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Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources Oklahoma State University

HLA-6222

David A. HillockExtension Consumer Horticulturist

B. Dean McCrawExtension Tree Fruit and Pecan Specialist

A home ruit planting careully selected, properly located,

and well managed can enhance the home landscape, provide

highquality ruits and serve as a satisying hobby.

The home ruit garden requires considerable care. Thus,

people not willing or able to devote some time to a ruit planting

will be disappointed in its harvest.

Some ruits require more care than others do. Tree ruitsand grapes usually require more protection rom insects

and diseases than strawberries and blackberries. Generally

speaking, owers and ruits o ruit trees must be protected

by pesticide sprays rom beore blossomtime until harvest. In

addition, sprays may be required to protect leaves, the trunk,

and branches.

Small ruits are perhaps the most desirable o all ruits in

the home garden since they come into bearing in a shorter

time and usually require ew or no insecticide or ungicide

sprays.

Fresh ruits can be available throughout the growing sea

son with proper selection o types and cultivars (varieties).

Soils and SitesAvoid poorly drained areas. Deep, sandy loam soils, rang

ing rom sandy clay loams to coarse sands or gravel mixtures,

are good ruit soils. On heavier soils, plant in raised beds or

on soil berms to improve drainage.

All ruit crops are subject to damage rom late spring

reezes. Hills, slopes or elevated areas provide better air drain

age and reduce rost damages. Make certain that the air can

move reely throughout the planting site and is not boxed in

with surrounding terrain or tree borders.

Heat rom houses, actories, and other structures in urban

areas requently keep the temperature 4 or 5 degrees warmer

than surrounding rural areas.

Fruits do best in ull sun. They can tolerate partial shade,but ruit quality will be lowered.

Size of Planting AreaPlan the planting to ft the area involved as well as amily

needs. A smaller planting, well cared or, will usually return

more quality ruit and enjoyment to the grower than a larger

neglected one. Onehal acre or less planted to adapted

cultivars o the best kinds o ruit is usually adequate or the

average amily.

Home Fruit Planting Guide

Plan Your PlantingDevelop a planting plan well in advance o the planting

season. Determine the kinds o ruits, cultivars, and quanti

ties o each needed. Locate a source o plants and make

arrangements or plants to be available at the desired time

o planting.

Perennial weeds such as bermudagrass and johnsongrasscompete heavily with young plantings and should be elimi

nated beore planting. This can be done by spraying with a

postemergence herbicide such as glyphosate (Roundup) in

late summer the year beore planting or by shading out weeds

by growing hybrid sudangrass or the year prior to planting.

Strawberries especially should not be planted in newly

turned under bermudagrass sod. Not only will the bermu

dagrass regrow and cause extreme competition problems

because o the short height o the strawberry plants, but the

white grubs that requently inest bermudagrass sod can

destroy the strawberry roots.

For best survival and production, supplemental water

should be provided in the summer. Locate your plantings

near a water source.

PlantingI possible, set the plants immediately ater arrival. I

roots are dry, completely immerse the roots in water or a

ew minutes or overnight beore planting. Always water plants

immediately ater planting.

Never allow the roots to dry out or reeze. When planting

is delayed several days, heel in trees by orming a mound

o loose soil or mulching material. Place the roots into this

mound, cover them, and moisten. The trees may be vertical

or horizontal as long as the roots are covered. This protects

them rom drying or reezing.

Set trees about the same depth that they grew in thenursery row. Trim o broken and dried roots. Place topsoil

around the roots and frm the soil to exclude air. Settle the

soil with water and make sure the roots are let in a natural

outward position. Leave a small basin one or two inches deep

around the tree to aid in watering. Prune back about onethird

o the tree top. Wrap the trunk rom the soil line up to the

frst branches (or 18 inches above the ground) to protect the

trunk rom sunscald, rodent injury, insect damage, and drying

out.

Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Fact Sheetsare also available on our website at:

http://osufacts.okstate.edu

Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service

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Cultural PracticesDuring the frst summer, cultivate or mulch around the ruit

plants to reduce competition rom other plants and to conserve

moisture and ertility. Irrigation is especially important in the

frst ew years while the planting becomes established.

Inormation on pruning, spraying, and other cultural

practices is available at your local county Extension ofce.

PollinationPay close attention to the pollination requirements o thedierent ruits to avoid disappointment. Many ruits require that

the ower is pollinated with pollen rom a dierent cultivar o

the same ruit or the ruit will not develop. Planting only one

cultivar o these ruits oten results in masses o blooms in

the spring, but ew or no ruits. Dierent strains o the same

cultivar (e.g. two spur strains o Delicious) will not provide

proper crosspollination.

There are a ew cultivars o apple and pear that do not

produce viable pollen. I one o these cultivars is planted, two

other cultivars will need to be planted (a total o 3) to provide

adequate pollen or all. Sometimes some apple cultivars are

listed as selertile in nursery catalogs, but or consistent pro

duction o the best quality ruit, crosspollination with anothercultivar should always be provided.

Duke cherries are hybrids between sweet and sour

cherries. They can be crosspollinated by either sweet or

sour cherries, but Duke cherries should not be counted on

to crosspollinate sweet cherries.

All ruits in the accompanying table that are not marked

as requiring crosspollination are selertile, meaning that a

cultivar o those ruits can set ruit with its own pollen.

Highbush blueberries will set much better crops i crosspol

lination is provided. Rabbiteye blueberries require crosspol

lination. Highbush and rabbiteye blueberries will not pollinate

each other.

Dwarf TreesDwarfng rootstocks enable ruit trees to be grown in much

smaller areas than standardsized trees. The term dwarfng

reers to a tree smaller than when grown on seedling root

stocks, even i only 10 to 15 percent smaller. The degree o

dwarfng varies with the rootstock. In general, semivigorous

rootstocks will produce a tree about 3/4 the size o a standard

tree, semidwar about 1/2 sized, and ully dwarfng rootstocks

produce trees 1/3 o standard size or smaller.

Genetic dwar ruit trees are available but generally are not

satisactory. North Star sour cherry is an exception.

Types of FruitAppIesM.9and M.27 rootstocks produce ully dwared trees

(68' tall and 46' tall respectively). Both produce shallow, weak

root systems and require staking or trellising, and regular wa

tering. Dozens o other sizereducing apple rootstocks exist,

but the best or Oklahoma is MM.111. MM.111 will produce

a tree that is 25 percent smaller than on seedling rootstock,

but very well anchored and drought resistant.

Interstem trees, with a MM.111 root system, 8 to 10 inches

o trunk o M.9 or M.26 and with the ruiting cultivar grated

on top combine the anchorage o the MM.111 with the dwar

ing o M.9 or M.26 to produce a tree 8 to 10 eet tall that will

not need support. Interstem trees are more costly and less

available than single grat trees.

Spurtype strains o apple cultivars have more spurs

and ewer long branches than the nonspur strains. They are

smaller growing and preerred where available.

PearQuince is the standard dwarfng rootstock or pears,

but will require support. Quince rootstocks are less cold hardy

than pear, and are very susceptible to freblight. Quince C is

the most dwarfng, producing a 1/4 to 1/3 size tree. A newseries o pear rootstocks, the OHXF series (rom a cross

between Old Home and Farmingdale), is entering the

nursery trade, and oers a variety o tree sizes rom 1/4 to

3/4 standard size.

Pears are very susceptible to the bacterial disease, fre

blight. Only cultivars with known resistance to this disease

should be planted. Even with blight resistant cultivars, pruning

out inected shoots 1218 inches below the inection as soon

as they appear will be necessary to prevent disease buildup.

Pruning shears should be sterilized between cuts. More inor

mation on fre blight control is available at your local county

Extension ofce. The Magness cultivar should be planted

with two additional cultivars since it does not produce viable

pollen.

PeachThere are no satisactory dwarfng rootstocks or

peach at present; however, Halord or Lovell are good

choices. Many nurseries use Prunus besseyi seedlings, but

oten there is delayed grat incompatibility and tree death. Tree

height on peaches can be kept to 68' by judicious annual

pruning. Welldrained, deep, opentype soils o reasonable

ertility are preerred. A spray program or insects and diseases

beginning with a dormant application and continuing through

ruit growth is required to produce clean ruit. Peach tree borer

control is a necessity.

PlumThere are no satisactory dwarfng rootstocks at pres

ent or plums. General cultural requirements are similar topeaches. The Japanese plums bloom earlier than the Euro

pean types and are more subject to late spring rost damage.

European and Japanese plums should not be depended upon

to pollinate each other.

CherryThere are no satisactory dwarfng rootstocks at

present or cherries. Many sweet cherries are not adapted

to a hot, dry climate. Cherry lea spot, plum curculio and

poorly drained soils are the major obstacles to successul

cherry production in Oklahoma. The diseases and insects

can be controlled successully with a series o sprays. Sour

cherries are generally better adapted than sweet cherries.

Sweet cherries in general require crosspollination; but two

cultivars, Stella and Lapins, are selertile.

ApricotThereare no satisactory dwarfng rootstocks at

present or apricot. Apricots bloom early and are usually

killed by late spring rosts. The tree is very ornamental when

in bloom, and treeripened apricots are delicious, but do not

expect consistent production.

StrawberryStrawberry roots are usually ound in the 12

to 18 inch top layer o the soil. Most o the root system is in

the frst 6 to 8 inches o soil. This stresses the importance o

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supplemental irrigation and mulching or this crop. For continued

good production, strawberry plantings should be renovated

each year ater harvest. Purchase virustested plants only. A

production o one to two quarts o berries per three oot sec

tion o row should be possible each year.

BlueberriesBlueberries require a soil pH o 5.0 to 5.2.

Highbush blueberries are best adapted to northeastern

Oklahoma. They will do best when protected rom hot, drying

winds. Rabbiteye blueberries are best adapted to southeasternOklahoma. Highbush blueberries must have supplemental

irrigation and mulch o woodchips, sawdust or pecan shells

to survive. Rabbiteye blueberries also need irrigation and will

beneft rom mulch.

RaspberriesRaspberries,generally, are not too productive

because o the uctuating temperatures during winter. Black

raspberries, i well watered and mulched, can be success

ul.

BlackberriesErect thorny blackberries are the most com

monly grown and do not require trellis support. Care must be

taken to maintain the rows no more than one to two eet wide

to acilitate harvesting. Sucker plants that come up between the

rows may be dug and moved into the row or merely removed

as soon as they emerge.

Trailing thornless blackberries have smooth, arching

canes, and require support on a trellis. Fruit quality is improved

i the ruit are allowed to ripen to a dull black rather than a

glossy black color.

GrapesGrapevines will require support on a trellis, arboror ence. Planting in northsouth rows will increase produc

tion. Some protection rom southwestern winds is desirable.

Occasional supplemental watering during the ruit ripening

period will improve ruit quality. Annual pruning is necessary to

maintain a balance between plant growth and ruit production.

It is common to remove 95 percent o the previous seasons

growth when pruning.

PersimmonOriental persimmon trees will bear ruit without

pollination. Oriental and American persimmon trees will not

crosspollinate. Oriental persimmons may not be winter hardy

in northern parts o Oklahoma.

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OKLAHOMA

HOMEFRUITPLANTINGG

UIDE

SeasonofHarvest

Suggested

Suggested

CentralOklahoma

PlantingDistance

Kind

Varieties***

oradaptedareas

Remarks

InFeet

WhattoBuy

When

toPlant

APPLES

*Lodi

June25July6

Yellow,sot,cookingonly.

Standard25to30

or

Oneyearold

Fall

*McLemore

July10July25

Red,

dess

ertandcooking

SemiStandard18to25

trees

orSpring

*Gala

Aug1020

Orangere

d,

dessertonly.

or

*Jonathan

Aug25Sept10

Red,

dess

ert&cooking.

Semidwar15to20

Verysusceptibletofreblight

SpurTypes1

5to22

andcedar

applerust.

or

*Delicious(re

d)

Sept110

Red,

dess

ertonly.

Liberty

Sept110

Red,

dess

ertandcooking

verydisea

setolerant

Freedom

Sept110

Red,

dess

ertandcooking

verydisea

setolerant

ArkansasBlack

Sept1020

Purplishredwithyellowesh,

dessertan

dcooking,

tolerantto

cedarapplerust

*GoldenDelicious

Sept1020

Yellow,

de

ssert&cooking.

Dwar8to14

Welladapted.

*Braeburn

Sept1020

Orange/re

dblushoveryellow,

dessertan

dcooking

*Fuji

Sept1020

Yellow,

de

ssertandcooking

PEACHES

Candor

June1824

Yellow,semicling

20x20

Junebudtrees

Fall

Sentinel

June28July3

Yellow,

re

estone

romthesouth

orSpring

Redhaven

July27

Yellow,

re

estone

ordormantbud

Reliance

July49

Yellow,

re

estone

(oneyr.)trees

Ranger

July813

Yellow,

re

estone

romthenorth

Glohaven

July1520

Yellow,

re

estone

Nectar

July1520

Yellow,

re

estone

Jayhaven

July2127

Yellow,

re

estone

Cresthaven

July28Aug3

Yellow,

re

estone

Autumnglo

Aug610

Yellow,

re

estone

QuachitaGo

ld

Aug1317

Yellow,

re

estone

WhiteHale

Aug1317

Yellow,

re

estone

StarksEnco

re

Aug2025

Yellow,

re

estone

Fairtime

Sept1320

Yellow,

re

estone

NECTARINES

EarliBlaze

July39

Yellow,semireestone

20x20

Junebudtrees

Fall

Redchie

July1520

White,

reestone

romthesouth

orSpring

Cavalier

July2127

Yellow,

re

estone

ordormantbud

Sunglo

July27Aug2

Yellow,

re

estone

(oneyr.)trees

RedGold

Aug611

Yellow,

re

estone

romthenorth

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HLA-

PLUMS

(European)

Stanley

Aug.

20Sept.10

Apruneplum,selruitul

20x20

Oneyearold

Fall

*Bluere

Sept115

StanleyxPresidentcross

trees

orSpring

*President

Sept1020

Large,

late

ripening

(Japanese)

*Methley

June1525

Redesh,

partlyselruitul

20x20

Oneyearold

Fall

Bruce

June1525

Veryprodu

ctive,selruitul

trees

orSpring

*OzarkPremier

Aug.

1020

Large,yellowesh

CHERRIES

EarlyRichmond

May20June1

Thestandardosouror

20x20

Oneortwo

Fall

piecherry,

veryconsistent

yearoldtrees

orSpring

*KansasSwe

et

May22June5

Dukecherry(semisweet)

Montmorenc

y

June315

Thestandardosourorpiecherry,

veryconsistent

Northstar

June520

Sourorpie

Meteor

June520

Sourorpie

(resistanttoleaspot)

Stella

June520

Sweet(selertile)

APRICOTS

Tilton

June25July5

Commercialproduction

20x20

Oneyearold

Fallor

Spring

shouldnot

beattempted

trees

PEARS

*Moonglow

Aug10Aug25

Fireblightresistant

25x25

Oneyear

Fall

*Maxine

Aug25Sept5

Fireblightresistant

oldtrees

orSpring

**Magness

Sept5Sept15

Fireblightresistant

STRAWBERRIES

Earliglow

May5June5

Incorporateorganicmatter

2x4

Oneyear

Fall

Sunrise

May5June5

aheadop

lantingstrawberries;

oldplants

orSpring

Atlas

May10June10

selectvirusindexedplants

Allstar

May10June10

Cardinal

May10June10

Delite

May15June15

Marlate

May15June15

BLACKBERRIES

(Erect)Choctaw

July110

Veryswee

t

3x8

Oneyearold

Fallor

Womack

July110

Veryswee

t

rootcuttings

earlyspring

Cheyenne

July1030

Largevery

sweet

Cherokee

July1030

Mediumla

rge,verysweet

Shawnee

July1030

Latestripe

ning,

highyields

Brazos

July1030

Goodavo

r.SouthernOklahomaonly.

(ErectThornless)Navaho

July20Aug5

Sweet

3x8

Oneyearold

Fallor

Spring

Arapaho

July20Aug5

Sweet

3x8

rootcuttings

(Trailing)Boysen

July1030

Trellisoro

thersupport

8x12

Tiplayers

EarlyS

pring

Young

July120

required

(TrailingThornless)Hull

July20Aug5

Trellisoro

thersupportrequired6x10

Oneyearold

Fallor

Spring

Chester

July20Aug5

Trellisoro

thersupportrequired

plants

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GRAPES

Venus

July15

Red,

table

seedless

(Bunch)

Aurora(S5279)

Aug1

White,win

etype

8x10

Oneortwo

Spring

SeyvalBlanc

(SV5276)

Aug8

White,win

etype

VillardBlanc

(SV12375)

Aug18

White,win

etype

Rougeon(S

58908)

Aug10

Blue,wine

andjuice

Delaware

Aug15

Red,wine

andtable

Catawba

Sept1

Red,wine

andtable

Verdelet(S9110)

Aug10

White,

tab

le

J.S.

16104

Aug1

Red,

table

Romulus

Aug20

White,

tab

leseedless

Himrod

Aug15

White,see

dless

Fredonia

Aug8

Blue,

table

andjuice

Niagara

Aug20

White.

tab

leandjuice

Carman

Aug22

Blue,

juice

,orsouthwestOkla.

Saturn

Aug15

Red,

table

seedless

Reliance

Aug15

Red,

juice

,jam,seedless

Mars

Aug15

Blue,

table

,juice,

jam,wine,seedless

(Muscadine)

AdaptedorMcCurtainandChoctaw

14x10

Oneyear

Fallor

Spring

countiesonly.

Varietyinormationavailable

oldvines

uponrequest.

BLUEBERRIES

*(highbush)

Collins

June5June19

Soilmustbequiteacid

4x6

12'to18'well

Early

Spartan

June7June21

(pH5.0

).M

ayrequire

rootedplants

Spring

Blueray

June12June28

sulurtochange

Bluecrop

June15July1

*(Rabbiteye)

Premier

July5July19

Climax

July10July30

Tiblue

July20Aug3

PERSIMMON

(American)EarlyGolden

September

Forpollina

tion,amaletree

15to18

Oneortwo

Spring

(pollenbearing)shouldbeincluded

yearoldtrees

intheplan

tingorgratamale

branchintoaemaletree

(Oriental)Huchiya

November

Nonastrin

gentwhenullyripe

12to15

Oneortwo

Spring

Fuyugaki

November

Nonastrin

gent

yearoldtrees

Tamopan

November

Astringent

Tanenashi

November

Astringent

FIG

Ramsey(Texas

Julytorost

Formilder

southerncounties;

8to10

Oneyearold

Spring

Everbearing

)

havebeen

growninprotected

trees

BrownTurke

y

Aug.

torost

areasoT

ulsaandOkla.

City

JUJUBE

(ChineseDate)Lang

September

Usedass

weetpickles,preserves,

18to20

Oneortwo

Fall

Li

September

driedconectionsandruitbutter

yearoldtrees

orSpring

CRABAPPLES

Florence

August

Jellyandspice

20to25

Oneortwo

Fall

Dolgo

August

Jellyandspice

yearoldtrees

orSpring

*Needscrosspollinator.Thosecultivars

notmarkedwithanasteriskareselertile.

**Pollensterile

***Spacedoesnotpermitlistingoothersatisactoryvarieties.

OSUExtensionF6210containsadditionalrecommendedappleandpeachvarieties.

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The Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service

Bringing the University to You!

It provides practical, problemoriented education

or people o all ages. It is designated to takethe knowledge o the university to those persons

who do not or cannot participate in the ormalclassroom instruction o the university.

It utilizes research rom university, government,and other sources to help people make their owndecisions.

More than a million volunteers help multiply theimpact o the Extension proessional sta.

It dispenses no unds to the public.

It is not a regulatory agency, but it does inormpeople o regulations and o their options in meet

ing them.

Local programs are developed and carried out in

ull recognition o national problems and goals.

The Extension sta educates people through

personal contacts, meetings, demonstrations,and the mass media.

Extension has the builtin exibility to adjust itsprograms and subject matter to meet new needs.

Activities shit rom year to year as citizen groupsand Extension workers close to the problems

advise changes.

The Cooperative Extension Service is the largest,

most successul inormal educational organizationin the world. It is a nationwide system unded and

guided by a partnership o ederal, state, and localgovernments that delivers inormation to help peoplehelp themselves through the landgrant university

system.

Extension carries out programs in the broad catego

ries o agriculture, natural resources and environment;amily and consumer sciences; 4H and other youth;

and community resource development. Extensionsta members live and work among the people they

serve to help stimulate and educate Americans toplan ahead and cope with their problems.

Some characteristics o the Cooperative Extension

system are:

The ederal, state, and local governmentscooperatively share in its fnancial support and

program direction.

It is administered by the landgrant university as

designated by the state legislature through anExtension director.

Extension programs are nonpolitical, objective,and researchbased inormation.

Oklahoma State University, in compliance with Title VI and VII o the Civil Rights Act o 1964, Executive Order 11246 as amended, Title IX o the Education Amendments o 1972, Americanswith Disabilities Act o 1990, and other ederal laws and regulations, does not discriminate on the basis o race, color, national origin, gender, age, religion, disability, or status as a veteran inany o its policies, practices, or procedures. This includes but is not limited to admissions, employment, fnancial aid, and educational services.

Issued in urtherance o Cooperative Extension work, acts o May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department o Agriculture, Robert E. Whitson, Director o CooperativeExtension Service, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma. This publication is printed and issued by Oklahoma State University as authorized by the Vice President, Dean, and Directoro the Division o Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources and has been prepared and distributed at a cost o 20 cents per copy. 0307 GH.