Allotment Fruit
Fruit Tips
In February buy your raspberry canes and heel them in position 45cm (18") apart leaving enough space between rows to be able to walk between them for maintenance and picking fruit. After planting cut each cane down to 25cm to encourage healthy new canes to develop. Prune out old woody canes of summer fruiting varieties in the autumn. Autumn fruiting types require to be pruned to the ground after fruiting since the following years' crop will come from new cane growth in spring. After 5 years your canes will tend to go back (run out of steam) so consider planting up a new area every few years.
Gooseberries and red currants can be planted out once the ground is not too wet. Dig a hole with plenty of space for the roots, add in some compost for feeding and moisture and heel the plants in up to the original soil level on the stems. Watch out for caterpillars and saw fly. A good crop of fruit should be achieved in the season after planting. Prune gooseberries long branches back in the autumn to encourage lateral growth and to also prevent branches from breaking with the weight of heavy fruit yields. Shorten stems by half and each year cut out a few older stems. Blackcurrants fruit fruit on the previous year's growth so once the stems have cropped they should be cut out to make room for new growth from the base. Black currants are quite prone to white powdery mildew caused often by poor air circulation. Other problems are fungal currant leaf spot which show up as brown spots on leaves that will prematurely fall. Currant blister aphid attacks cause large unsightly red blisters on leaves. Although this looks awful, the plants and yield are generally unaffected. From February onwards, if you see the buds of your blackcurrants overly swell this may be the results of tiny white mites inside the buds. Cutting out the affected sections of bushes can help control this
Tomatoes like sunlight. Their growth will be stunted if they don't get a good amount of light. They also like air about their stems and leaves, which helps keep away grey stem mould and also assists pollination of flowers. Monty Don from Gardeners World recommends that once the frosts have gone, open your greenhouse in the morning and leave it to breath until dusk. When the first truss starts to flower feed the plants once a week. When two trusses open feed twice a week and when three trusses open feed every day. Regular watering is also key to strong, healthy plants. The new Tom Tomato plants from Thompson and Morgan are expensive, but provide a root crop of potatoes and a crop of tomatoes on the same plant. Watch out for special offers, which will provide you with up to a 2/3rd saving on the normal price! During the growing season nip out side shoots of tomatoes that are grown up one stem (indeterminate tomatoes or cordons) as side shoots grow straggly and sap strength that should be used for fruiting. Bush tomatoes (determinate varieties) can be left to grow without pruning or nipping out of side shoots.
Strawberries - They grow really well at Thistly Cross. Set aside a small area for some plants and you will not regret it. Alternatively, try a strawberry barrel to save some precious space. On the allotment, there are a good few different varieties being grown so there should be plenty of runners available from fellow plot holders without having to buy them at a hefty price. Put straw down when plants are fruiting to prevent rotting. Cover with netting to keep the birds at bay. Start a new bed every three years.
Apples - Try and plant in twos to promote good pollination. Prune in June. Mulch in winter. Give a winter disinfectant wash to prevent diseases. Winter pruning encourages strong growth and is used when the tree is young to help form a good shape. Pruning in August is also a good time to shorten new growth to four leaves, reduce long crossed over stems, makes a denser tree and early fruiting.
Apple trees can be grown in a number of ways:
Cordons are a single stem with short side shoots and trained either vertically or horizontally at an angle i.e. /.
Espalier are a space saving way to grow apples horizontally along wires on a wall or fence. Once established they require very little pruning.
Fan shape is another space saving method of growing apples up a wall. You simply train stems in a flat fan shape against the wall and keep the side shoots short. Again, once established this tree structure needs little pruning.
Free standing trees allowed to grow in the open.
Grafted trees may produce several different varieties on a single rootstock suitable for both open spaces or pots on patios.
One problem of apples trees is 'bitter pit'. It is not a disease , but a calcium deficiency. The deficieancy is often caused when the soil dries out and the tree has difficulty in taking up chemical. This then causes dark lesions in the apple shins that penetrate into the underlying and is seen as brown orange spots. Tackle the problem by ensuring the soil remains moist by adding a mulch and if need be some lime in the autumn or winter.
Plums, Peaches and Cherry Trees should only be pruned when in leaf and not in winter when the spores of the silver leaf disease is in the air. The disease weakens and frequently causes trees to die. Long growth is cut back by half to encourage branching and remove aphids and bugs on the young stem tips.
Cherry trees can suffer from birds eating the fruit; leaf spot, which is orange in colour ands leads to leaf drop of which there is no chemical control; black fly attack is common where the flies suck sap from the leaves which crumple and curl; fruit splitting due to irregular watering and is often a problem with container grown trees.
Pears are a delicious fruit. Grow them as cordons, espaliers or trees. Some problems to look out for are pear rust that is seen as large orange spots on leaves. This is caused by spores blown from juniper trees. The effect is not significant enough to warrant replacing the trees unless the yield declines dramatically that the general vigour of the tree is affected. Other problems are pear scab that is a fungal disease that causes black blotches on fruit; pear leaf blister mite that feed on the leaves leaving black blisters, but not damaging to the trees; aphids that suck sap from young shoots that then curl and brown rot that sees big sections of the fruit go brown and rot.
Winter Wash Fruit Trees
This will help prevent disease and damage from sap sucking pests. Aphids eggs appear in spring and summer but their eggs over winter lodging in crevices in the bark and between branches. Use an organic plant oil spray on trees when dormant.
Raspberries - Summer fruiting varieties fruit on the previous year's growth. Once the stems have cropped, cut them down to the base and allow the new shoots to grow and over winter. Autumn cropping raspberries fruit on the currant year's stems so once the fruit has finished cut all stems down to the ground and fruit will form on next season's growth. White raspberry fruit tastes exactly the same as the traditional red varieties, but my experience is that the white fruit does not keep or travel well. The new patio pot bush varieties are quite prolific croppers and nice to have on your doorstep.
In February buy your raspberry canes and heel them in position 45cm (18") apart leaving enough space between rows to be able to walk between them for maintenance and picking fruit. After planting cut each cane down to 25cm to encourage healthy new canes to develop. Prune out old woody canes of summer fruiting varieties in the autumn. Autumn fruiting types require to be pruned to the ground after fruiting since the following years' crop will come from new cane growth in spring. After 5 years your canes will tend to go back (run out of steam) so consider planting up a new area every few years.
Gooseberries and red currants can be planted out once the ground is not too wet. Dig a hole with plenty of space for the roots, add in some compost for feeding and moisture and heel the plants in up to the original soil level on the stems. Watch out for caterpillars and saw fly. A good crop of fruit should be achieved in the season after planting. Prune gooseberries long branches back in the autumn to encourage lateral growth and to also prevent branches from breaking with the weight of heavy fruit yields. Shorten stems by half and each year cut out a few older stems. Blackcurrants fruit fruit on the previous year's growth so once the stems have cropped they should be cut out to make room for new growth from the base. Black currants are quite prone to white powdery mildew caused often by poor air circulation. Other problems are fungal currant leaf spot which show up as brown spots on leaves that will prematurely fall. Currant blister aphid attacks cause large unsightly red blisters on leaves. Although this looks awful, the plants and yield are generally unaffected. From February onwards, if you see the buds of your blackcurrants overly swell this may be the results of tiny white mites inside the buds. Cutting out the affected sections of bushes can help control this
Tomatoes like sunlight. Their growth will be stunted if they don't get a good amount of light. They also like air about their stems and leaves, which helps keep away grey stem mould and also assists pollination of flowers. Monty Don from Gardeners World recommends that once the frosts have gone, open your greenhouse in the morning and leave it to breath until dusk. When the first truss starts to flower feed the plants once a week. When two trusses open feed twice a week and when three trusses open feed every day. Regular watering is also key to strong, healthy plants. The new Tom Tomato plants from Thompson and Morgan are expensive, but provide a root crop of potatoes and a crop of tomatoes on the same plant. Watch out for special offers, which will provide you with up to a 2/3rd saving on the normal price! During the growing season nip out side shoots of tomatoes that are grown up one stem (indeterminate tomatoes or cordons) as side shoots grow straggly and sap strength that should be used for fruiting. Bush tomatoes (determinate varieties) can be left to grow without pruning or nipping out of side shoots.
Strawberries - They grow really well at Thistly Cross. Set aside a small area for some plants and you will not regret it. Alternatively, try a strawberry barrel to save some precious space. On the allotment, there are a good few different varieties being grown so there should be plenty of runners available from fellow plot holders without having to buy them at a hefty price. Put straw down when plants are fruiting to prevent rotting. Cover with netting to keep the birds at bay. Start a new bed every three years.
Apples - Try and plant in twos to promote good pollination. Prune in June. Mulch in winter. Give a winter disinfectant wash to prevent diseases. Winter pruning encourages strong growth and is used when the tree is young to help form a good shape. Pruning in August is also a good time to shorten new growth to four leaves, reduce long crossed over stems, makes a denser tree and early fruiting.
Apple trees can be grown in a number of ways:
Cordons are a single stem with short side shoots and trained either vertically or horizontally at an angle i.e. /.
Espalier are a space saving way to grow apples horizontally along wires on a wall or fence. Once established they require very little pruning.
Fan shape is another space saving method of growing apples up a wall. You simply train stems in a flat fan shape against the wall and keep the side shoots short. Again, once established this tree structure needs little pruning.
Free standing trees allowed to grow in the open.
Grafted trees may produce several different varieties on a single rootstock suitable for both open spaces or pots on patios.
One problem of apples trees is 'bitter pit'. It is not a disease , but a calcium deficiency. The deficieancy is often caused when the soil dries out and the tree has difficulty in taking up chemical. This then causes dark lesions in the apple shins that penetrate into the underlying and is seen as brown orange spots. Tackle the problem by ensuring the soil remains moist by adding a mulch and if need be some lime in the autumn or winter.
Plums, Peaches and Cherry Trees should only be pruned when in leaf and not in winter when the spores of the silver leaf disease is in the air. The disease weakens and frequently causes trees to die. Long growth is cut back by half to encourage branching and remove aphids and bugs on the young stem tips.
Cherry trees can suffer from birds eating the fruit; leaf spot, which is orange in colour ands leads to leaf drop of which there is no chemical control; black fly attack is common where the flies suck sap from the leaves which crumple and curl; fruit splitting due to irregular watering and is often a problem with container grown trees.
Pears are a delicious fruit. Grow them as cordons, espaliers or trees. Some problems to look out for are pear rust that is seen as large orange spots on leaves. This is caused by spores blown from juniper trees. The effect is not significant enough to warrant replacing the trees unless the yield declines dramatically that the general vigour of the tree is affected. Other problems are pear scab that is a fungal disease that causes black blotches on fruit; pear leaf blister mite that feed on the leaves leaving black blisters, but not damaging to the trees; aphids that suck sap from young shoots that then curl and brown rot that sees big sections of the fruit go brown and rot.
Winter Wash Fruit Trees
This will help prevent disease and damage from sap sucking pests. Aphids eggs appear in spring and summer but their eggs over winter lodging in crevices in the bark and between branches. Use an organic plant oil spray on trees when dormant.
Raspberries - Summer fruiting varieties fruit on the previous year's growth. Once the stems have cropped, cut them down to the base and allow the new shoots to grow and over winter. Autumn cropping raspberries fruit on the currant year's stems so once the fruit has finished cut all stems down to the ground and fruit will form on next season's growth. White raspberry fruit tastes exactly the same as the traditional red varieties, but my experience is that the white fruit does not keep or travel well. The new patio pot bush varieties are quite prolific croppers and nice to have on your doorstep.