APRICOTS

The ‘Moorpark’ apricot 6 months after planting has reached a height of 2 metres, but the plant is not very bushy

The apricot after 12 months has not yet been pruned. The main branches will begin to weep over the next growing season

The first crop of fruit is developing 15 months after planting

The first crop of apricots has begun to mature and can be eaten at this stage

The apricot tree has been netted to prevent bird attack during the last 2 weeks before harvest

The apricot tree has been lightly pruned after the crop has been harvested. The tree needs to be lightly fertilized and irrigated in order to allow a good crop to develop next year

Once known as ‘The nectar of the Gods’ due to their luscious golden fruits, apricots are a must have plant in the farm garden.

Difficult To Grow To Perfection

Apricots can be difficult to grow to perfection, but following some basic rules will ensure an acceptable crop of sweet, juicy fruit for many years to come.

Apricots are susceptible to a wide range of pests and diseases, but being for home use, blemishes and skin imperfections can be tolerated. Commercial growers need to carry out a strict pest and disease control programme in order to produce fruit acceptable for sale, however, only one or two sprays each year should suffice in the home garden.

Moorpark Apricot On My Hobby Farm

My ‘Moorpark’ apricot tree was planted in the winter of 2006 as a bare -rooted plant. The tree has made outstanding progress producing about 100 mature fruits 18 months after planting.

This tree was carefully selected from the nursery, ensuring the plant had no large cracks, dried roots or thick sap coming from the stem or main branches. The plant was planted in a sunny well ventilated location that had the soil raised for better drainage. Lots of compost was added to the planting hole as well as some slow release fertilizer.

Pruning Apricot Tree

The tree was not pruned after planting in order to minimize the number of wounds during winter. Open wounds can lead to the incurable fungal infection known as ‘Gummosis’. The first light pruning occurred after the first crop was harvested, while the tree was actively growing during the summer. Careful light pruning means a smaller weeping tree will be produced and very little further pruning will be required in the future.

Applying Fungicide

A general fungicide was applied before the flower buds burst, and again in autumn when the yellowing leaves were about to fall. Unless very humid conditions are encountered most fruit should be free of serious diseases with two main spray applications.

Ensuring Large Apricot Fruits

Extra irrigations were applied in order to ensure large fruits were produced. Should there be a very large number of fruits developing on the tree, it is a good idea to thin the crop by removing as much as half of the developing fruits when they are about 2 to 3 centimetres in diameter. Large crops will also need extra applications of a complete fertilizer.

Bird Netting The Apricot Fruits

Finally the tree needed to be covered with a bird net in order to deter birds that may not eat a lot of fruit, but since even minor peck marks can quickly lead to fruit-rot, the bird netting was needed in order to allow fruits to ripen on the tree.

All of these measures were certainly worth the effort as very few fruits can compare with the flavour and aroma of a freshly picked apricots. Surplus fruits make excellent jams as well as bottled or dried fruits for later use.

My favourite variety ‘Moorpark’ has exceeded my expectations this year and I look forward to a much larger crop next year.