Tags: 2016, Arnold Bernstein, Fruit, Fruit Trees, Meeting, Season 2015-2016

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For our April event, Arnold Bernstein was a last minute pencil-in from his scheduled May presentation event, filling in for our ill April speaker. Arnold presented “Growing Fruit Trees in Malibu.”

Arnie Bernstein was a delightful speaker who has been gardening for 40 years in Malibu and he shared with us his vast knowledge of growing fruit trees. He grows 400 trees in his back yard and these include 140 different types of trees.

He began by telling us a little bit of earth’s history and about Cycads that appeared some 300 million years ago before the continents split off. In the beginning, there was one big continent.

• The purpose of fruit is to spread its genetic code and for you to eat it.
• Healthy plants give off toxins to keep bugs and predators away.
• Those who eat fruits and vegetable have lower incidence of dementia.
• Malibu’s location being on the 34th parallel is the farthest North that tropicals can grow.
• Mountains around us keep the temperatures regulated here.

The soil in Malibu is absolutely virgin; it has not been farmed and is incredibly rich. So it really doesn’t need fertilizers. Thus fruit trees thrive in our soil. This allows us great latitude in growing different kinds of fruit.

Planting Trees

Wind affects avocados and thus they must be sheltered. They are shallow rooted so you can plant them in boxes. Avocados need drainage. They come in A’s and B’s and you need to plant one of each.

Arnie likes to plant several trees in the same hole because you save on water, use less land, they are easier to care for, thus less labor. Always try to use the same rootstock when planting multiple trees together and always plant the fattest tree on the North side.

Plant Apple trees 3 inches from the graft. Don’t plant them too high, they are self rooting so plant them low.

Citrus trees, on the other hand, should not be planted low. Keep leaves away from their trunks. There is a danger of rot at the base of citrus if you don’t keep them cleared away from debris.

When you plant in containers, water more frequently.

Chill Hours

Ignore what they say about chill hours. It’s utter nonsense!

How Do You Cull Fruit?

Take a cluster of tiny apples and knock off most of them, leaving one to mature. You must cull lemon buds to get big lemons. Apricots must be culled by judiciously knocking off buds.

Pruning Trees

You prune tree after they have fruited, not in spring. Keep your trees to 8 feet. They will be perfectly happy and you will be able to harvest the fruit more easily. Most trees need to be pruned heavily. For most trees, especially citrus, clean out under the drip line.

Peaches produce from last year’s growth.

Watering & Fertilizing

A healthy tree needs less watering. Don’t waste money on fertilizing. You can maybe add some nitrogen in the form of blood meal. Linda Chapman, PhD. definitely debunks the need for fertilizing. A good layer of wood chips is all you need. Any kind of wood chips will do. Cellulose is cellulose!

Blood meal is Nitrogen and it breaks down slowly.

There are 3 kinds of manure: from horses, from cows, and from chickens. Chickens only have one orifice and it’s the best manure you can use!

Getting Rid of Gophers

Stick into their hole a lit flare. Annie doesn’t use gas bombs or poison pellets.

Natural Ant Control

Annie uses tanglefoot brushed on “caution” tape wrapped lightly around a tree trunk. Or you can use a little axle grease on tape. The ants don’t like to cross on grease. Replace greased tape as needed.

To spray trees use a little Canola Oil and Dawn liquid dish soap. 1 Tablespoon of each into a gal. of water is all you need.