Thoughts on GRIN orders
- Thread starter Jimmy G
- Start date
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
For me it is primarily for wildlife. My goal is near zero maintenance once trees are established. So, my primary focus is on disease resistance. Next, I'm looking for a wide band of drop times. This is not just for apples but for all my soft mast trees. My long term goal is to have something dropping across as wide of time frame as I can. That is not to say I won't harvest and eat apples, but my selection is not for that.
I started a couple years ago. I started with full sized trees since they will take the longest to produce but are the best long-term investment for wildlife. I grew trees from seed for this and then grafted them. I did leave a lower branch or two so I can see what kind of apples the underlying tree will produce eventually. I also grafted a few to clonal rootstock for comparison. This year is when I add trees on clonal rootstock (M111). I made my GRIN order in September. I'm still trying to work out an M111 order that can be delivered in Dec or early Jan. My hope is to give these trees an early start under lights this year instead of growing a lot of trees from seeds and nuts.
Most of the scions on my list above came from folks here on the forum discussing them. Some came from simply reading GRIN descriptions related to disease resistance.
Thanks,
Jack
I started a couple years ago. I started with full sized trees since they will take the longest to produce but are the best long-term investment for wildlife. I grew trees from seed for this and then grafted them. I did leave a lower branch or two so I can see what kind of apples the underlying tree will produce eventually. I also grafted a few to clonal rootstock for comparison. This year is when I add trees on clonal rootstock (M111). I made my GRIN order in September. I'm still trying to work out an M111 order that can be delivered in Dec or early Jan. My hope is to give these trees an early start under lights this year instead of growing a lot of trees from seeds and nuts.
Most of the scions on my list above came from folks here on the forum discussing them. Some came from simply reading GRIN descriptions related to disease resistance.
Thanks,
Jack
Below is my order, it's mostly stuff for wildlife but I did put a few varieties on for my own consumption. The last 3 are pears..rest are apples/crabs.
Anaros
Chestnut Crab
Nova EasyGro
Kerr
Dolgo
Arkansas Black
Wickson
Linda Sweet
Wetonka
Ben Trio
Golden Russet
Keepsake
Macoun
Sweet Sixteen
Transcendent Crab
Jonafree
Redfree
Priscilla
Williams Pride
Pristine
Goldrush
Hardy Cumberland
Good Christian
Harrow Sweet
Kieffer
Anaros
Chestnut Crab
Nova EasyGro
Kerr
Dolgo
Arkansas Black
Wickson
Linda Sweet
Wetonka
Ben Trio
Golden Russet
Keepsake
Macoun
Sweet Sixteen
Transcendent Crab
Jonafree
Redfree
Priscilla
Williams Pride
Pristine
Goldrush
Hardy Cumberland
Good Christian
Harrow Sweet
Kieffer
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
Can you post the PI numbers if you are ordering from GRIN? That would help folks find them easily. It can be difficult to search. For example, as I recall, Transcendent Crab was on my list of desirables but I couldn't find it on GRIN.
The only reason that Arkansas Black and Black Twig were not on my list is that I got a bunch of scions from those a couple years ago when I took a grafting class and used them on some of my seedlings.
Thanks,
Jack
The only reason that Arkansas Black and Black Twig were not on my list is that I got a bunch of scions from those a couple years ago when I took a grafting class and used them on some of my seedlings.
Thanks,
Jack
chickenlittle
5 year old buck +
My 2 cents. If you get bit with the apple bug and want to graft, spend some time researching varieties. Figure out what disease resistance you should have. Try to do your homework. And if you plant something and decide it is a disappointment, cut your losses and graft it over to something better or replace with a new tree.
I think it is always good to look for scab resistance whether you are getting from GRIN or trading found crabapples. Fireblight resistance is nice to have but great info is hard to get on many varieties. Even FB resistant varieties may get it but will tend to limit how far the infection goes. Later blooming varieties are more susceptible to blight infection through the flowers but more likely to escape late frosts. Cedar apple rust is a consideration in some locations. I don't worry so much about powdery mildew but it can be an issue on young grafts. My desire is a decent size apple (not too big) that is and fireblight resistant, and is likely to ripen and drop between September and the middle of January.
You can find plenty of great apples on GRIN to try. There are old posts on hear about GRIN that show how to do searches looking for specific ranges of fireblight rating, harvest period, fruit size, whether the fruit hangs, soluble solids (higher better for cider). And you can do keyword searches like "malus cedar apple rust" or "malus scab resistance" and scan through the results for ones that show high resistance for those diseases. You can search for selections with Coop or PRI in the name. Those are from the Purdue/Rutgers/Illinois breeding program that looked for scab resistance. Many of those are resistant to fireblight or CAR and many are not. I've got a bunch of named and unnamed Coop varieties in my orchard. I also look through the variety descriptions for things like whether it is biennial or drops fruit early.
I started putting together a listing of DR apples a while ago and it is attached as a PDF. It is far from complete. I started with a Purdue extension listing, added in all of the Coop and some PRI selection and others. I don't have all of these. Some of the Coops on this list ripen earlier than I want. And while Scarlet O'hara may be a great apple, I'm not adding what might be a fireblight magnet to my orchard. If a variety it can be found in GRIN, I have a link to it. Some of the Coops are still patent protected so you cannot order scionwood even though GRIN has it. Cheers.
I think it is always good to look for scab resistance whether you are getting from GRIN or trading found crabapples. Fireblight resistance is nice to have but great info is hard to get on many varieties. Even FB resistant varieties may get it but will tend to limit how far the infection goes. Later blooming varieties are more susceptible to blight infection through the flowers but more likely to escape late frosts. Cedar apple rust is a consideration in some locations. I don't worry so much about powdery mildew but it can be an issue on young grafts. My desire is a decent size apple (not too big) that is and fireblight resistant, and is likely to ripen and drop between September and the middle of January.
You can find plenty of great apples on GRIN to try. There are old posts on hear about GRIN that show how to do searches looking for specific ranges of fireblight rating, harvest period, fruit size, whether the fruit hangs, soluble solids (higher better for cider). And you can do keyword searches like "malus cedar apple rust" or "malus scab resistance" and scan through the results for ones that show high resistance for those diseases. You can search for selections with Coop or PRI in the name. Those are from the Purdue/Rutgers/Illinois breeding program that looked for scab resistance. Many of those are resistant to fireblight or CAR and many are not. I've got a bunch of named and unnamed Coop varieties in my orchard. I also look through the variety descriptions for things like whether it is biennial or drops fruit early.
I started putting together a listing of DR apples a while ago and it is attached as a PDF. It is far from complete. I started with a Purdue extension listing, added in all of the Coop and some PRI selection and others. I don't have all of these. Some of the Coops on this list ripen earlier than I want. And while Scarlet O'hara may be a great apple, I'm not adding what might be a fireblight magnet to my orchard. If a variety it can be found in GRIN, I have a link to it. Some of the Coops are still patent protected so you cannot order scionwood even though GRIN has it. Cheers.
chickenlittle
5 year old buck +
And here are the pears I looked at last year
http://www.habitat-talk.com/index.p...om-usda-grin-corvalis.4817/page-2#post-151186
http://www.habitat-talk.com/index.p...om-usda-grin-corvalis.4817/page-2#post-151186
chickenlittle
5 year old buck +
Gunfun, the one I see on your list that I have skipped is Macoun and that is because of scab susceptibility. If you are going to spray fungicide, not a big deal. And while deer will surely eat scabby apples, having a tree with bad scab means there will be lots of fungus spores around to attack your other trees.
weekender21
5 year old buck +
Is the GRIN program scion wood free?
Apple Junkie
5 year old buck +
Ouch... I wish this forum was around 10 years ago. I have a few trees in the ground, Macoun just one, that I might have passed on had I known then, what I am learning now. Good stuff guys, thanks.
