3 Mistakes You Make When Choosing Fruit Trees

Mistake 1: You lack Imagination 

Just about every household has a Lemons and Oranges or whats popular but the problem with this is that when your oranges start fruiting the cost in the supermarket for the same orange is often super cheap and fresh. Because they are so popular  the pests of this tree are popular. eg. Gall wasps are often controlled by industrial methods but the home gardeners tree gets attacked and they don't have the resources to out power these pests. Basically if the fruit in your backyard is the same as the one you easily buy every day of the year anyway you are only exposing yourself to 1% of what fruit has to offer you.

So why not choose something like a Mulberry Tree, Black Sapote, Pecan, Sapodilla, Miracle Fruit, Peanut Butter Fruit, Lychee, Soursop, Custard Apple. And when you do choose a variety choose a variety that isn't common to your supermarket. Eg. If you are going to get an Orange tree then grow the Navelina. After you eat this variety you will wonder if they really are selling oranges in the supermarket the taste is so different.

Mistake 2: You are a Cheapskate

A seedling tree might cost $10 but the same tree as a grafted variety can cost upwards of $35. So people choose the seedling and then get disappointed why it doesn't fruit. A grafted tree can fruit often 3 years before a seedling even thinks about bearing fruit plus the fruit being produced is a proven quality and taste. Obvious example is that you eat an orange, love it and then plant the seed. 8 years later that seed produces its first "oranges" and instead of tasting sweet and having orange skin, it has a very light yellow skin and is almost un-edible. Same goes for Lychees, Apples, Pecans, Macadamias etc etc.

Mistake 3: You Plant it "Wherever"

Fruit trees love the sun and they love good drainage. Pay attention to the way the sun falls on your backyard throughout the year, especially in Spring and then make sure you use that space for your fruit trees. Your shady spots are perfect for rainforest trees, so don't let them go to waist.

Northern Territory - Mail Order Fruit Trees

People who live in the Northern Territory can now choose from our NT Plant List and have them sent to your door. This will happen about 5 times a year so you can place and add to your order at any time until the dispatch date.

Unfortunately there is an extra cost for quarantine as we need to pay for a quarantine inspector to come and check your plants before they are dispatched. This costs starts at $25 per order and goes up depending on how many extra plants you have placed. So to make the order economical you would likely need to order $100 or more worth of plants.

Click to view the next Dispatch Date for the Northern Territory and Western Australia

Chill Hours for Fruit Trees - Calculation using BOM Australia

Many of our Bare Root Fruit Trees that we sell in June and July will not give you fruit unless you get the right Chill Hours in Winter.

For Example the Angel Peach Tree has two different varieties. A High Chill and a Low Chill Variety. If you live in Cairns and buy the High Chill Angel Peach you will not get any fruit.

Definition of Chill Hours for Fruit Trees
Time spent below approximately 7 degrees.

High Chill Fruit Trees are 650+ Hours
Medium Chill Fruit Trees are 450-650 Hours
Low Chill Fruit Trees are 150-450 Hours

Silly Question: Do I go outside every day of the year with a stopwatch and a thermometer?

Answer: You could, but it is obviously a very funny waste of time

Calculating Chill Hours at your Address in Australia
Just to make it clear straight up plants are alive and as such there is no exact science for the amount of chill hours a certain fruit tree needs, it is always going to be approximate.

In Australia we are privileged to get the website for the Bureau of Meteorology and this allows us to find the Average temperature of the coldest month. We then use this temperature to Estimate the chill hours.

Step 1
Go to the the BOMS Climate Data Online

Step 2
Data about: Temperature
Type of Data: Monthly
Select: Mean Minimum Temperature
Weather Station: [Type your own Suburb here]
Nearest Bureau: Closest to your address
Click: Get Data

Step 3: This will give you a view of the Monthly Mean Minimum Temperature for your suburb.

Step 4: Scroll down the page to the last year of information and select the Lowest Monthly Mean Temperature which is usually in July but sometimes June.

Step 6: While you are looking at this number take note of the previous year minimums. Perhaps this year was an exception and you might like to use another years minimum. So in this case I am using 7.2 degrees.

Step 7: Now we want to find the Mean Maximum Temperature that matches this figure from Step 6  So I need to remember 2011 and the month of July. ( yours might be June )

Go back to the BOMS Climate Data Online ( Likely already opened ) But this time select:
Data about: Temperature
Type of Data: Monthly
Select: Mean Maximum Temperature
Weather Station: [Type your own Suburb here]
Nearest Bureau: Closest to your address
Click: Get Data

Step 8: Scroll Down to the latest year and select the temperature for the corresponding month to step 6.

In my example it is 21.1 degrees.

Step 9: Now we want to add the Mean Minimum Temperature and the Mean Maximum Temperature together and divide by 2 to get the average. In this case (7.2+21.1)/2=14.15

Step 10
Now we try and fit this number into the Chill Hours Table below. The Chill hours in this table are commonly used to describe Fruit Tree Chill Hours and you will see them across the Daleys Fruit Tree Website in descriptions, across the web and fruit tree reference books.

Chill Hours           Average Temperature for coldest month
0                               19.7 degrees (No Chill)
300                           15.5 degrees (Low Chill)
330                           15.3 degrees (Low Chill)
450                           14 degrees (Medium Chill)
500                           13.6 degrees (Medium Chill)
520                           13.1 degrees (Medium Chill)
600                           12.7 degrees (Medium to High Chill)
800                           10.2 degrees (High Chill)
1100                         7.9 degrees (High Chill)
1250                         0 degrees (Very High Chill)

So for the case used which was 14.15 degrees we can approximate this to 330-450 Chill Hours or Low Chill. If a plant that requires Medium Chill was purchased it might produce fruit some years when the winter is colder but not others when the winter is warmer.

Things to Consider
Remember how we said you could take a stopwatch and a thermometer outside? Well here is your chance. The weather station that you chose in step 2 is very unlikely to be exactly the same as your backyard orchard. So what you can do is every morning just before sunrise record your backyard orchards temperature. Then go to the BOMs Climate Data Online and fill out the form for Daily Data by selecting:

Data about: Temperature
Type of Data: Daily
Select: Minimum Temperature
Weather Station: [Type your own Suburb here]
Nearest Bureau: Closest to your address
Click: Get Data

Now if the reading you got from the thermometer in you backyard orchard is lower then the BOMs minimum temperature you can assume that you will get slightly more chill hours then the calculation you got by using the above steps. This means that you "might" be able to get fruit with a higher chill variety.

Conclusion and Final Note
If you are reading this it is likely that you are a fruit lover who wants to test the boundaries of what is possible. At Daleys we have come to accept that people in Victoria (Australia's High Chill Country) want to grow Tropical Fruit Trees and people in Rochampton (Australia's Low Chill Country) want to grow high chill temperate fruit trees even though we don't like your chances of getting fruit. However some of you have many examples where you have succeeded. The Daleys Fruit Tree Forum has many of these stories.

If you are in a Low Chill environment and want to grow fruits such as Blueberries, Apples, Plums and even Cherries then we often have varieties that are Low Chill. For example the Acerola Cherry Tree crops in Low Chill Climates.

Growing High Chill Fruit Trees in a Low Chill Climate
Now if you know that you don't get the right chill hours and are still super keen to grow high chill plants my only other suggestion is to grow your plants in pots and get yourself a super big freezer to put them in during winter. JOKING!!!!!!!!!!

Bare Root Fruit Trees 2012 - The Problem and Solution for Juicy Backyards

Surprisingly when some fruit trees look like sticks this is the best time for planting. Cherries, Apricots, Raspberries, Almonds, Peaches are often sold as Bare Root Plants.
The Problem
"Dear Daleys Nursery: You have one Bare Root Fruit Tree I want but the other one won't be ready until next year. What Can I do?"
The Solution
We have a special Bare Root Page that allows you to order the stock now but receive them in June/July. YES you can purchase anything off our IN STOCK PLANT LIST. Good news is they are sent in one go saving you freight costs.
Bare Root Stock to PRE-ORDER | PLANTS IN STOCK NOW

About Bare Root Fruit Trees

Too Simple... Many people think of Fruit Trees with Luscious green foliage and bright fruit LIKE THIS...
(Click If Image Does not Load)
BUT... Apricots, Cherries, Persimmons, Plums and Almonds will never produce fruit unless they appear to die LIKE THIS...

WHY... For the colder climates of Australia during Winter the temperature drops below 6 degrees. Many amazing fruit trees will only grow in these colder climates because they need these Chill Hours so that come spring they will BLOSSOM, FLOWER AND FRUIT LIKE THIS...
 

Bug Fix: People not being able to Create a New Displayame

There was a bug that when you replied or created a forum it was saying that the username had already been taken even though it wasn't.

This has been fixed.

If anyone finds that they do not get the username that they like. Please Contact Me and I will help you out.

Sometimes people have multiple email addresses that they use and this is the cause.

Unique Display Names

When posting on Daleys Fruit Tree Forum you will need to use a unique display Name.

Just a clarification on Daleys Forum Rules topics do not need to be on fruit trees they can be on any plants.

If you find that one of your posts gets deleted and you think that it shouldn't have please contact us and we will happily add it back.

A big thanks to everybody who contributes. So much fantastic information that helps us all get the most out of our edible backyards.

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Rosella Eating Leaves, Fresh Jam

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Daleys Promotional Video

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25% OFF FREIGHT March and April 2012

Most people only think about planting Fruit Trees in Spring BUT this is when as a nursery we get the seeds, cuttings and grafts to develop. Some of these grow, some die.

Now that it is Autumn all the ones that are successful are now ready to sell and get the plants Mail Ordered to you door.

This is why we are offering

25% OFF FREIGHT BASKET CODE: FREIGHT25OFF

* Excludes Wholesale Orders
* MARCH AND APRIL 2012

Nut Varieties Introduced and Australian Natives - Town And Country Magazine

Town And Country Magazine

We are very excited because our staff member Kath got one of her articles on nuts published in the Town and Country Magazine. It is a great magazing for Australians so to read her article and others make sure you pick it up at your local newsagents.

Reduction in Packing Fee

When mail ordering only one or two fruit trees where the plant costs are under $100 we have had a Packing fee of $6.50. Orders over $100 we offered this FREE.
The Good News: Due to receiving more orders from you our lovely customers and developing quicker ways to get our fruit trees to your door we have now changed this to $4.50 for orders under $50. (Learn More)