How long before flower or fruit?

[gavilan]

About 7 years ago I planted an apricot kernel ... the little tree is now about 4 or 5 feet tall but as yet no sign of any flowers ... has anyone any idea how much longer I have to wait?!

[katy]

Perhaps they are like Cherry, Advocado etc and they need a male and female tree to pollinate

[gavilan]

I think I read that apricot trees/flowers are self-fertile.

[Martin Page]

With a plant grown from seed you don't even know if it will be fecund, especially if it was grown from a F1 or F2 hybrid that commercial grower tend to use, ALL you can do is keep your fingers crossed and hope.
Most trees bought from a garden centre are usually a high fertile, strong, variety grafted onto a dwarf rooting stock that produce fruit with in 4 years

[gavilan]

Thanks for that information Martin Page ... I have no idea what sort of apricot kernel it was that I planted ... as you say, all I can do is go on with crossed fingers and high hopes! (About the same numberr of years ago I planted a lemon pip ... and this year the small tree finally looks as if there will be some lemons on it!)

[Gasman]

We have a suspect apricot too - probably a kernel planted by previous owner, so it must be about 8 years old now and it flowered for the first time this year, but none of them set fruit!!! So perhaps next year?

[gavilan]

Gasman: interesting that you say your apricot has flowered ... I keep looking at mine but no show so far ... maybe I am looking in the wrong place and also that the time has passed when flowers would have shown? ... where do the flowers appear? and when did yours produce flowers? And like you also say: maybe next year!

[El Cid]

Your are at least two months too late. Ours flowered at least two months ago and we picked all the fruit about two weeks ago.

Go out and buy a decent tree for about €10 and it will probably fruit next year.

Growing from pips may be fun for children but it is a complete waste of time for the rest of us and has been pointed out, most fruit trees are hybrids grafted onto good root stock.

Sid

[gavilan]

I don't think my little tree had any leaves on it two months ago, let alone those elusive flowers! Maybe mine is a late variety! But I take your point Sid altho it has been fun and a challenge and if I desperately wanted apricots I would do what you suggest ... except it's too hot and dry now to buy/plant a tree ... I can wait!

[El Cid]

You can probably buy better Apricots in the market for far less hassle than growing them.

Last year I picked about 20kg of fly ridden fruit which went straight to the tip!

If you are lucky and avoid the fruit flies you end up with a ten year supply of Apricot jam! The fresh fruit only lasts for a couple of days before it goes off unless you take up huge amounts of fridge space.

The wonderful thing about Citrus and Avocados it that they stay on the tree until you pick them, stone fruit are really not worth the effort.

Sid

[Wicksey]

Our apricot tree had been left to grow huge before we bought the house so the first year we had far too much fruit and as Cid said, it all ripened at once. I did make some jam and chutney but couldn't cope with it all so some went to waste. After that we have pruned the tree hard each year and now we get about 30 fruit that ripen over a couple of weeks and we have one or two apricots a day to eat!

Our mangoes are not producing anything much and what fruit did form this year has been blown off the tree in the wind. We find it a bit disheartening trying to grow much here other than oranges which tend to do well.

[gavilan]

I had not thought of pruning my little tree but that's an idea to remember ... in the Autumn?

I am not that far from you Wicksey and yes oranges and similar like kumquats, mandarins, grapefruit and lemons do very well here but also figs, nispero (tho like El Cid commented, they all come at once and have to be eaten quickly) pomegranates and carissa/natal plum ... and you never know, maybe apricots!

[Martin Page]

Gavilan - you prune for fruit spurs in summer, and for shape in the winter.

[gavilan]

Martin Page: thanks for that information ... summer being now or another month or so?

[Gasman]

What a very knowledgeable lot we all are - excellent posts from all-
As to not seeing flowers --- the flowers are actually out before any leaves appear, so you probably missed them. Ours usually flower just after the almonds which can be January/February, but the apricots are usually flowering in February, before the peaches which do a similar thing (flowers before leaves) in March. I agree with El Cid too, our productive tree gives a crop of very small ones that are mostly covered with crusty spots - not worth it.
Unfortunately a different variety which was very productive with excellent big juicy apricots, excellent to stew, eat fresh, and jam .... died last year We gave the trunk a shove when it was obvious that it was on its way out, and it snapped off, eaten through by bugs and beasties in the soil
Good luck, but you may have to just buy the cheap local fruit at the shops!

[El Cid]

and it snapped off, eaten through by bugs and beasties in the soil

We had the same problem with a beautiful fig tree. One year it was producing fist sized figs, next year we could pull it out of the ground!

Sid

[Wicksey]

and it snapped off, eaten through by bugs and beasties in the soil

We had the same problem with a beautiful fig tree. One year it was producing fist sized figs, next year we could pull it out of the ground!

Sid

I'm glad it's not just us that have these problems. Our nispero dropped dead last summer - all but one branch Perhaps it is from a different part of the root. Our avocado was also like that - a brilliant crop one year and dead the next. Our 3 year old lychee has about 4 fruit forming but we are not holding our breath .....