North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["William C. Garthright" <billg@inebraska.com>]

Thanks for the replies! As usual, everyone was a big help.


> As an average it takes about 27 degrees F or less to kill the blooms/ fruit 
> in Apricots. The exact temperature depends on what stage the blooms/fruit are 
> in. ... At 25 degrees F you can forget the crop.
>   


Great! Just the info I needed. It's not as bad as I expected, actually. 
I'll keep my fingers crossed.


> http://www.hort.purdue.edu/fff/FFF96/FFF9603.txt
>  
> Critical Temperatures:  Early spring can cause fruit growers alot of 
> sleepless nights.


I'll bookmark this link. Some good information there. Thanks.


> Just be careful in cultivar selection, and as Richard says, pick the late 
> blooming ones.


I didn't know about this list when I bought the Goldcot, so I was just 
going by the description at Stark Bro's. They emphasized how cold-hardy 
it was, and I didn't realize that wasn't the same thing as late blooming 
(or just didn't think about it, I guess).

I've got another dwarf apricot ordered this spring. After getting 
recommendations from people on this list, I ordered a Mormon or Chinese 
Golden or Super Hardy apricot (seems to be a lot of different names for 
the same thing). I've read that it's supposed to do well in late frost 
areas, so maybe that's a better choice.

Still, I can't say I'm disappointed in the Goldcot. All of my plantings 
have done well, but this tree looks the best, despite some Coryneum 
Blight last summer. I didn't think it was in a particularly good 
location, either (I'm running out of those), but it sure likes that 
spot. I guess I'll see.


> Just imagine what a lovely warm summer we're going to have, too. Last 
> July and August about killed me with humidity and high heat.


That sounds like our normal summer. But you never know. Last August and 
September were actually cooler and wetter than normal, here. It was very 
nice. And after about 8 years of drought, we received a lot of moisture 
over the winter, and we're about average year-to-date. Average sounds 
very good at this point. :-)

Thanks again,

Bill
Lincoln, NE (Zone 5)

--
The president is not the commander in chief of civilians. - Garry Wills