.

Arugula

This is a popular salad green with a unique peppery flavor. A very healthy green with phytochemicals that fight cancer.

Cress
This is also a peppery green that is added to salads and sandwiches.  It's loaded with nutrients:  vitamin A, C, E, folates, iron, and calcium.

Corn Salad or Mache
This is a favorite salad green known by may names:  Vit, corn salad, and mache.  It's a great fall crop and if protected can be grown all winter.  It tolerates cold to 5 degrees but bolts quickly in heat so plant as soon as soil can be worked in the spring or in fall. You can harvest the enire plant or cut outer leaves like lettuce.

Sorrel
This is one of my favorites. It's a perrienal with a lemony tart taste.  It will tolerate shade. Add it to salads with spinach or to soups. Pinch off seed stocks as they develop.

Spinach
This leafy vegetable is a super food.  It has the highest protein of any vegetable and is packed with vintamins, minerals, flavonoids and carotenoids.  This combo helps control cholesterol, protect eyesight and target free radicals.

Plant in early spring.  It doesn't germinate well in warm soils.  A fall crop can be easily overwintered under low tunnel.  Leaves are either savoy or smooth. My favorite salad green.

Purslane
This is also a new favorite of mine.  Purslane is a domesticated weed that will self seed if allowed.  It's succulent leaves have a mild citric flavor.  It is wonderful in salads and on sandwiches.  This green has more omega-3 fatty acid than any other leafy vegetable. Chickens love this green also giving them omega-3's.

Purslane

Swiss Chard

With beautiful stems in a rainbow of colors and large green leaves this is a stunning plant.  Although in the same family as beets, chard is grown for its leaves and stems.  It tolerates shade and is slow to bolt in the summer so you can continue to harvest leaves throughout the season. It's beautiful interplanted with marigolds.

Chard can be sown April through mid-July when soil temperatures are 50 degrees. The outer leaves are harvested as needed.  Leaves are most tender when the size of your hand

Lipstick Pink

Fordhook

Soil Preparation for Greens

The key to successful organic gardening starts in the soil.  Organic fertilizers feed the microbes in the soil and in turn the microbes provide the nutrients for the plants. The first step is to add sufficient organic matter to the soil. Compost and aged manures need to be incorporated into the soil of newer beds and can be added to the top of established beds.  I add 1-2 inches of compost to each bed.  

A dry organic fertilizer should also be added to the soil and can be added to planting holes of transplants.  Since the soil is cool in early spring and microbe activity slow,  fish emulsion can be used after transplanting and if plants are struggling.   

Preparing Your Soil for Spring Planting 

Using Low Tunnels

Planting under the low tunnel protects transplants and allows you to plant directly in the soil at least two weeks early.  It offers protection from the unpredictable spring weather.  An additional layer of protection can be provided by laying a medium of light weight row cover over crops inside the tunnel.

Constructing a Low Tunnel