Watch these very cute Daleys Kids show you our new Postage Free Plant Box.
Many of you say you would buy our plants but the postage is too expensive. We have listened at Daleys and now have developed a new range of fruit trees along with a specially designed box that allows us to send them to your door and the postage is free.
In this video we show you the box as well as the size of the plants.
This is a new range and with time we will expand the range and variety that we can send to you postage free.
Our much larger fruit trees that we send via post still have postage but we use 4 freight carriers to get you the very best price we can. You can calculate your postage costs here.
We celebrated the end of the year with a day out on the Tweed River and what a great day it was. A huge thank you to all of you for your wonderful support and input throughout the year. Wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2015 from us all at Daleys Fruit Tree Nursery
Pollination, cross pollination, self fertile, or partial, what does all this mean?
Self Fertile
A self fertile or self pollinating tree means that it is capable of setting fruit on its own, it does not require a companion plant to pollinate it and if planted in isolation it will still produce a bumper crop of fruit such as with citrus fruits.
Partially Self Fertile
This means that the tree will set some fruit if it is planted on its own but it will produce a much better crop if it has a pollinator planted with it. Plums are a good example of this for some varieties such as the Gulf Gold, Yarrahapinni and Iluka blood plum are partially self fertile, all these selections will set on their own but they do produce a better crop if they are cross pollinated. In the case of the Gulf Gold it is also recommended that you thin your fruit as it can produce such an enormous crop that the weight of the fruit can break the branches.
Pollination Beneficial
This is similar to partially self fertile. These fruits will set on their own but they will also benefit from having a pollinator with them as it will result in more fruit. Southern Highbush blueberries are a good example of this, blueberries such as the misty, gulfcoast, biloxi, legacy and blueberry burst will set well on their own but if you are wanting to grow more than one bush it is a good idea to mix up the varieties and they will also cross pollinate with each other.
Cross Pollination
Cross pollination is where two different varieties are grown for fruit set and the pollen from one is transferred to the other and vise versa, this transfer of genetically different pollen is essential in order for the trees to set fruit. Apples are a very good example of trees that require cross pollination. Choose two compatible pollinator for a bumper crop. It is a good idea to have your trees clearly labelled so you are certain which one is which just in case something happens to one of your trees and for any reason you need to replace the pollinator. You will need to know which tree is planted where.
Pollination - Male & Female
Some plants are dioecious meaning that they produce either male or female reproductive structures on separate trees. Kiwi fruits are a good example of this and in order to get fruit your will need at least one male kiwi vine to pollinate a group of up to seven female vines.
Pawpaws or papaya are another good example of fruit trees that in many cases produce separate male and female trees, but just to complicate matters there are also pawpaws trees that are termed bisexual plants, these are trees that produce flowers with both male and female parts making them self fertile or sefl pollinating so you will only need the one tree to get fruit. The Southern Red and Sunrise Solos are examples of bixexul pawpaws.
It tastes like a Rock Melon stays very small and bushy. It is the Pepino Kendall Gold Fruit Tree variety. $9.90ea or 2+@5.00ea We have lots ready to send.
Yes you can eat Feijoa Tree Flowers and they are really good in Salads. They will decorate the salads plus they have a great taste. It is the petals that you can eat.
Feijoas are in full flower now (Spring). Besides their delicious fruit in autumn the petals of the flowers are excellent eating and also very ornamental. Add them to salads. Have you tried eating Feijoa flowers? Birds also love eating the petals and help in pollination.
When it comes to figs getting a known variety such as the Fig Tree - Black Genoa makes so much sense. They are a great pot plant because with root restriction they stay small but also "Freak Out" and start fruiting very early. Also when it comes to figs there are so many varieties. That is why when you get a cutting grown one from Daleys you know that the size, taste will be quality. Also you know that they will crop well.
Here is an example of the Fig Tree that we send to peoples homes across Australia.
The colour of these very famous herbs such as Tumeric, Malabar Spinach & Achiote Bixa are famous for their health benefits but in this video we just marvel at their different colours.
Growing cacti from calloused cuttings is an excellent way of establishing plants in your garden.
Select a sunny location in your garden.
Build your trellis - this is an important first step when planting pitayas or dragon fruit as your vine will require a sturdy support to establish and attach itself to as it grows. A wooden round post that is chest high is ideal and if you are growing more than one plant you can join the posts together with a wooden cross bar. Timber is the perfect support as pitayas can easily attach their aerial roots to the rough service of the timber.
Don't make the mistake of planting them up a tree for support as it is very difficult to pick the fruit from the top of a cacti covered tree and your vine will be most productive if the arms are allowed to hang downwards, this encourages flowering and will give you more fruit.
Apple cacti are columnar cacti and will support themselves once they are established, however you will need a small stake to tie them to until they are firmly rooted in their position in your garden.
Make sure that the soil where you are going to plant your cutting is friable and well drained, cacti will not tolerate wet feet at all. You may need to use a pair of heavy gloves to protect your hands from the spikes on your cactus cutting or use a wad of newspaper wrapped around the cutting to make handling your cactus cutting painless.
Plant your cutting in the prepared soil to a depth of 5-10 cm, do not plant it too deep. You will then need to tie your cutting to its support with a soft stretchy tie, old tights are perfect for this as they are strong yet stretchy and they will not damage your cutting. You can if you wish root your cutting before planting it into the final position by following these same planting instructions and putting your cutting into seed raising mix until it forms roots. The roots of your new cutting should be well established after 90 days.
Quickly becoming the Orange Tree of choice all across Australia. It has Large Oranges with No seeds and Red Flesh. Which is why it is a Blood Orange Tree. It also fruits quite early in the season. Our Staff Member Carla in this video calls it the Perfect Orange Tree in this 50 second video.
The pollination of the Avocado Tree is fascinating. This video shows with a time lapse video exactly how it all works.
The basics are that each flower will open for about 3-6 hours as a female flower on one day. Then the next day it will open for 3-6 hours as a Male flower.
For pollination to occur we need to have both a male flower and a female flower open at the same time.
The difference between the 2 types is when the female flowers open. A type they open in the morning and B Type they open in the afternoon. ( Visa Versa for Male )
So if you have an A type and a B type you are going to have your Male and Female flowers opening both in the morning and in the afternoon. Giving you cross pollination.
However as this video shows it is possible for both the male and female on the same tree to be open on the same Avocado Tree at the same time. It shows how self pollination can occur.
We had a feast of cacti fruits for morning tea today. The yellow dragon fruit were the best, they are great looking fruits and full of flavour. The formidable looking thorns are easy to brush off however not for the possums and should not deter anyone from growing these sensational fruits. We also enjoyed a Pearl pitaya as well as orange and pink apple cactus.
Apparently all cacti fruits are edible, do you have any growing in your garden that are eye catching and tasty?
Just visiting my son Paul Daley in Samosir in Summatra. Growing Cacao Trees to perfection is done in this Tropical fruit trees climate. I would be interested to know how far south has anyone grown Cacao in Australia. #cacao #cocoatree
In this Guava Video we introduce you to the China Pear. Creamy and delicious and the tree looks the part. This tree is packed with guavas.
http://www.daleysfruit.com.au/buy/guava-china-pear-tree.htm
#guava #guavatree #guavafruittree #guavachinapear
The Lomandra - Mat Rush
In this video our staff member Carla shows us this Australian Native. It is a bush food because you can eat the stems and is often featured in the home & garden shows to fill gaps in gardens because they grow in shady spots and are the hard workers that keep our river banks together. They grow in a diverse range of soil types too.
Just enjoying a fresh fruit salad from the orchard. Red Papaya boat with banana and Passionfruit and Mandarin juice. Super delicious. One of the nice things about fresh home grown fruit, you don't need any spices, sweeteners or cooking. Just perfect #fruitsalad #papaya
Monstera or Fruit Salad Tree. This delicious pineapple banana flavoured fruit is an old time favourite. Grown often as an ornamental it is very hardy. There is a process to ripening the fruit. Pick the mature fruit and then wrap it in newspaper until it ripens. As the scales fall off you can then eat the flesh. Easily grown in the subtropics. Has anyone grown this further south? #monstera #fruitsaladtree
Has anyone tasted this super sweet berry? Do you know it's name? Our tree is covered in fruit now. If you live in the Tropics or Subtropics it is easy to grow as long as you don't get frost. In saying that we get frost at Kyogle but it still manages to survive. #fruittree #panamaberry
Oh Nuts! It's pecan season and we love this time of the year. They are so good eaten straight out of the shell but if you have the time to crack a few and don't eat too many as you go they are a real asset to have in the kitchen, cakes, muffins, slices and pies - what is your favourite pecan recipe? A great tip on cracking nuts, if you squeeze two together in your hand one will always crack. These are Mohawks they are big and really easy to get into.
Pruning Paw Paw (or Papaya) is a great way to keep the fruit close to the ground and also increase fruit production. By doing this you have a Dwarf Pawpaw Plant Best time to do this is in early spring, Just cut them back hard about and let them reshoot down low. This is our Southern Red PawPaw Selection, which has excellent flavor when fully ripe. They also make a very nice Green Papaya Salad, great way to make use of the fruit all year round. Any recipe ideas for papaya salad? #papaya #pawpaw #papayasalad
Jakfruits are fast becoming one of my favourite fruits. This is a Crisp Orange Jakfruit which has beautifully coloured arils that are very large and crunchy. They are slightly less pungent in flavour than the soft jaks. And a Dwarf Tree Frog that I discovered in the jackfruit tree while collecting scions for grafting.
Bare root trees are deciduous trees that are sold during the winter when they are dormant. They are grown in the ground or pots during the growing season and once they drop their leaves they are lifted, pruned and prepared for shipping.
How are Bare Root Trees Shipped?
Bare root trees are shipped free of soil or pots. They can be bundled together for shipping which means that freight is very economical, especially for anyone purchasing a group of trees as they can be packed together into one compact package. Their roots are protected during transport with some moist packing material, this prevents them from drying out which is very important.
Unboxing my Bare Root Fruit Trees?
It is important to plant your bare rooted trees as soon as possible, if you do not have your site prepared you may choose to pot your tree until you have the ground prepared, do this as soon as you receive it into a good quality potting mix. Despite the trees being dormant they still need to be cared for and it is important to make sure that the roots of your trees do not dry out, don't leave them lying exposed in the sun. You may also heal in your trees into a garden bed which involves covering the roots with soil until you have the site prepared for planting. Don't over water your bare root trees while they are dormant.
How do I plant my Bare Root Trees?
Dig a hole that is at least twice the size of the root ball, remember do not leave your bare rooted tree lying in the sun while you are busy digging the hole. Free drainage is vital for the health of all trees so make sure that the soils is rich, fertile and drains freely. If necessary you may need to add some compost or mound your planting site if you have heavy clay soil. It is important that you do not plant the tree any deeper that it was originally grown in the soil, look for a change in colour at the base of the stem, this will indicate where the previous soil line has been, plant it to the same depth, never deeper. Spread the roots out in a natural fashion, if necessary a little mound of soil in the centre of your hole will help you to hold the tree at the correct planting height. Back fill with soil. Gently shaking the trunk of your tree as you are back filling will help the soil to fill between the roots. Water in well, this removes any pockets of air and settles the soil around the roots. If the tree feels loose in the ground, place two stakes in the ground either side of your tree well away the root zone and loosely tie the tree to the stakes with a soft cloth tie in a figure of 8 around the trunk of your tree. Mulch well with a mix of organic mulch like lucerne hay, barley straw, grass clippings, small amounts of wood chip of different sizes and/or pruning materials from your garden. This will conserve moisture, regulate soil temperature, break down and feed your tree and the soil. Remember it needs to be kept away from the trunk of the tree. Do not fertilize your tree until it begins to break dormancy in the spring time.
How long do Bare Root Fruit Trees take to fruit
Grafted trees can flowers and fruit in their first year however we do recommend that you remove all the fruit from your new trees for the first year, this will allow your trees to establish into strong and healthy trees before you let them fruit. If you leave them to fruit in their first year they will put all their energy into the fruit at the expense of roots and shoots which can stress and stunt the growth of your tree.
Why Plant Bare Root Trees
Bare root trees are easy to transport and plant and they will surprise you in the spring when they push off with a vigorous flush of new growth. They are extremely satisfying to plant and grow but the best thing about them is they will reward all your efforts with a bounty of home grown fruit for years to come.
Be inspired and venture out into your garden to plant a fruit tree today.
FINALLY The Seedless Mango Tree can be purchased from Daleys!!!!!!
Thanskin Mali from Thailand ( Pictured ) who is working with us for the next few weeks got through customs with a cutting from one of their trees that her family is famous for growing in Thailand.
Rick and Nina from our Propagation department have been quick to graft this tree and we are proud to announce that it will be ready for sale very shortly. Click to Pre-Order Today:
#AprilFools #MangoTree
Today is the perfect day for tree planting. 122 mm of gentle soaking rain overnight and it's still falling, gives us all a reason to smile. I can wait to get home and start planting. I have a pummelo fruit tree, Indian almond, rollinia and a panama berry to go in the ground today. Who else is inspired by the rain to plant some fruit trees and what are you putting in?
Luna finding some late season fruit on our Dwarf Mulberry Tree Black Variety. With regular pruning you can get several crops each year and also keep them under 1 metre. #mulberry #dwarffruittrees
Jaia and Yaralee our 2 little Fruit Bats always love finding something fresh in our Exclusion Orchard. Pomegranate Tree and Star Fruit Tree are ripening now. Yarralea ate the whole Pomegranate one aril at a time, delicious!! #pomegranate #carambola #orchard #starfruit
A seed is planted and germinates to grow into a tree. For some plants this is the easiest way to propagate them however there are some draw backs. For example if you plant a seed when the plant finally fruits the taste of the fruit may be nothing like the fruit of parent tree it came from. It will also take longer for a seedling tree to bear fruit than it would for a grafted or cutting grown tree. The pros of a seedling tree is that they have more vigor and are faster and stronger growing than grafted or cutting grown plants, they will also have a much stronger root system which makes them more suitable for marginal climate. For example if you were wanting to grow a longan in Victoria a seedling tree is the best choice for all of these reasons. Seedlings trees will all be genetically different from one another and each tree will be slightly different meaning the fruits your pick off your tree will be unique.A technique called cincturing can also be used to encourage seedling trees to start producing fruit in a shorter time frame than the tree would normally take
A Grafted Plant
A Grafted Plant takes a Scion ( Young shoot ) from a mature tree and then joins this to the rootstock of a seedling plant. This has many advantages. Firstly a rootstock can be selected that is vigorous and disease resistant. Secondly we know the taste and quality of the fruit from the mature tree we took the scion from so we know that when our new grafted tree fruits it will taste the same. Because the tree is mature it also means that the plant will start fruiting straight away or much quicker when compared to a seedling. Grafted plants are more expensive to produce due to the labour involved in propagating them. They also require some degree of maintenance when they are small with particular attention to the suckers that are produced by the more vigorous seedling rootstocks, any shoots that form below the graft need to be removed a process that is called desuckering or they will drain the energy from the graft and if left unchecked they can kill the graft. Because grafted tree do not go through the juvenile phase they tend to be smaller growing than seedling plants and are ideal fro growin in containers where they can be kept as dwarfs or for espalier where pruning and cincturing techniques can be used to keep trees to a compact and manageable size
Cutting Grown Plant
Also known as Striking or Cloning this is is where you take a stem or young shoot from the plant and place it into a soil medium and then under the right conditions this will cause it to produce roots. This method like grafting means that we know the taste of the fruit from this tree. Cuttings grown plants will all be uniform but they can tend to have a weaker root system than seedlings or grafted trees.
Marcotted Grown Plant
Also called Air layering, Marcot, Marcottage and is like a cutting except instead of the roots being formed in a pot inside the soil. It is formed on the branch of the tree inside a plastic bag of soil.
Marcot plants just after harvesting them
Tissue Culture
This is basically making microscopic cuttings. Plant hormones are used to make the cells first divide rapidly and then to differentiate the cells into stem, root and leaf cells. Initially the plant cells need to be grown in sterile conditions to avoid fungus infections, these are called flasks. Once the plantlets have formed roots and shoots they are deflasked into potting media and grown on. Tissue culture is possible because plant cells have the ability to differentiate into different cell types, so the initial cell can turn into leaves, roots and stems forming a whole plant. Tissue cultured plants are genetically true to type and identical to the parent plant and is another form of asexual propagation. It is an excellent method to eliminate viruses from the plants and for this reason it is used for banana propagation.
Rhizomes and Tubers
Plants propagated by rhizomes and tubers are lifted and divided or dug up in the winter when the rhizomes are harvested and replanted. Examples of plants grown in this way are ginger, galangal, arrowroot and asparagus. Rhizomes are typically long term investments and will
grow in size, and therefore productivity, with age. Asparagus is, indeed
one of these long term investments.
Tubers are neither roots nor rhizomes, but are often found in their
company and are, in fact, a growth of reserve nutrients. They are rich in simple carbohydrates (starches) and sugars,
which is what makes them so delicious. It is this stored energy that
gives them the potential to grow a new plant at a moment’s notice or lay
dormant until conditions improve. Sweet potato are an example of a tuber.
A young piece of wood from a proven quality variety that is grafted onto a rootstock. To purchase this item you need to be competent in grafting.
Scions sold on Daleys Fruit Tree Nursery are rated according to the 3 skill categories below.
Scion Beginner Skill Level
Most people should get success when grafting this scion variety. A practiced grafter should be getting close to 100% success rate.
Scion Intermediate Skill Level
If you have never done a graft before it is best not to start with this variety. However a practiced grafter should be still getting quite good takes. Creating the graft with this variety is often a bit more difficult. You should not be expecting to get 100% takes but 80-95% success rate has been achieved by practiced grafters.
Scion Advanced Skill Level
Only an experienced grafter who has been successful grafting an intermediate scion in the past should attempt to do an advanced scion graft. Even when you are experienced you should be expecting to get 25-75% success rate.
A Side Veneer Graft on a Mulberry White Shahtoot Tree. The Rootstock Was Morris Nigra. We show you all the stages after you have completed the Grafting to know when to de-sucker and pot into a bigger pot size.
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