Project W: Columnar Apple Shot Plot

[chickenlittle]

Scarlett Sentinel flowering next the Golden Sentinel


Emerald Spire


What I think is Northpole


Top of the Maypole Crab- purty.

 

[chickenlittle]

I moved seedlings to the backyard nursery a few weeks ago. They could have gone longer inside in the rootmaker 18 express trays. I took advantage of a cool spell after a heat wave to get them outside. With the timing, I did not harden them. I put up some burlap for solar screening but taller ones got full sun and their leaves bronzed. Everthing is still alive despite the stress. About 4 dozen trees.

 

[chickenlittle]

I believe I have had a several fireblight strikes on one of my columnar trees. This I believe is Northpole (suspect it arrived mis-labeled). i should have photographed before I started pruning. One 6" long branch looked dead and I pruned it off at the trunk. Then I saw a 2-3" section of the trunk around that limb is discolored too. Fireblight should stop once it reaches older wood but columnar trees have such short side branches that a FB infection could get into the central leader before stopping, particularly if the variety was more susceptible. We'll see what happens with this tree. For now, I will just watch it and probably prune below this spot next winter.

Despite the nice flowering this spring, fruit set for the columnar trees was pretty low. Most apples look like they have insect damage. I've not sprayed anything so far this year.

 

[chickenlittle]

I looked my trees and found another tree had a strike too. The tree I pruned had some weeping from my pruning cut the infected area. So I'll think about whether cutting below the infection sooner than waiting till late winter for both trees. It will be major surgery for each, cutting the central leader between 2 and 3ft high.



Looking at my other trees, I found a similar infection on a Blushing Delight / Moonlight. I noticed a discolored area on the trunk and a dead limb behind some other foliage. Looks like a the limb died and infected an area of the central leader. Another little limb had it too. It is only a couple feet up the tree so that would require pruning off most of the tree. Boo.

 

[buckvelvet]

Not good @chickenlittle that stinks!

 

[chickenlittle]

I looked those 2 trees over last night. The FB canker forming on the central leader does not go all the way around to girdle it. So the top should live and produce some apples. Then i can prune it below the canker this winter and have the trees start over.

 

[chickenlittle]

A new FB strike on another columnar variety. This is only about 16" up the tree so there won't be much tree left if I prune below the infection. I see some cankering forming on the trunk. We'll see how far that progresses. The canker on another tree looks to go all the way around the tree but the tree above it still looks health. 4 or 5 columnar trees have some FB and another has some fireblight on a rootstock sucker.

 

[Telemark]

The 5 trees of the Cats series (Goldcats, Greencats, Redcats, Starcats, Suncats). Cats stands for columnar apple tree system.

Those are available here in Norway. Can you graft a columnar tree from a branch? Is it just like grafting any other trees?

 

[Telemark]

University of Novi Sad, Serbia. 6 crosses released and found for sale in Europe.

I could probably get my hands on these as well. I am in Novi Sad somewhat frequently to visit friends. I will ask if any of them know someone at the university who wants to meet up.

Is there a legal way to bring scions to the US?

 

[chickenlittle]

Columnars graft the same way as any other apple.

Apple scions can be legally imported but is a long process - years- before you get scionwood released to you. The wood would go the USDA quarantine center in Prosser, WA. They would graft it onto potted dwarf rootstock and various potted test trees. If any of the test trees show evidence of virus or disease, they will try to clean by heat treating the whole potted tree for some length of time over 100F. I'm not sure of the exact time/temp but the approach is similar to how we fight an infection. After cleaning, they'll propagate another series of test trees and look for virus signs. They might attempt to clean several times. The good thing is it doesn't cost anything for a public, non-patented variety. Just takes years.

I would imagine the USDA would require you to show that you have legal authority to export to the US. The Cats and Novi Sad varieties would be protected by European Breeders rights. The Cats are protected until 2039, 30 years from the filing date in 2009. There are probably unprotected varieties that could be imported.

http://cpcnw.wsu.edu/new-pome-and-stone-fruit-varieties/

 

[Telemark]

Bummer. Well I will ask around about trees they haven't patented yet. Are there any public varieties people want from Europe? I will keep an eye out for anything interesting.

 

[chickenlittle]

Actually, I'm not positive the Serbian ones are protected. I looked up their national plant variety registration and did not find these. But it is extremely complicated to look up this stuff. Often a new variety is now protected by patent or variety rights under its research designation. It is marketed under another name that is trademarked. In fact, the same variety may be marketed under multiple names in different countries.

My greatest interest would be the varieties from the baltics or russia but I have a hard time understanding whether a variety is protected or if the same thing is sold under several names. Here is a nursery in Lithuania with big variety of columnar apples. http://www.vitaflora.lt/en/by-plant-type/fruit-edible/malus-column.

 

[Telemark]

I will call them and see if they ship to Norway. Druskininkai isn't a particularly easy place to visit. I could probably fly relatively cheap to Vilnius, but then I would have to rent a car. I don't know anyone in Lithuania, and I don't speak anything even remotely close to their language.

 

[PoorSand]

chickenlittle, Can you think of any reason a guy who grows some Antonovkas in whip form for the first 6' couldn't fall bud Wijcik on top, and start the crop up high out of deer's reach?

 

[chickenlittle]

PoorSand, you could do that. But I think the Antonovka will want to keep pushing growth below the graft every year that will need pruned off. You'll still need to cage it to keep it from getting rubbed up.

 

[PoorSand]

I noticed a couple GRIN accessions with columnar habit that might fit with your research project somehow.
PI 105505 "Del Cirio". Very good fire blight shoot resistance. Very late harvest. More vigorous than Wijcik McIntosh.
PI 590086 "Greensweet". Very good fire blight shoot resistance. Mid/late harvest. More vigorous than Wijcik McIntosh.

 

[chickenlittle]

Brutal pruning completed on my backyard columnar trees. 5 got fireblight last year and 4 had cankers on the central leader. I chopped them all off below the canker. I'll smear a little grafting wax on the cuts and call it good Not much left of what were 8ft trees. You can see the tops laying by the fence in the background. One was cut off short enough there is a chance there are no scion buds under the cut but we'll see what happens. Not much lost if I end up replacing it. I do need to put some cages on the shortest to keep rabbits off the new growth.

 

[NE PA QDM]

That is quite depressing. Reminds me of the huge branches the bears have ripped off my trees in the last few weeks. Makes me sick.

I got some columnar scions from MVO this year, looking forward to my first columnar attempts.

Hopefully yours rebound ok and disease free.

 

[g squared 23]

They waking up?

 

[chickenlittle]

3 of the 4 I pruned for FB are pushing green growth. The last one shown, shortest, hasn't done anything yet.