Q. My ‘Fantasia’ nectarine survived over the winter. It got leaves and blossomed. Now the leaves aren’t looking great, and the branches are developing black tips almost like they’ve been burned. Is that likely to be black fungus? If I need to dig out the tree and replace it, when would the best time be to do that? Are we too close to summer to try that now?
A. This was a rough time for plants this winter. All through the winter this tree should not receive a deep watering more often than once a week. Some time in February is the time to give mesic (water loving) trees (all fruit trees are mesic) a solid watering of watering once a week. How much depends on its size but make sure the roots get water 18 to 24 inches deep. All plants pretty much follow a 40-30-20-10 rule with their roots.
First make sure the fruit tree was planted correctly (planting hole dug or the soil at least loosened! three times the container width) and the hole backfilled with an amended soil. Make sure the tree was staked and watered in, the soil around the tree covered with a mulch of some sort.
Next, we can address your tree issues. With this very low desert humidity, any leaf of stem disease will not last long. If the tree looks good other than the leaves, let it go. Let the warm, and eventually hot, weather do its job. The leaves look a little yellow so make sure it was fertilized properly in about four weeks if needed. Make sure there isn’t a borer problem present. Nectarines are “glorified peaches”. They can be a problem in peaches and nectarines.
By the way, ‘Fantasia’ nectarine fruit got pretty low marks from me at the University orchard regarding tasting the fruit. Not the tree, it did well, but the taste of the fruit.