The small fruits offer definite advantages for home culture. They require a minimum of space for the amount of fruit produced and bear one or two years after planting. Also, pest control typically is easier than with most tree fruits.
Be sure not to store apples or pears with vegetables such as potatoes and squash. The fruits give off ethylene gas that speeds up the ripening process of vegetables and may cause them to develop "off" flavors.
Remove all 2-year-old canes from raspberry and blackberry plants to reduce overwintering of disease. Soil-applied fertilizers containing potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, or calcium can be applied, but do not cultivate or irrigate at this time of the year.
Need a pollinator for your apple tree, but don't have lots of room, or need more apples? Try a crabapple instead of a regular apple. Select a variety that blooms at the same time as your fruiting tree and has white flowers. Bees are not as interested in those with other flower colors.
Harvesting guidelines: Pears should be picked at the hard ripe stage and allowed to finish ripening off the tree. The base color of yellow pears should change from green to yellow as the fruit approaches maturity.
Check grapevines for mummified berries
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