apricots for bretts

[anttal63]

ok brett now is the time to collect apricot seeds. if you have europeans in the area you can bet they've got an apricot tree. best to collect seeds from fruit that has been ripened on a tree, unlike the bigger sales outlets. after eating and enjoying your fruit, blot seeds dry and place in a paper bag in a dark dry place. plant out august next year. here is one grown by me from seed. it is just over 2 years old. it was root worked a little and repotted this year. as you can see the leaf size is good considering no defoliation and the internode's are nice and close. autumn colour is to die for, more often than none blossoms are pink. so all in all a winner tree for bonsai.

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[Bretts]

Thats looking good for two years old Antonio. I was talking to my mate Pol about growing them from seed and he happend to have a few he had done that way and gave me one.
I saved a few seeds from a month ago and planted them already. I will check with Pol how he got them to germinate and let you know if it was any different! I will get some more and try next year as well.
Here is the one Pol gave me. Not sure how old it is I will ask him.
You can see some Lime sulfur residue on the leaves

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Check out the soil Pol grows in. Works for him

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[anttal63]

ok bretts, at least the foliage is not withering away. interesting soil; yes fruit trees do well in compost enriched soils, which is how i used to grow them. i do find somewhere in between better in a pot, here in melbourne. i am curious as to how old that one is.

[Bretts]

Yep all is looking good as far as the lime sulfur this morning. I was even game enough to do a round of soil fertilising followed with a foliar feed. This apricot probably didn't get the lime sulfur washed off much as it was further to the back of the bench and I did not notice the residue until I pulled it out to snap the picture.
This soil is pretty normal for all of Pol's trees in bonsai pots as well. In fact he uses this soil lays a sheet of plastic in the bottom of the pot poking one hole in it for drainage Saves his water out on the farm!

[anttal63]

yeah well out on the farms ya gotta do what ya gotta do. even garden nurseries here are starting to use pots with restricted drainage.