Franklin Cider Apple - update

[Bowsnbucks]

I was up to camp this past weekend and I was surprised at how much the 2 Franklins have grown this year. At planting last spring, they were just 2' whips. As of this weekend they are about 6 1/2 ft. tall and branched. They seem to have a natural leader - or at least a strong, vertical contender - and look to be fairly easy to train. I'm already anxious to prune & train in March. They look very good with no babying.

Anyone else who has Franklins have any insights ??

 

[Native Hunter]

I was up to camp this past weekend and I was surprised at how much the 2 Franklins have grown this year. At planting last spring, they were just 2' whips. As of this weekend they are about 6 1/2 ft. tall and branched. They seem to have a natural leader - or at least a strong, vertical contender - and look to be fairly easy to train. I'm already anxious to prune & train in March. They look very good with no babying.

Anyone else who has Franklins have any insights ??

I only planted one last year and it grew extra well like you described. There are no signs of CAR, and leaves look very clean. I planted another one this spring but have forgot to check on it recently.

The one thing yet to be seen for me is how resistant it is to fireblight. We won't know that until the trees start flowering, and even then you may have to wait a few seasons to fully evaluate it. However, I do feel good about them so far.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Our leaves were clean also.

 

[James P. Bipps]

My Franklin Cider trees have been good growers as well with no problems...much better than the Galarina that I planted at the same time.

 

[rocksnstumps]

2nd year, clean but nothing special for growth, not really babied much though with cages and no weed mats. Maybe foot of growth this year and on b118. Figure in tubes would have been much faster growth spurt but with the grafted varieties just doing cages right away lately. Crabapple bareroots in tubes are rockets but you have to screw around later to restake them as they get really whippy once they top a tube.

 

[chummer]

Mine grew very well this year and are probably my cleanest looking trees. Heading into their second winter so time will tell.

 

[White Birch Farm]

Planted this spring.

 

[Diesel5610]

I think I planted 6 on B118 2 years ago. 2 of the trees absolutely took off this year, better than any other 2nd year tree I have ever planted. I am excited to see what they do next year. They were just small whips when I planted them. The other 4 are struggling but I have not babied them at all and they are planted in less than ideal soil. I need to get weed mats on them and see if that helps the struggling trees.

 

[sandbur]

Facebook just had a discussion on Franklins .
I don’t remember any disappointments mentioned on growth, but some cider makers were not impressed with flavor or whatever other factors are important to hard core cider makers.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Apple Junkie]

The Franklin I planted last year put on nice new growth this summer. It did blossom this spring, but set no fruit. It is defiantly resistant to CAR because it was free of the disease, while others trees in the area had clear signs it was present in the area. The tree did suffer some browse damage on the outer tips of the lower branches (I now make my cages a little wider).

As happy as I am with the franklin, a Winecrip and Florina planted at the same time are growing as well, if not faster than the Franklin. The thing I like about the Franklin is that the growth seems to be balanced, where the Florina, and especially the Winecrisp, are growing more like beanstalks! I’m not sure what to do about that, but that's a question for another thread. I’m very happy with my Franklin after year 1.

Pic below…left to right; Franklin, Florina, Winecrisp.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Your Franklin looks just about like a twin to our 2 as far as 1st year growth goes. Big difference from the little whip we planted !!

Your other 2 trees are booming upward. I see other good ones behind the Florina.

 

[H20fwler]

I was up to camp this past weekend and I was surprised at how much the 2 Franklins have grown this year. At planting last spring, they were just 2' whips. As of this weekend they are about 6 1/2 ft. tall and branched. They seem to have a natural leader - or at least a strong, vertical contender - and look to be fairly easy to train. I'm already anxious to prune & train in March. They look very good with no babying.

Anyone else who has Franklins have any insights ??

When I can find a source for Franklin I'm going to ad a couple, I like absolutely everything I've read about them.
I'm doing the same as you, every time I walk past any of my fruit trees I start thinking about how I want to prune them and start getting excited about getting after them in March.

 

[Smokegobbler]

When I can find a source for Franklin I'm going to ad a couple, I like absolutely everything I've read about them.
I'm doing the same as you, every time I walk past any of my fruit trees I start thinking about how I want to prune them and start getting excited about getting after them in March.

I believe Stark Bro's is now selling them retail.

 

[H20fwler]

I believe Stark Bro's is now selling them retail.

They sure do! I'm not usually a semi-dwarf fan but I had to order two....THANKS!

 

[DLH]

Looks like they are pretty proud of them at almost $35 each. Seems like I got mine down in the twenty’s at Cummins a couple years ago. These remind me of the AU buck IV expensive but tempting to try want to get them in the ground just Incase it’s that perfect gun season food draw the neighbor don’t have.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

H20, post #12 - Like you, I took a slow walk through our apple trees my last trip to camp. Each new growing season gives us new options & ideas for March pruning. I found myself mapping limbs to take out, places I want to score the leader to force new branches, removing competing leaders, etc. It has me chomping at the bit. The period from November to March is probably my toughest time to endure since there's nothing meaty to do with the trees.

One thing I CAN do to help some of the apples & crabs is cut down some pines that are shading them. A few spots need to have pines dropped, so weather permitting - I can whack those. Lots more sun next spring will be a boost - especially to one Franklin tree.

As well as our Franklins have done after 2 years, I think you'll be happy with the 2 you're getting from Stark's.