Century farms and rootstock ??

[Jordan Selsor]

Couple questions.
Anyone have any experience with century farms nursery?
They have several varities i would like to try (wickson an limbertwigs). Thier prices look great. Only problem is looks like they only sell on m111 an b9 rootstock.
Is b118 really that much better than m111? Anyone have any mature trees on both and see any noticeable differences in size an DR etc??? I know it is said that b118 can produce earlier. Think i remember reading that m111 is great for clay soils which i have. Just looking for feedback from the guys that been in this game awhile. As always i appreciate your input.
Jordan

 

[Native Hunter]

Jordan, I can't help much with this. All of the old Semi Dwarfs that I post pics of are on MM111. The B118s that I have are still young.

I can tell you one thing I don't like about MM111 - the burr knots. You will have them above ground unless you plant the graft perfectly with the ground line. I came back on some of mine and added a little more dirt because of this. Other than that, I have no problem with the rootstock.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

From recommendations I got from the head of Penn State's fruit tree dept. - MM-111 is supposed to be the one for heavier, clayish soil. He told me they root better than B-118 and have more resistance to several diseases than B-118. We have clayish loam soil that's on the heavier side at camp. MM-111 does really well for us there (zone 5 & 6 border), but B-118 has done well for us too, as has Antonovka. When I asked him which rootstock he'd plant in our situation with heavier, clayish soil - he didn't hesitate. He said MM-111.

My experience with MM-111 has been really good.

 

[Diesel5610]

I have always read what Bowsnbucks posted, that MM-111 was the best for heavy clay based soils. As a result all of my trees are on that rootstock and I have been very pleased. I have some B118 that were planted last year and this year, time will tell how they perform here. I bought them only because that is what I could find the specific variety tree I was looking for on, otherwise I would have gone with MM-111 because my trees have shown they make a good wildlife tree in my area. MM-111 is a winner in my experience.

 

[willy]

the mm111 I bought from century farms have done very well in my heavy clay. No problems so far. They have been in the ground since 2009. The liberty and hewes have been great producers. located in southeast NE

 

[Lot2Learn]

Thumbs up for David at Century Farms. He's a quality provider if he has the varieties you want.

I planted a mix of m111 and b.118 several years ago in Zone 7 clay soil. Both have thrived and I see no difference in the performance of the rootstocks so far.

 

[Jordan Selsor]

Thumbs up for David at Century Farms. He's a quality provider if he has the varieties you want.

I planted a mix of m111 and b.118 several years ago in Zone 7 clay soil. Both have thrived and I see no difference in the performance of the rootstocks so far.

Thats the kind of feedback I hoped to get! Much Thanks L2L! Century farms has those Wickson crabs and Limbertwig varieties I been after for awhile now!
How many years you have on your M111's an B118's?

 

[Lot2Learn]

I planted most of my trees in 2014.

That year Cummins had a number for the crabapple varieties that I wanted so, among others, I got my Wickson from them. But, for example, I got a Blacktwig on m.111 from Century Farms that year and it's been en fuego!

 

[Bowsnbucks]

As L2L did, I got a Wickson from Cummins in 2014, and several other apples on MM-111 and B-118. I can't see much difference either between MM-111 and B-118 so far. The only other rootstock we have is Antonovka, and once it gets established, it puts on some really good growth.

We started planting "newer" apples and crabs in 2013, and adding more each year since then. Our biggest trees are on Antonovka roots, with several varieties on the Antonovka stock. The largest trees we have now are Prairie Spy, Chestnut crab, N.Y. 35 "Bonkers", Trailman, & Wolf River - all on Antonovka.

 

[Jordan Selsor]

As L2L did, I got a Wickson from Cummins in 2014, and several other apples on MM-111 and B-118. I can't see much difference either between MM-111 and B-118 so far. The only other rootstock we have is Antonovka, and once it gets established, it puts on some really good growth.

We started planting "newer" apples and crabs in 2013, and adding more each year since then. Our biggest trees are on Antonovka roots, with several varieties on the Antonovka stock. The largest trees we have now are Prairie Spy, Chestnut crab, N.Y. 35 "Bonkers", Trailman, & Wolf River - all on Antonovka.

I am going to do some grafting to Antonovka this winter. I have attempted some in the past with marginal success. I really wasn't set up to maintain my grafted trees properly. I think my biggest mistake was trying to keep them in black plastic pots all summer. We are all settled into the new house now with some raised vegetable gardens. Anxious to see if that helps my grafting success but due to my impatience I am planning for a fairly large tree order as well

 

[Jordan Selsor]

Been reading through century farms apple varieties. They list allot of late droppers that i have not heard of. Kind of exciting...
Anyone have any experience with keener seedling, Johnson’s keeper, and Terry winter? They describe these as later dropping than Arkansas Black.

 

[Native Hunter]

Been reading through century farms apple varieties. They list allot of late droppers that i have not heard of. Kind of exciting...
Anyone have any experience with keener seedling, Johnson’s keeper, and Terry winter? They describe these as later dropping than Arkansas Black.

Got a Terry Winter that is now a pretty big tree. Before this year has fruited very, very little. However, this year the crop looks large. Ask me again this fall.

Leaves are very clean and no FB.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Always good to learn of new, DR trees !! I haven't read of Terry Winter.

 

[Native Hunter]

Always good to learn of new, DR trees !! I haven't read of Terry Winter.

I was starting to wonder if I would ever get a good crop from it. Looks like this year could be the charm, but not counting my chickens before they hatch.

This is Terry Winter today. You can see that apples look good and minor SCAB spotting on leaves. No FB and little if any CAR.

 

[greyphase]

Been reading through century farms apple varieties. They list allot of late droppers that i have not heard of. Kind of exciting...
Anyone have any experience with keener seedling, Johnson’s keeper, and Terry winter? They describe these as later dropping than Arkansas Black.[/QUOT
My Keener Seedling fruited for the 1st time last year. Just a couple of apples but they hung on into late winter. Have a 4 year old Terry Winter but no fruit yet.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Your pic looks like it's a pretty good tree. No serious D problems, and the apples are clean.

Since getting into this apple & crab thing, I've noticed on several sites that there are a BATCH of more southern varieties. Names I'd never heard of before, and I guess that's because of regional climate, exposure & marketing. In Pa., if you go to an orchard stand in the country, the varieties you see most are Macintosh, Cortland, Northern Spy, Jonagold, Gala, Empire, & Ida Red. Growing up, we never heard of any Limbertwigs, Yates, Horse, Betsy Deaton, Terry Winter, etc. I suppose regional climate plays a role in what will thrive in a given locale.