greg1186
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Joined: Tue Jun 08, 2010 6:18 pm
Location: Vernon, New Jersey

couple questions

instead of flooding the forum with numerous posts I decided to condense into one. couple questions:

I am pretty much most northern point of New Jersey... I think I am zone 6A?

questions:

should I take off the covering of straw over my asparagus? if so when?


I never grew bulb onions before and I just bought a bag of them from home depot... when should I plant these?



I wanna put in some fruit trees this year so I don't regret not doing it like last year... I'm thinking about pears, I know I need to get two different species.. any suggestions for my area.. and when to plant them?


and also where can I find a good site that will tell me my last expected frost date...


thanks in advance!

Bobberman
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Location: Latrobe Pa.

Onion sets can be planted now! I put mine in a week ago!

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jal_ut
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Location: Northern Utah Zone 5

Asparagus. How deep is the straw? If only a couple of inches, the asparagus will come up through it OK. If it is more and all wet and heavy I would remove it. Now.

Onions plant now.

Pear trees. I can't recommend a variety. Check with a local nursery. You can plant any trees now.

Much good information is usually waiting for you at your County Extension.
Many times there is a web site. Google "(name of your county) extension". Look it up in the phone book. Go see them.

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applestar
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Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Pear trees: I only treat my garden organically, and I always recommend planting disease resistant varieties.

I have planted Magness and Seckel pears. I don't know why it works this way, but Seckel will pollinate Magness, Magness will NOT pollinate Seckel but can also be pollinated by Callery/Bradford pears which I have in abundant supply all over my neighbors' landscaping 8).

...or that's the theory and plan. They were too young to bear fruits last year, but I should be getting a few from Magness this year. Seckel is younger -- just planted ...last spring? or maybe the fall before that.

Now who pollinates Seckel...? Hmm. I'd better check again, but I *think* Seckel is supposed to be self-pollinating. I DID plant another pear -- Tyson, which was written up as disease resistant and cross-pollinating compatible with Seckle (each other), but it succumbed to the fireblight which is rampant around here.

Another highly disease resistant pear variety that I have considered is Potomac.

DoubleDogFarm
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This may help you with pollination and ripening etc....

https://www.raintreenursery.com/pollin_home.cfm

https://www.raintreenursery.com/chill_hours.cfm

https://www.raintreenursery.com/ref_regional_plants.cfm

https://www.raintreenursery.com/zone_map.cfm

Get you started anyway
Eric

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rainbowgardener
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Location: TN/GA 7b

Here's average first and last frost dates by state from the NOAA:

https://cdo.ncdc.noaa.gov/climatenormals/clim20supp1/states/

Click on NJ.pdf and it opens up a beautiful table of information for about 30 different NJ locations.

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jal_ut
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Location: Northern Utah Zone 5

rainbowgardener, great info. Thanks.

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!potatoes!
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not that helpful, I know, but when you say in your first post up there 'need two species', what you probably mean is two varieties. all 'european' pears are the same species (Pyrus communis), and while some cross-species pollination works with pears (asian pears (P. pyrifolia) can frequently pollinate european, and vice-versa), a bosc will pollinate an anjou fine (both same species)

I know, it's nit-picky, but it's in the interest of accuracy.

greg1186
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Posts: 60
Joined: Tue Jun 08, 2010 6:18 pm
Location: Vernon, New Jersey

thanks! and jal... its about 1-2 inches of wet hay since we've had major rain the past week here.



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