Summer, already?

[Tim C]

Whew! 38C outside here now. The poor old gardens looking a bit limp. And we had frost less than 2 weeks ago?? Mind you, not like last year, when we had 2 weeks straight of severe frost!
Nope, no global warming here, hey pollies.

 

[Mark]

It doesn't take much to dry everything out and you've just reminded me to go and turn my sprinkler off in the orchard!

 

[Ash]

Unusual hot spell but you guys on the coast get it a lot worse than us on the range.

As for global warming:

 

[Tim C]

Very good graph Ash. That's all the proof I need.

 

[stevo]

yerp, Winter is building and construction time, and Summer is for cold drinks

 

[stevo]

......and summer is coming!! There's been some good rains over the year and the gardens are going great at the moment, should be a great summer for the gardens!

 

[ClissAT]

I'm with you on this one Stevo.
I think this coming weekend of lower temps will most likely be the last under 10degrees.
It dawned on me yesterday that it was time to set seeds for the summer crops.
The soil temps are up for sure so seeds or seedlings should do well if planted soon.
There might be the chance to plant crops that would otherwise be affected by high temps or summer insects & get them harvested before those things affect them.

 

[Kasalia]

Measured my soil temp. This week at 16 degrees C, good for just about anything. Finding my seedlings slow probably due to cold nights, but what is growing wild is tomatoes and lettuces, like weeds.

 

[Mark]

It's chilly this afternoon after several warm days... my mulberry trees don't know what to do fruit or not lol

The August winds have knocked around our snap peas and I've given up trying to tie them to the trellis but they're producing heaps!

 

[Ash]

It has been strange Mark. We've had a few bitterly cold days and the peach trees we have already having budded are having a tough time doing their fruiting. We will have to wait and see what effect this will have on produce.

 

[Mark]

It has been strange Mark. We've had a few bitterly cold days and the peach trees we have already having budded are having a tough time doing their fruiting. We will have to wait and see what effect this will have on produce.

Yeah, I have a peach with small fruit already growing about 20c coin size! Very early...

 

[ClissAT]

Yeah, I have a peach with small fruit already growing about 20c coin size! Very early...

Same here, I have a micro peach tree with heaps of little fruit that have been there 3-4wks already.

 

[Sasha Bushell]

So you guys are talking about peach trees.. i love nectarines personally however i am wondering.. what could i grow in pots as far as trees go.

I dont want to plant in the ground (due to planning on moving) however i do have 2 apple trees that i am training to espalier.
But im wondering if maybe you have some suggestions on what i could do in a pot? I have a lemon tree and a kaffir lime tree aswell, the kaffir lime is growing really well since i repotted it and flowering like crazy with tones of new growth, the lemon tree is new and ive pruned the tio and its now started some new growth aswell.

Im along the though lines of any dwarf fruit i could put in a pot, would this be right?

 

[OskarDoLittle]

Kate (Letsgo) has done quite a bit of research into this I think...I think the conclusion was most dwarf varieties are ok, but consider how you can get a pot large enough to let the tree thrive, but still be movable without a crane and truck! Also consider things like...avocados (apparently good with pots but hate having their roots wet, so need excellent drainage) require more than one tree preferably to optimise fruiting. A lone tree will fruit, but not as well as if there's a few of them. They can't be espaliered because the fruit require thicker foliage for protection from sun. There are qld specific stone fruit, like nectarines (drooling just thinking about white nectarines) which don't require as much of a cold season as southern varieties. Citrus of most varieties do well. And remember most fruit trees will take a fairly hard pruning when you need to relocate...little less room on the ute! (Oh a word of warning about lychees...they're very particular about water, wind and soil conditions - I have battled on with mine for a few years and if it doesn't behave this year, it's mulch!)

 

[Mark]

I agree with all the above.

There's nothing wrong with growing any fruit tree in pots particularly if you intend to eventually plant them out just make sure the pot is appropriate to the tree size as it grows ie pot up when required. In the end, you'll simply have a larger and more mature tree to plant out when you eventually move to your new place and this will be a good head start!