Pear and peach trees

Question: I bought bare root seedlings 2 foot tall - 2 peach (Sam Houston) and 2 peach (Florida king variety) and 2 pear trees. I fertilized them with Vigorous citrus and avocado plant food about 7 weeks ago when we planted them. Only one has leaves in the middle of it (pear tree). Wondering about any tips and tricks? Should we clip the tips?

responder: Sheryl - Horticulture Program Assistant Replied April 18, 2023, 10:36 AM EDT
response: Hi Meredith, congratulations, you have now joined the ranks of frustrated Travis County fruit growers!  You have done everything right, now it's up to the tree. I'd like to direct you to two pages on our website that will point you to all the resources available through Texas A&M AgriLife: https://travis-tx.tamu.edu/about-2/horticulture/edible-gardens-for-austin/fruits-and-nuts-for-austin/backyard-fruit-and-nut-production-tips/  Your Sam Houston and Florida King have different chill hour requirements. Florida King will bloom very early depending on our weather - sometimes at the end of January. It's the variety that will be most vulnerable to frost and freezes. If we have a warm winter, Sam Houston might have trouble coming out of dormancy.  You didn't mention which varieties of pear that you have. The best ones for our area are hybrid pears. They do better on our alkaline soils and are less susceptible to fire blight (compared to European pear varieties.) Pears also may have trouble coming out of dormancy depending on winter temperatures.  The big challenge with chill hours is that we often have a warming period in January. This often starts to bring the tree out of dormancy, only to be hit with cold in February. Dormancy is regulated by hormones that are sensitive to cold/warm temperatures. Our weather confuses hormone production in the tree most years.  I'm telling you all of this so that you don't take it personally that you can't grow fruit! There is a reason that there aren't commercial orchards in Travis County. Even areas like Fredericksburg and Bastrop get hammered one out of four years - and then there is the disease and pest pressure that these trees face.   Here's what you should do now. 1. Be patient. Do not clip the tips unless they are dead. From your photo it looks okay to me.  2. Check the buds at the nodes. By now they should be swelling. A node is the part of the stem that resembles a finger joint. If you don't see any buds developing, the tree may be dead. BUT, be patient. Don't give up until the middle of next month. 3. Do not fertilize again until fall. You've given them a fertilizer at the high end of the spectrum in terms of nutrients. Let the tree grow through the summer so that it's ready to utilize the fertilizer that you can reapply in the fall. Don't panic if your tree leaves are yellow. This first year is all about root growth and they can be stunted if you over fertilize at this point. Once the roots start to become established you'll see deficiency symptoms decrease over time. 4. It looks like you have these trees planted in a grassy area. Remove the grass and weeds and establish a 4-foot area around the trunk. Apply compost on the bare ground and then mulch for weed suppression. Weeds and grass are big competitors for new trees. When you irrigate the trees, make sure that you apply the water under the mulch. A soaker hose or drip system is handy to have at this juncture.   I hope this helps. You can contact me directly if you have other questions: <personal data hidden>

responder: The Question Asker Replied April 20, 2023, 12:13 PM EDT
response: Wow thank you for all the answers!! So helpful.  With these trees being young..... when can we expect fruit? I know years... but how many :)     Question number 2 since now I know how helpful you are! :)     My grandmother had a HUGE fig tree but it died actually around the time that she passed 7 years ago. Crazy right! I'm not sure what happened to it even because I was away at college...not sure if it was a drought or freeze or what. Long story short, it has returned!! There are multiple 4 foot tall trees basically with huge fig leaves beautifully green. Any tips for nurturing it? We haven't done anything to it at all. How long until expected figs produce?  Thanks so much!! We are located on the north east corner of Travis county near the border of Williamson/Hutto/Coupland region.   Thanks, Meredith    From: ask=<personal data hidden> <ask=<personal data hidden>> on behalf of Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> Sent: Tuesday, April 18, 2023 9:36 AM To: Meredith Masi <<personal data hidden>> Subject: Re: Pear and peach trees (#0096021)

responder: Sheryl - Horticulture Program Assistant Replied April 20, 2023, 2:17 PM EDT
response: Meredith, all things fruit can be found here: https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/fruit-nut/. You'll find a pdf dedicated to figs.  In Travis County, figs are best grown with multi stems. Pick three to five of the best and cut the rest to the stump. They will regrow and you will keep cutting them off.   You can control the height of the remaining stems by pruning. We recommend you top your trees to the height that you can reach the fruit. Figs are pretty vigorous so you'll need to prune many times.   Figs produce fruit on 2 to 3 year wood, depending on the variety. With the freeze we had a few months ago, the fall crop was probably killed and has fallen off. It should probably produce another set of fruit over the next few months. Mine have just started.   Figs are easy keepers and don't need a lot of inputs. Your biggest threat will come from squirrels and birds.   Good luck!