Ready for spring?

grasshopper

grasshopper

Well-known member
We hit the high at 82F today so I was thinking to clear some planting areas for the coming season. Nothing was planted here before last season and it was filled with tree roots from nearby trees. I put a small bud in last spring to test the soil and got this.

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Got around 9.4 lbs including the dirt with the first dig. Typically, it takes 2-3 digs to clear all the buds.

Also planted a mulberry in ground as it is leafing out even in the dark garage. The one inside by the window seems ready to fruit.
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It won't be too long before I start seeing mine wake up in the garage.
It's about time to start prepping.
 
Nothing waking up any time soon at my house. Today the wind is blowing extremely strong and unrelenting and it’s bitterly cold. It was 30° at midnight and so far it went down to 14°. Got these 2 extreme warnings on my phone.

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I’m ready for Spring but Mother Nature isn’t quite yet. Excuse my ignorance, but what buds did you plant and harvest?
 
Not yet here. 20f is going to be an improvement. This coming week highs will be low 30s. Cuttings won't go out to the 3 seasons room until March, maybe even a couple of my later trees to awaken them earlier.
 
I live close to Grasshopper, around one "County" away... we saw 82F also... ive been outside alot i set air layers yesterday on my Citrus which startrd blooming indoors also
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I meant to get a bed ready to start a few hundred Radish seeds...and beets and kale...

I did put alot of seedlings out to acclimated and checked the Mulberries that I am breeding waking early under plastic... almost all are budding or starting... Mojo had alot of fruits already

What are those in the first photo @ Grasshopper?

Sunchokes?
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This is around 5 in a large sized pot maybe 20 Gallons.. I just popped a bucket and a blanket over through most of the the freezes... MY seedling Mulberries wete Hardy that way too, maybe lost a leaf or two, even down to 28F on tiny seedlings.. some I left out barely protected and some of those have new leaves already too

Only when this deep freeze came i brought those in and a few tropical flowers... and back outside in the last few days.

That pot the sunchokes are in is the strongest plastic pot I think that I have ever muscled - the variety os Dwarf Sunray. I planted them about 10 days before Halloween.. I didnt know if they would pop up... I put Red Fuseau in the same pot - it did not come up... im anxious to see how tall these will grow or if they will flower short
 
I went from some of my trees having leaves to a couple days of freezing. Now most have green tips. Crazy year so far. Spent about six hours today on and off fertilizing. Come on figs (and other fruit) :)
 
That is sunchoke. Dug out another 1.5 lbs on the second dig today. I got the seed from grocery store so no idea which variety it is.

Sunchoke are usually 7 ft + tall, very easy to grow. The only hard part is digging the harvest out of the sticky clay soil. I usually leave them in till April because they store much better in the ground. But I need to prep that area for other plants this season so I moved the buds out to another spot under dirt.

I also sow some seeds outside and thinking whether to start grafting because the trees are waking up.

The mulberry I planted was cold hardy to zone 4 but it is a young plant and the only copy I have so I was a little hesitant.

The downside of doing all these this early is the chance of a cold snap in the coming months, which happened before.
 
grasshopper said:
That is sunchoke. Dug out another 1.5 lbs on the second dig today. I got the seed from grocery store so no idea which variety it is.

Sunchoke are usually 7 ft + tall, very easy to grow. The only hard part is digging the harvest out of the sticky clay soil. I usually leave them in till April because they store much better in the ground. But I need to prep that area for other plants this season so I moved the buds out to another spot under dirt.

I also sow some seeds outside and thinking whether to start grafting because the trees are waking up.

The mulberry I planted was cold hardy to zone 4 but it is a young plant and the only copy I have so I was a little hesitant.

The downside of doing all these this early is the chance of a cold snap in the coming months, which happened before.
Click to expand...

More important than cold hardiness here and Mulberries, is how quickly they wake up... when we peek over 80F some just wake up and freezes will fry the berries and the wood... much more problematic in pots especially but seedlings from here tend to match the weather schedule better

Some of the Northern Mulberries will not work here unless protected... Mojo was the first to awaken here and has alot of berries going already ... too early to cross... I would like to make a version for our climate... Hopefully it keeps pumping out new berries ...

I have seedlings from Issai Dwarf crossed with the local male and they have handled the weather pattern well as far as I remember... but Issai itself, also woke up too early(in a pot) and croaked last year... I think it might have worked in ground it was at the later end of too early... but fingers crossed the Berries from the seedlings are really good... they are all smaller but two are especially dwarfed

All of the seedlings i have grown out have proven hardy to our patterns, even in small pots that warm easily
 
grasshopper said:
That is sunchoke. Dug out another 1.5 lbs on the second dig today. I got the seed from grocery store so no idea which variety it is.

Sunchoke are usually 7 ft + tall, very easy to grow. The only hard part is digging the harvest out of the sticky clay soil. I usually leave them in till April because they store much better in the ground. But I need to prep that area for other plants this season so I moved the buds out to another spot under dirt.

I also sow some seeds outside and thinking whether to start grafting because the trees are waking up.

The mulberry I planted was cold hardy to zone 4 but it is a young plant and the only copy I have so I was a little hesitant.

The downside of doing all these this early is the chance of a cold snap in the coming months, which happened before.
Click to expand...
I'm going to plant some sunchokes when we move, how do you cook them ?
 
DallasFigShop said:
More important than cold hardiness here and Mulberries, is how quickly they wake up... when we peek over 80F some just wake up and freezes will fry the berries and the wood... much more problematic in pots especially but seedlings from here tend to match the weather schedule better

Some of the Northern Mulberries will not work here unless protected... Mojo was the first to awaken here and has alot of berries going already ... too early to cross... I would like to make a version for our climate... Hopefully it keeps pumping out new berries ...

I have seedlings from Issai Dwarf crossed with the local male and they have handled the weather pattern well as far as I remember... but Issai itself, also woke up too early(in a pot) and croaked last year... I think it might have worked in ground it was at the later end of too early... but fingers crossed the Berries from the seedlings are really good... they are all smaller but two are especially dwarfed

All of the seedlings i have grown out have proven hardy to our patterns, even in small pots that warm easily
Click to expand...
Yeah, I agree the local seedlings are usually well adapted to the yo yo winter-spring weather. They are outside without much issue.

The cold hardy varieties are usually late in bud breaking but where I put them in the garage seems to matter. The front of the south facing garage tends to be much warmer than the back, which I suspect maybe the reason for early waking. We also had an unusual warm early January, which woke up variety like DMOR9. 80% of DMOR9 was killed last season due to the sudden cold snap in March. Fortunately, it is vigorous enough to regrow it all back and fruited in one season. I have different protection this season, which seems to be working.

I think even DMOR9 is reasonably hardy. Most plants can't handle cold snap during flowering/fruiting phase. For our weather, a late fruiting variety would work better than an early one because of early spring yo yo weather and a long season.

I think we went from upper 60s to the teens in 1-2 days last year after the buds broke. During dormancy, DMOR9 can handle 13F with protection. I left one out in ground to test this winter.
 
Smokymist said:
I'm going to plant some sunchokes when we move, how do you cook them ?
Click to expand...

I usually boil/steam them and you can choose the amount of doneness based on your preference on texture. The longer you cook, the softer, creamier they are. If you want them crunchy, then you undercook them a bit. Be careful of the amount you consume in one sitting if you undercook them. It is high in inulin, a prebiotic and can give you gas if consume too much.

Roasting/pan frying with herb is another way. It is more aromatic and would have a stronger scent of chrysanthemum than the boiling version. You can also make a tea with its flowers.

It is pretty care free, easy to grow and quite drought tolerant. Some people call it invasive because they were not careful in digging out the buds. Just try not to break the buds by planting them in loose soil in the first place. I use a fork to loosen up the soil around which makes digging/picking easier. And I usually dig 2-3 rounds to make sure all the buds are removed.
 
grasshopper said:
Yeah, I agree the local seedlings are usually well adapted to the yo yo winter-spring weather. They are outside without much issue.

The cold hardy varieties are usually late in bud breaking but where I put them in the garage seems to matter. The front of the south facing garage tends to be much warmer than the back, which I suspect maybe the reason for early waking. We also had an unusual warm early January, which woke up variety like DMOR9. 80% of DMOR9 was killed last season due to the sudden cold snap in March. Fortunately, it is vigorous enough to regrow it all back and fruited in one season. I have different protection this season, which seems to be working.

I think even DMOR9 is reasonably hardy. Most plants can't handle cold snap during flowering/fruiting phase. For our weather, a late fruiting variety would work better than an early one because of early spring yo yo weather and a long season.

I think we went from upper 60s to the teens in 1-2 days last year after the buds broke. During dormancy, DMOR9 can handle 13F with protection. I left one out in ground to test this winter.
Click to expand...

With Australian Green, very thick branches can handle deep freezes... less than an inch can handle freezing into the 20s, thin branches high 20s or so... but the difference is they are setback for fruting ... I only had fruits the first year.

I trimmed down to a few feet and wrapped this year...This time if it doesnt fruit it sees the boot ... thats a huge thing to me that it will rebound and fruit ... I should be updating the Mulberry thread soon too... reminds me I need to unwrap those also
 
How big is the Aussie Green? In pot or in ground?

We have a long season, which is probably why DMOR9 has enough time to rebound and fruit. I think it fruited in October when the weather started cooling down. For growers in cooler areas, that is toward the end of their season.

I bent mine near the ground, figure it is easier to protect a 6" plant than a 6 ft plant. I just have to be careful not to snap it in pieces :ROFLMAO:

I unwrapped mine when I saw 2 weeks of 60-70s weather coming.
 
grasshopper said:
How big is the Aussie Green? In pot or in ground?

We have a long season, which is probably why DMOR9 has enough time to rebound and fruit. I think it fruited in October when the weather started cooling down. For growers in cooler areas, that is toward the end of their season.

I bent mine near the ground, figure it is easier to protect a 6" plant than a 6 ft plant. I just have to be careful not to snap it in pieces :ROFLMAO:

I unwrapped mine when I saw 2 weeks of 60-70s weather coming.
Click to expand...
Its been outdoors since I grafted to a Dwarf Everbearing but it looks like it could not handle 12F or 10F ... whatever we got down to ... one or two thick branches look ike they sort of made it but the main trunk which is fairly thick, maybe close to 2.5 or 3", doesnt look like it survived the freeze
 
DallasFigShop said:
Its been outdoors since I grafted to a Dwarf Everbearing but it looks like it could not handle 12F or 10F ... whatever we got down to ... one or two thick branches look ike they sort of made it but the main trunk which is fairly thick, maybe close to 2.5 or 3", doesnt look like it survived the freeze
Click to expand...
If it has enough live tissues, it should be able to rebound. Last time, I didn't trim the dead wood early and somehow it attracts wood borers. I am going to trim them on any sign of frost damage this year. Most of the trees are in good shape. Saw a few damages on young branches less than pencil size on the figs. Mulberries seem to be fine.
 
We moved to a new house, so this year I have to:
1. Clear out brush, wild rose, snowberries out of proposed gardening area.
2. Cover entire area with several inches woodchips.
3. Assemble and fill 12 metal raised beds.
4. Setup drip irrigation for all areas.
5. Build tomato trellis frames.
6. Plant 8 in-ground trees (apricots, peaches, cherries, mulberry).

That of course does not include seed starting, fig cutting up pots and care, etc. As many perennials going in as possible this year.
 
IAK said:
We moved to a new house, so this year I have to:
1. Clear out brush, wild rose, snowberries out of proposed gardening area.
2. Cover entire area with several inches woodchips.
3. Assemble and fill 12 metal raised beds.
4. Setup drip irrigation for all areas.
5. Build tomato trellis frames.
6. Plant 8 in-ground trees (apricots, peaches, cherries, mulberry).

That of course does not include seed starting, fig cutting up pots and care, etc. As many perennials going in as possible this year.
Click to expand...
Looks like that may keep you busy for a while, at least you have a solid plan. (y)

I am usually slow in clearing stuff and set up irrigation.
 
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