Author Topic: How to increase the quality of your fruit  (Read 8693 times)

simon_grow

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How to increase the quality of your fruit
« on: November 13, 2013, 05:27:50 PM »
Hello everyone, I just wanted to share with everyone some simple thing I do to increase the quality of the fruit I harvest from my trees. Please feel free to share your knowledge and experiences.

One thing I do to my fruit trees is to give them frequent diluted feedings of kelp extract before I expect the tree to flower all the way until after I harvest the fruit, so pretty much I give it kelp extract year round except the dead of winter when there are heavy rains and no growth on my trees. Kelp extract has many of the major, minor and trace elements/minerals that plants need and it is difficult to burn your plants with this type of fertilizer. I give my plants kelp extract even after fruit is harvested because my trees need to build up strength for vegging and flowering next season.

Another thing I do to my fruit trees is to heavily thin my fruit. I typically thin by removing about 1/3 of all the smaller fruit when they are about pea to marble size(in general). Of course the size of the fruit when you remove them depends on what type of fruit it is but generally speaking, pea to marble size covers much of what we grow. Another way to look at it is to remove 1/3 of the fruit 2-3 weeks after fruit set. This is the first thinning.

Depending on the type of fruit, I do a second thinning several weeks or a month later to remove another 1/3 of the smaller, malformed or damaged fruit. For fruit like Longan and Loquat that fruit in large panicles, it's easier to just clip off the terminal 1/3 to 2/3 of the fruit cluster when pea sized. Most of this information is just regurgitation of information I read online or saw on a YouTube video.

When flowering and when fruit are enlarging, I like to give my trees organic 0-10-10. The Potassium in this type of fertilizer is supposed to increase the sweetness of the fruit and I really feel it helps greatly from my experience. About every 3 months or so, I also like to give my plants some ground up rock dust like Azomite which you can order online. This is supposed to help replenish the minerals that were used up by the plants. There are some informative videos about this on YouTube.

If you are going for extra large "showpiece" fruit to give away to your friends and relatives, make sure you water your trees according to what is recommended for that type of fruit. Also know your soil and your rootstock so that you don't kill your tree by overwatering. Having stated this, I have found that( very obviously) the more water you give, the larger the fruit. BUT, be careful of fruit splitting.

In order to avoid fruit splitting, I try to establish my trees as best as I can. By this I mean that the first couple weeks I plant a tree, I water my trees almost daily but don't rely on what you read online! Everybody's yard, soil and microclimate are different so it is difficult to generalize. You Must get your hands dirty and keep track for yourself. If in question of wether or not to water, dig down into the soil or feel the drainage holes of your pot and see for yourself. When establishing trees it's important to gradually decrease the number of waterings so that your trees roots will expand deeper and deeper into the ground in search of water. With these deep roots, I personally feel that you will have less issues with fruit splitting. Also try to keep your watering schedule very regular and do not water in midday during a heat wave unless to save your trees life. I'm just totally guessing but I feel that the heat causes increased metabolic activity in the trees and the trees are capable of sucking up so much water during a heat wave that it causes fruit to split. It may be better to wait until late evening or at night and don't overwater in these conditions. Having deep roots will also help in these heat wave conditions because the water supply to your tree is more stable.

MangoFang

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Re: How to increase the quality of your fruit
« Reply #1 on: November 13, 2013, 06:40:58 PM »
Thanks, Simon - Beforeeven  reading this, I've been trying to incorporate some of the things you've mentioned...all good solid info - and I'll be ordering more liquid kelp as I'm plum out!

Thanks, man......gary

LEOOEL

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Re: How to increase the quality of your fruit
« Reply #2 on: November 13, 2013, 10:10:50 PM »
Very good info. Thanks
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BMc

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Re: How to increase the quality of your fruit
« Reply #3 on: November 14, 2013, 12:38:36 AM »
I use seaweed extract when I can, but it's a lot of work for a time poor burger like me. My wife makes faces if I go out past 10pm watering the plants and come in smelling of a Venetian canal in summer.

If your fruits are subpar one year the magic bullet here is Epsom Salts. It seems to sweeten everything from passion fruit to citrus. Of course, it will only work on young fruit, so it won't help near mature fruit I. The same season you first notice the problem.

fruitlovers

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Re: How to increase the quality of your fruit
« Reply #4 on: November 14, 2013, 01:37:15 AM »
Simon, your kelp feeding of plants is via ground watering or foliar spraying?
Oscar

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Re: How to increase the quality of your fruit
« Reply #5 on: November 14, 2013, 10:26:43 AM »
Quote
I like to give my trees organic 0-10-10.
Where do you get this?
Name of the product?
Thanks

dongeorgio

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Re: How to increase the quality of your fruit
« Reply #6 on: November 14, 2013, 10:45:41 AM »
How often do you use the kelp extract?  I currently fertilize with a 8-3-9 with micronutrients on the first of every month and then spray with keyplex 350 on the 15th of each month.  Should I replace one of these treatments or add the kelp extract as an additional treatment?
George

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Re: How to increase the quality of your fruit
« Reply #7 on: November 14, 2013, 12:11:03 PM »
Quote
I like to give my trees organic 0-10-10.
Where do you get this?
Name of the product?
Thanks
I do not know if they have it in your area, but I have used E.B. Stone brand Ultra Bloom 0-10-10 for my roses from time to time.  Also if there are any "medicinal herb horticulture" shops in your area they will have similar types of products.  Just look for names like mega-bud, ginormo-bud...

Richard

nullzero

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Re: How to increase the quality of your fruit
« Reply #8 on: November 14, 2013, 01:25:48 PM »
I agree Kelp works wonders with the plants. I use the concentrated Kelp Powder with Humic acid and mix with water and some fish emulsion. The plants respond really well. Here is a link to the mix I get; http://www.kelp4less.com/shop/kelp-humic-soluble-blend/. I like the amount of volume and cost you get from it.
Grow mainly fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

MangoFang

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Re: How to increase the quality of your fruit
« Reply #9 on: November 14, 2013, 03:11:49 PM »
Nullzy - thanks for that - so many blends at Kelp4Less it leaves me confused!

I'll try this one...and you do it foliarly or with normal watering????

Gary

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Re: How to increase the quality of your fruit
« Reply #10 on: November 14, 2013, 04:17:31 PM »
Mg,potash,sulpur,phosphorous in the absence of chlorine derivativative or excess N, as well as micros.That's the nurients and for soil health and life mulch and an organic derived from seaweed,droppings or dead animals.No too much inorganic fertilizers at once and well back from the trunk.
Keep the trees trimmed reasonably short to several main branches and clear of too many fine sticks and this also helps air circulation.Don't prune by giving trees a haircut on top but remove branches at the main trunk.

nullzero

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Re: How to increase the quality of your fruit
« Reply #11 on: November 14, 2013, 04:52:07 PM »
Nullzy - thanks for that - so many blends at Kelp4Less it leaves me confused!

I'll try this one...and you do it foliarly or with normal watering????

Gary

I have used with both, I like doing a soil drench most of the time. I mix in about 2 tablespoons of powder per 5 gal of water (I mix in a 5 gal bucket spraying the water and mixing the powder in nicely). You can use as foliar spray as well, just beware of the time of year and sunlight intensity.
Grow mainly fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

fruitlovers

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Re: How to increase the quality of your fruit
« Reply #12 on: November 14, 2013, 05:09:27 PM »
Nullzy - thanks for that - so many blends at Kelp4Less it leaves me confused!

I'll try this one...and you do it foliarly or with normal watering????

Gary

I have used with both, I like doing a soil drench most of the time. I mix in about 2 tablespoons of powder per 5 gal of water (I mix in a 5 gal bucket spraying the water and mixing the powder in nicely). You can use as foliar spray as well, just beware of the time of year and sunlight intensity.

Foliar sprays, when possible, are much more cost effective and plant efficient. Rule of thumb:
foliar sprays: 90% of nutrients in fertilizer will be absorbed by the plant
soil drench: only 10% will be absorbed by the plant.
Oscar

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Re: How to increase the quality of your fruit
« Reply #13 on: November 14, 2013, 05:39:27 PM »
Nullzy - thanks for that - so many blends at Kelp4Less it leaves me confused!

I'll try this one...and you do it foliarly or with normal watering????

Gary

I have used with both, I like doing a soil drench most of the time. I mix in about 2 tablespoons of powder per 5 gal of water (I mix in a 5 gal bucket spraying the water and mixing the powder in nicely). You can use as foliar spray as well, just beware of the time of year and sunlight intensity.

Foliar sprays, when possible, are much more cost effective and plant efficient. Rule of thumb:
foliar sprays: 90% of nutrients in fertilizer will be absorbed by the plant
soil drench: only 10% will be absorbed by the plant.

Good advice, if you got sandy soil it may be much better to use as a foliar spray. I was using as a soil drench in containers. I was able to manage the run off better with good container soil mixes, balanced water retention (mixed in coir), and SWC containers with a nice reservoir to catch runoff.

If I was doing in ground trees with a soil drench, the trees soil would have to have lots of humus and decent water retention to make it worth it.
Grow mainly fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

fruitlovers

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Re: How to increase the quality of your fruit
« Reply #14 on: November 14, 2013, 05:44:35 PM »
Yes amount of fertilizer absorbed by the plant in soil drench will depend on type of soil. But even in very absorbent, organic rich, soil the percentage absorbed will be very low. The reason being that plant roots are a lot less efficient at absorbing nutrients than are leaf surfaces.  So in all soils the foliar feed is much more efficient and cost effective.
BTW, it's a common misconception that plants absorb all their nutrients from the soil, leaves play a very big part in health of plant not just due to photosynthesis.
Oscar

simon_grow

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Re: How to increase the quality of your fruit
« Reply #15 on: November 14, 2013, 09:56:52 PM »
Simon, your kelp feeding of plants is via ground watering or foliar spraying?

Hello Oscar,

I use a soil drench about every month and I do foliar feedings about every two weeks when my plants are actively growing.
Simon

simon_grow

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Re: How to increase the quality of your fruit
« Reply #16 on: November 14, 2013, 10:09:09 PM »
Quote
I like to give my trees organic 0-10-10.
Where do you get this?
Name of the product?
Thanks
Any type of bloom fertilizer with this type of ratio should work and it doesn't even have to be organic, I just personally like organic fertilizers because I like the idea of feeding the soil which in turn feeds my trees. My wife juices organic fruit and veggies from my yard and stuff we get from friends and I throw the waste fiber under my lychee trees. I'm sure there are lots of carbohydrates that in turn feeds the micro organisms living in the rhizosphere. I dug down with a spade under my larger lychee tree and there must have been hundreds of small red wigglers in that small spade full of dirt. I innoculated my entire yard with earthworms and red wigglers when I moved into this house 4 years ago. The earthworms were put in to help with drainage and the red wigglers are used to turn over organic matter. Red wigglers tend to stay in place whereas earthworms are travelers.

Back to your question, I use EB stone organics from Armstrong nurseries and I also saw that There is another organic brand from Dr Earth sold at Walter Anderson nursery.
Simon

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Re: How to increase the quality of your fruit
« Reply #17 on: November 14, 2013, 10:16:57 PM »
Simon,

I like your approach, I believe in feeding the soil as well. Great information as well.
Grow mainly fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

simon_grow

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Re: How to increase the quality of your fruit
« Reply #18 on: November 14, 2013, 10:52:59 PM »
How often do you use the kelp extract?  I currently fertilize with a 8-3-9 with micronutrients on the first of every month and then spray with keyplex 350 on the 15th of each month.  Should I replace one of these treatments or add the kelp extract as an additional treatment?

Hey dongeorgio, how are your plants doing? If they are growing great, perhaps you do not need to change or add anything. I sometimes use slow release or time release N-P-K fertilizers when pumping up small or new plants but I'm moving towards all organic because I have encountered some issues with them. I think you could either continue using keyplex or you can stop using it and use kelp extract instead. When foliar feeding, some people suggest using a sticker or surfactant of some sort to help the plant absorb more nutrients. Some people use a few drops of liquid soap but you would have to research what type of soap it is. I've never used keyplex but perhaps a sticker was built into its formulation?
Simon

simon_grow

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Re: How to increase the quality of your fruit
« Reply #19 on: November 14, 2013, 10:55:42 PM »
I use seaweed extract when I can, but it's a lot of work for a time poor burger like me. My wife makes faces if I go out past 10pm watering the plants and come in smelling of a Venetian canal in summer.

If your fruits are subpar one year the magic bullet here is Epsom Salts. It seems to sweeten everything from passion fruit to citrus. Of course, it will only work on young fruit, so it won't help near mature fruit I. The same season you first notice the problem.

Thanks for the tip about the Epsom salts, sometimes I throw some on my citrus if the leaves are yellow an they are not responding to iron.
Simon

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Re: How to increase the quality of your fruit
« Reply #20 on: December 20, 2014, 05:05:09 PM »
planning on removing 1/3 of the fruit on bradenton loquat and big jim in a few weeks.

Anyone have any other suggestions for thinning loquat effectively?
~Jeff

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Re: How to increase the quality of your fruit
« Reply #21 on: December 20, 2014, 05:49:46 PM »
planning on removing 1/3 of the fruit on bradenton loquat and big jim in a few weeks.

Anyone have any other suggestions for thinning loquat effectively?

some info and photos on how to thin loquat fruits here:
http://www.hawaiifruit.net/loquat.htm
Oscar

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Re: How to increase the quality of your fruit
« Reply #22 on: December 20, 2014, 06:23:41 PM »
Thanks, oscar.  I am planning to espalier them so it was good to see Ken mentioned that.  It's also cool how they can be tied down to stay low and still produce.  Not for people with acres to tend necessarily, but for backyard growers, it's a big help!
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jcaldeira

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Re: How to increase the quality of your fruit
« Reply #23 on: December 20, 2014, 08:10:07 PM »
Knowing when to pick and eat fruit is a good way to increase the quality of one's fruit.  Citrus, pineapple and many other fruits achieve their ideal sugar/acid balance relatively late in their maturation process.  Picked too soon, and the fruit will taste sub-par.

Similarly, most of us have been disappointed one time or another with overripe fruit, such as supermarket cherries.  Timing isn't everything, but it's important.
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starling1

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Re: How to increase the quality of your fruit
« Reply #24 on: December 20, 2014, 08:14:02 PM »
Knowing when to pick and eat fruit is a good way to increase the quality of one's fruit.  Citrus, pineapple and many other fruits achieve their ideal sugar/acid balance relatively late in their maturation process.  Picked too soon, and the fruit will taste sub-par.

Similarly, most of us have been disappointed one time or another with overripe fruit, such as supermarket cherries.  Timing isn't everything, but it's important.

True. Lesser so for pineapples though. Mangoes are something that really need to be picked at the right time also. I generally err on the side of sooner rather than later with most things, but this is owing to my preference for acidity.