All fruit trees certified virus free with a Limited 3 Year Fruit Tree Warranty. Click here for our FREE FRUIT TREE OFFER. All basic pruning requirements completed before delivery.
Prunus armeniaca Kioto Options Explained
St Julien A Bush Grows to 3.5m: Delivered as 150-200cm tall in a 12L pot and a bush shape for improved fruiting and disease resistance. 2-3 years old.
Prunus armeniaca Kioto
The growers describe this apricot as having a charming taste, so we assume they taste of Cary Grant, George Clooney or Tom Hanks? They also describe it as sweet so tastes like Julie Andrews or Audrey Hepburn? The Kioto apricot has thin skin so definitely a lot like Donald Trump.
The fruits are an intense yellow-orange colour and are medium to large, but only when compared to other apricots. Compared to footballs, they are small to very small and not good for taking penalties with.
The skin is an intense yellow to orange colour, which our marketing department combined into "lo-wang" (yellow orange) for your convenience. Sharing your sweet-tasting freestones with the neighbours can make you come together, and they can be a third to two-thirds red in colour, especially if they have seen a lot of sun.
Freestone variety which makes processing and eating a lot easier. If you find eating the apricot is hard work and the flesh difficult to bite off, then your dentures might have fallen out.
Kioto has a low to medium sensitivity to cracking so you do not need to be as vigilant and consistent with the watering to prevent cracking when compared to other apricots that are more sensitive.
Easy-to-grow variety with consistent heavy crops and self-fertile so no need for another apricot species planted nearby (though yields improve with a partner).
Prunus armeniaca Kioto Flowering and Harvest Times
Flowers later than many apricots so a good choice for frost-prone areas. Usually, a high-density show of white flowers with a pink tinge turning pure white as the season moves on. Harvest around mid to late July or slightly later further north. If you want to improve crop yields with another pollination partner, then directly compatible with Kioto are Compacta and Pink Marry. Indirectly compatible with Kioto are Bergeron, Robada, and Compacta.
Planting Prunus armeniaca Kioto
Needs full sun and well-drained soil. For best results, use a loamy soil which is a balanced mix of sand, silt, and clay that holds nutrients but drains well. A PH of 6.5 to 7.5 is ideal and more alkaline conditions will be tolerated if draining is good. Too rich in fertility may produce more leafy growth at the expense of flowers which can also happen if you feed it too much nitrogen.
These are ideally trained against a sunny, sheltered wall.
Low to medium cracking risk. Tendency to grow twin fruits.
Other Information about Prunus armeniaca 'Kioto'
Blossoms are wind-tolerant compared to more delicate early-flowering apricots.
Good performance in warm summers without sunscald on fruit.
Bred in France by INRA for cold tolerance and reliability.
Medium vigour so your garden won't be taken over.
Ripens evenly so harvest in one or two sessions.
Consistent harvest even in poor weather.
Good fruit storage characteristics — Shelf life: 4–5 days at room temperature, 7–10 days refrigerated.
Good for cooking, eating, and dehydrating.
Naturally well-structured.
Thinning is important after blossom to maintain fruit size and tree health.
Quick Fruit Tree Links
Take a look at our TOP SELLING FRUIT TREES, Wet ground issues then choose a PEAR TREE first, followed by APPLE TREES. For more information on pollination please look at choosing the CORRECT POLLINATION PARTNER
Fruit Tree Life Expectancy
Most fruit trees will give you AT LEAST 40 years of fruit. Pears can go to 70. Records of 200 year old trees exist but this is the exception, not the rule.
Do I Need To Stake My Bare Root Fruit Tree?
9 out of 10 times the answer will be no, especially if under 200cm tall. However our article on Tree Staking should help guide you.
Climate Change
Climate Change has increased aesthetic foliage issues such as Powdery Mildew, Shothole, Rust, frost damage etc These are not terminal issues and will usually last a season or less. All trees are inspected before being sent out to ensure they are fundamentally healthy and will bounce back.
Planting In The Corner Of A Garden
Air and light is reduced in this location which could promote fungus and bacterial issues. If the corner is of the house and a fence then you also have leeching issues to contend with from cement and wood preservatives. Also when it rains, that area would experience higher water levels so we advise against it unless the plant is very hardy.
Fruit Tree Heights
Taller does not mean more value for money. A 1 year old fruit tree can easily be substantially higher than a 2 year old, this is because they are hard pruned at 1 year old to create the desired shape. Some trees have over 100cm of height removed. They can then have another pruning at 2 years old to increase fruit growing real estate. Most fruit trees will benefit from having a third to half of the seasons new growth cut back in the Autumn to prevent long whippy branches which break easily. Age and pruning completed determine real value.
Apricot Rootstocks Explained
Rootstocks are literally roots of another plant and are used to change characteristics of the Apricot tree such as disease resistance, fruiting ability etc. New rootstocks are used all the time as new ones are developed. Below is a brief explanation of Apricot rootstocks.
VVA1: Expected to grow to around 2.5m tall.
Torrinel24: Expected to grow to around 3.0m tall.
Montclere: Expected to grow to around 3.0m tall.
Ferlenain: Expected to grow to around 3.0m tall.
Wavit: Slightly less vigorous than St Julian, circa 3-3.5m apricot tree and crops a little earlier. Some chalk tolerance.
St Julian A: Expected to grow to around 3.5-4m tall and is quite vigorous with some chalk tolerance.
Myrobalan Seedling: A vigorous rootstock and ultimate height of 4m or more. Full cropping is longer than previous rootstock.
Peach Seedling: Better tolerance to water logging and firmer/sweeter flesh than Myrobalan. Grows to around 4m.
The trade off with a taller tree is more growing real estate but a smaller tree will fruit a little quicker. Ultimate height can be determined with manual pruning.
Apricot Tree Advice
Not a very demanding tree but a few things to remember.
- Make sure you plant the apricot tree in a well drained spot where there is a lot of sun.
- Balanced feed in early spring, NPK 10-10-10. No heavy nitrogen after June.
- Self fertile apricot fruit yields are improved by other compatible apricots nearby.
- Prune the tree every year to allow sun in and air to circulate into the centre.
- Fruits are ripe when you can pull them easily from the branch.
- A fleece over the tree or planting close to a wall can mitigate frost damage.
- Prune late winter. Aim for open vase shape. Remove dead, diseased and crossing branches.
- Consistent watering is essential. A dry spell followed by watering/heavy rain can split the fruit.
- All stone fruit, including apricots don't winter well in pots. Move under glass, near a wall and/or out of the wind. Thermally wrap the pot, mulch the surface and prevent freezing.
Apricot Fruit Thinning
Around 6 weeks after flowering, check the fruits. You want fruit spacing of around 15cm and 1-2 fruits per cluster. The ones to remove are those pointing up, smaller than the others, double fruited and odd shapes. Most fruit trees naturally drop fruits in June.
Thinning improves size of final fruits, branch breakages, uneven yearly crop sizes and air circulation.
