Telephone:
949-240-2107

Fax:
949-488-0187

Address:
33413 San Juan Creek Rd San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675

Hours:
Monday -Saturday
8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Sunday
9:00 am - 5:00 pm

Website:
www.plantdepot.com

One of the true pleasures home gardeners can experience is growing their own fruit. And with a little planning, it's possible to have an extended harvest season. Even gardens that are short on space can have an extended harvest if the proper planting techniques are used.

The key to an extended or year-round harvest is understanding the ripening times of fruit and citrus trees. Most citrus start to ripen in winter, with mandarins coming first and then followed by lemons, limes and oranges through March and April. But most lemons produce a steady crop of fruit year-round. Thanks to some new Australian and New Zealand citrus cultivars that get confused by the hemispheres, you can have citrus in late summer and fall. Then you can always count on kumquats and limequats for a November-to-January harvest.

With deciduous fruit trees you can start with early varieties of apricots that ripen as early as mid-May, followed by a crop of cherries in June. The summer months bring in nectarines, peaches, plums and pluots from mid-June through August. After that, apples, pears and persimmons ripen in September and October. Figs will bear fruit from early summer to late fall.

If you are short on space, consider planting more than one variety in the same hole. Just make sure to plant trees with similar growing habits. Apples, cherries and pears tend to be the fastest and highest growers. Since citrus require more sun to ripen than deciduous fruit trees, make sure they get the sunniest locations. Most deciduous fruit trees will produce a great tasting crop of fruit as long as they receive at least 5-6 hours of sunlight during the growing season. Citrus prefer 6-8 hours of sunlight.

The final secret to getting great tasting fruit is to wait until the fruit has ripened completely on the tree. This allows the sugar content to be at its highest level. The problem with most store-bought fruit is that it is harvested long before it is ripe in order to stand up to the rigors of shipping. The fruit never develops the same intense flavor on a shelf as it does on the tree.

Now is a great time to buy fruit trees. We have a good selection of citrus and deciduous fruit trees. If you have any questions, our staff of fruit tree experts will be happy to help you plan your year-round fruit tree garden!

1. Plant bare-root roses, trees, vines, berries and vegetables
   
2. Choose and plant camellias and azaleas
   
3. Purchase cymbidiums
   
4. Purchase and plant cool-season flowers to fill in bare spots
   
5. Plant seeds of warm-season flowers for transplants to put out in spring
   
6. Continue to plant winter vegetables from transplants and seeds
   
7. Many succulents, including cacti, bloom in winter and spring; purchase new types now
   
8. Prune deciduous fruit trees
   
9. Prune roses
   
10. Deadhead azaleas
    
11. Mow cool-season lawns. Most warm-season lawns are dormant now and don't need mowing
    
12. Begin to feed citrus trees in coastal zones
    
13. Treat citrus trees for chlorosis
    
14. Start feeding epiphyllums for bloom with
    0-10-10 or 2-10-10
    
15. Continue to fertilize cymbidiums that have not yet bloomed with a high-bloom formula
    
16. Feed cool-season flowers
    
17. Feed cineraria
    
18. Fertilize cool-season lawns
    
19. Water plants according to need (when the rains are not adequate).
    
20. Irrigate citrus trees
    
21. Remember to water plants under eaves where the rains cannot reach
    
22. Dormant spray roses and deciduous fruit trees
    
23. Dormant spray sycamore trees
    
24. Check citrus trees for pests
    
25. Pick up dead camellia blossoms to prevent petal blight
    
26. Protect cymbidiums from slugs and snails
    
27. Control rust on cool-season lawns
    
28. Check trees, shrubs, and ice plant in coastal zones for overwintering whiteflies. Control by spraying
    
29. Pull weeds
    
30. Spray peach and apricot for peach leaf curl
    
31. Protect tender plants from frost
    
32. Stake cymbidium bloom spikes
    
33. Near the end of the month check bamboo in coastal zones to see if it is time to propagate

Cymbidiums need dividing when they overcrowd their containers or get too heavy to carry.

• Water plants well before dividing them.
• Use a can cutter or sharp knife to cut off the plastic container. If the plants are in a wooden tub, remove the old container with a hammer, and discard it.
• Use a large kitchen knife kept for gardening to cut between the pseudobulbs (the bulblike structures growing above ground) and down through the roots. Aim for at least three productive pseudobulbs and four or five back bulbs per division. (Back bulbs are fully grown pseudobulbs that once bore leaves and flower spikes but now are bare. They act as storage containers for the remainder of the plant.)
• Trim off all roots that are diseased, damaged, or simply messy. In all, you should remove about one-third of the roots.
• Optionally, soak the divisions in a solution of 1 quart bleach to 10 quarts water for ten minutes to kill any fungus or rot. Air dry them.
• To replant, choose plastic containers that have plenty of holes in the bottom and are the next size larger, or approximately 4 to 6 inches wider than the top of the root ball. (Oversized containers slow growth.)
• Hold the plant so that the bottom of the pseudobulbs is level with the top of the container. Fill around the roots all the way to the top of the container with a commercial soil mix recommended for cymbidiums or with a homemade mix, such as 2 gallons pathway bark, 2 gallons ground nitrolized wood shavings, and 1 gallon commercial sterilized potting soil. It's important to make sure the roots are completely covered with soil mix but the pseudobulbs are totally above ground. (If the pseudobulbs are buried, they'll rot.)
• Water the cymbidiums thoroughly after planting, keep them in semishade, and wait two or three weeks before starting to fertilize