Fruit dilemmas resolved: Addressing and overcoming challenges in the fruit industry.
Growing your own set of succulent fruits can be a delightful experience, providing you with fresh, homegrown produce while adding a touch of nature to your abode. However, keeping your fruit plants healthy and protecting them from various threats is crucial for a fruitful harvest.
Even the tiniest nooks can suffice for fruit-bearing plants like blueberries and strawberries. If you're journeying down the container gardening path, learn about our top picks for 10 fruit plants that thrive in pots. Alternatively, if you've the space, delve into the wonders of fruit trees such as apples, plums, and pears with our comprehensive guides on planting bare-root fruit trees.
Dealing with pests and diseases is an inevitable part of fruit gardening, so prepare yourself with a handy guide on managing common issues.
Apple scab and Codling moth
Found on: apples and pears
Most apple and pear growers are no strangers to these pests. To combat apple scab, conduct season-end leaf clean-up, don't compost the leaves, and opt for resistant apple varieties like 'Egremont Russet', 'Discovery', 'Lord Derby', 'Beurre Hardy', or 'Josephine de Malines'. For codling moth, remove infected fruits as soon as spotted and use pheromone traps during April and May.
Wasps and Brown rot
Found on: plums, grapes, peaches, apples
Wasps are attracted to soft and juicy fruit, so protect them with coverings such as old tights, fleece, or muslin, or hang up wasp traps. Brown rot is a serious fungal disease that can contaminate fruits like apples, pears, plums, apricots, cherries, peaches, and nectarines. Destroy all infected fruit and remove any dead fruit during summer for plums, cherries, apricots, and peaches (and winter for apples and pears).
Peach leaf curl
Found on: peaches, apricots, and nectarines
Know the signs of peach leaf curl - blistered, red leaves. Infected leaves should be removed, wall-trained trees should be covered with clear plastic during dormancy, and resistant varieties like 'Avalon Pride', 'Harken', and 'Redwing' should be chosen when possible.
Slugs and Aphids
Found on: strawberries, apples, cherries, and plums
Slugs particularly target lower-growing fruits like strawberries. Use DIY beer traps to catch them, lay down bran, or mulch with grit. For aphids, invite beneficial insects such as birds, ladybirds, lacewings, hoverflies, ground beetles, spiders, and parasitic wasps into your garden, or simply remove aphids by hand or with a blast of water.
Nutrient deficiency
Found on: all fruits, especially container-grown fruit
Provide a good foundation for your fruit plants by planting container-grown fruit in a compost mix containing slow-release fertilizer and feeding with high potash feed. For plants growing in the ground, mulch in the autumn and apply granular fertilizer in the spring, ensuring the soil is moist before application.
Maintaining overall fruit health is crucial to ward off pests and diseases. Keep fruit plants happy by mulching around the base of trees and bushes, watering well during dry periods, avoiding excessive nitrogen fertilization for container-grown fruit, and practicing vigilant monitoring and inspection. Happy plants are strong plants!
While delving into the world of fruit gardening, it's essential to understand common issues and take necessary precautions. To maintain the health of container-grown fruit, use a compost mix with slow-release fertilizer and feed with high potash feed. Additionally, for fruit trees growing in the ground, mulch in autumn and apply granular fertilizer in spring, ensuring the soil is moist before application.
