AusBonsai

Ant, after your post on your plum and the trials and tribulations of summer..., got me thinking, can we generalise with fruit trees? I have some peaches that I want to develop, too young to bother posting pics now, about 4 years old - we've all seen the young twigs. Anyways, Some fruit trees I see around the streets in peoples houses are very healthy even in Melbourne's scorching hot & dry summers. And there is a killer peach growing wild in a public car park near me that is HUMUNGUS, must be 50 years old and fruits and flowers utterly profusely each year - no water, food or added any tlc from anyone from year to year and it is magnificent. I ask myself how????

I am starting to train my peaches, shaping and wiring etc. what should I expect over the coming summers? I have them in regular bonsai mix, high in organic content hence good water retention, 8" plastic pots,, plenty of food, i presume i should expect good growth..... but it seems to me, i will need them to be larger than shoin to be successful in Melbourne's climate?

comments??

Hey Marc .
Had a large (8inch trunk) common peach about 12yrs ago in, collected in Bundaberg (QLD) and I treated it like dirt for years . No mater how badly I looked after it , it still would perform even fruit! Then I took a liking to it ,carved a large shari and jin, started treating well fertilizer even water! It grew for another couple of months then died .
I say treat them mean to keep them green!

shannon might just have the answer! i tend to think peaches and nectarines are even more tempermental. get yourself some apricots they are the bomb! hardier, finer growth too. i have been sowing seeds so as to introduce movement from day dot.

Are they Prunus mume seeds Antonio. I would like to get a supplier.

I have some small peaches dug from a friends garden that were self sown. I have had them in pots for the last 2 years and both do well. They are only small so not worth showing here yet

I have another in my back yard I am going to dig out soon as I do not want to look after it and want to put a water tank where it is now.
When I do take it out I will pot up and make largish bonsai with. the trunk must be 12" or so at the soil level.

Anyone know if the wood can be preserved OK? I will want to do some carving on one of the trunks.

Ken

This is a little peach from our groups collection....



51 weeks a year it's a rather unattractive stick but for that 1 week when it flowers...

Bretts wrote:Are they Prunus mume seeds Antonio. I would like to get a supplier.

hey brett these are edible apricots i do, as far as i know they do everything a mume does and more. these have fruit if you letm.

peaches are as good a blossom tree as any, i just dont think they are any good in foliage. imo. where as the apricot is sensational.

remember years ago around the streets of Melbourne there were "blossom" trees everywhere. flowering cherry i presume they were, mum and dad and anyone else said they were blossom trees. most of the year they are an average looking tree, but the blossoms were wonderful. as bonsai, well, scott, you might be right, 51 weeks a year not an overly attractive tree. Apart from the 'mist shrouded mountain appeal', and i want one, soooo, i'll give 'em a try eh! Like a HSV hey, i just wnt one!

Hi,

I am currently keeping two plum trees. The type that we have plenty of in
nature strips in Melbourne. On the ground, they do very well. But I have
found that in pots, they suffer branch die back, leave burnt and eaten etc.

They do not lend well to wiring -- die back is the common cause, in my
experience.

Having said the above, I collected a green leaf one, when it was quite young,
now it flowers and fruits year after year. The other one, I grew it from seeds.
One green leaf and one red leaf, I "grafted" them when they were two year
old seedlings, now it is flowering and bearing fruits on and off.

I have observed that certain red leaf varieties are more robust than the
green leaf ones?

They are both in ugly shapes. But the flowers are just simply beautiful, but
fragile -- not unlike life itself?

Best regards.

i wonder about the green leaf / red leaf thing. i presumed they were green leaf when young and purple when older, is this not the case?

daiviet_nguyen I have a couple of the Purple leaf plum( Prunus cerasifera)as feature trees. They are a very nice tree and although I have not seen any I think they will make a very nice bonsai. I managed a small cutting a couple of years ago and almost succeeded with largish hardwood cuttings last year. I am attempting again this year so will see how it goes.
Marc I believe they are the same when young. The funny thing is the leaves turn green in Autumn

Antonio I wondered if there was a difference in the species, it seems there is not so sure why the Mume is considered better. I think the fruit is small like a crab apple though. I bought a small one of Ray a couple of years back and although he stated they are quick growers mine is still a twig. I took a couple of cuttings today though.

if you want apricots use what every it is they use or root stock. The eatable ones have very course growth and large leaves, they are also prone to rot and all sorts of nasties.
Atm Im collecting root stock suckers, Ill try post some images on tuesday. All clumps, but goos too work on.

kcpoole wrote: Anyone know if the wood can be preserved OK? I will want to do some carving on one of the trunks.

Ken

Hey Ken , If I remember correctly peach wood is quite hard and carves well , I used my arbortech and the wood had a nice grain, I'd use a wood hardener not lime sulphur would look better in my opinion anyway.

Asus101 wrote:if you want apricots use what every it is they use or root stock. The eatable ones have very course growth and large leaves, they are also prone to rot and all sorts of nasties.
Atm Im collecting root stock suckers, Ill try post some images on tuesday. All clumps, but goos too work on.

i dont know where you are getting your information but as usual, another bunch of crock! the ramification and leaf size on the edible ones is sensational. anything rots if things are not right. you need to get out more.