Which apple trees to plant?
- Thread starter EarthySpirit
- Start date
Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
According to Perdue, no, Enterprise isn't up there with Liberty. Liberty has good resistance to all of the big 4. Enterprise has resistance to 3 of the big 4 but is susceptible to powdery mildew. I did plant just one Enterprise at my farm, which has been in the ground only 2 years.
Below is the link to the Purdue site. I have found their rankings to be extremely accurate for my area of the country.
https://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/BP/BP-132-W.pdf
Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
Just want to mention here that there is growing evidence that fully healthy trees can defend themselves against these diseases, even if they are labeled as susceptible.
For example, the apple scab fungus feeds on the amino acid arginine. An apple tree will naturally use arginine with the mineral cobalt, to produce complex proteins. A tree variety like Liberty is very good at this process, using up all of it's arginine, leaving nothing for the scab fungus to feed on. The scab fungus dies and Liberty is labeled as resistant or immune to scab.
A variety like Zestar however, does not take up enough cobalt to use up all of it's arginine. The scab fungus landing on it's leaves will find lots of arginine to feed on, and will thrive. Zestar is then labeled as susceptible to scab.
A company called Advancing Eco Agriculture has performed field tests on the effects of using a Cobalt foliar spray in orchards to prevent scab, and has had great results. After supplementing a variety like Zestar with cobalt, it then has the mineral needed to process all of it's arginine, and the scab fungus is then unable to survive.
I used their cobalt spray this past year. And saw no evidence of scab on my trees, whereas the year before I had a bad infestation on varieties like Zestar, Honeycrisp, and Wolf River. Foliar sprays do take a lot of work, so my long term plan is to fertilize my soil with Cobalt, and see if that will work as well as the spray when I get my soil up to the desired level.
I know they have also done lots of work with cherry orchards to eliminate canker, and have started working with fireblight in apple orchards as well. They have a product called Seacrop, which I'm told has been effective at preventing fireblight in early tests. Sea-Crop contains natural minersls and organic substances derived from sea water, and can be used as a foliar spray or liquid soil fertilizer. I have not used it.
It's my belief that if you fertilize your soil properly, so that you have the required levels of all of the minerals required by your trees, not just N, P, and K, your trees will be healthy enough to fight off all of the big 4 diseases, no matter the variety of tree. Not only that, but they should then be resistant to insects as well, and produce healthier fruit in the process.
For example, the apple scab fungus feeds on the amino acid arginine. An apple tree will naturally use arginine with the mineral cobalt, to produce complex proteins. A tree variety like Liberty is very good at this process, using up all of it's arginine, leaving nothing for the scab fungus to feed on. The scab fungus dies and Liberty is labeled as resistant or immune to scab.
A variety like Zestar however, does not take up enough cobalt to use up all of it's arginine. The scab fungus landing on it's leaves will find lots of arginine to feed on, and will thrive. Zestar is then labeled as susceptible to scab.
A company called Advancing Eco Agriculture has performed field tests on the effects of using a Cobalt foliar spray in orchards to prevent scab, and has had great results. After supplementing a variety like Zestar with cobalt, it then has the mineral needed to process all of it's arginine, and the scab fungus is then unable to survive.
I used their cobalt spray this past year. And saw no evidence of scab on my trees, whereas the year before I had a bad infestation on varieties like Zestar, Honeycrisp, and Wolf River. Foliar sprays do take a lot of work, so my long term plan is to fertilize my soil with Cobalt, and see if that will work as well as the spray when I get my soil up to the desired level.
I know they have also done lots of work with cherry orchards to eliminate canker, and have started working with fireblight in apple orchards as well. They have a product called Seacrop, which I'm told has been effective at preventing fireblight in early tests. Sea-Crop contains natural minersls and organic substances derived from sea water, and can be used as a foliar spray or liquid soil fertilizer. I have not used it.
It's my belief that if you fertilize your soil properly, so that you have the required levels of all of the minerals required by your trees, not just N, P, and K, your trees will be healthy enough to fight off all of the big 4 diseases, no matter the variety of tree. Not only that, but they should then be resistant to insects as well, and produce healthier fruit in the process.
mikmaze
5 year old buck +
life cycles of the pest is good to know also, of course cedar apple rust needs a intermediate host of Juniper, so plantin away from, eliminating them is an option, bit extensive in some areas. Powdery mildew over winters in the leaf litter below th trees that had the mildew, come spring the spores rise up and infect, so one could, given time, remove the leaves under the tree that had mildew and prevent a bad infestation the following year.
Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
With enough intense human intervention any apple can be grown practically anywhere. The key words here are "intense human intervention."
That's fine if someone enjoys doing that, and I wish them the best. Hobbies don't have to make sense or even be productive - they just need to be something we enjoy doing.
But I can tell you that the day will come in everyone's life (sooner or later) that you will be either unwilling or unable to keep babying a bunch of inferior apple trees on life support. It may be sickness, it may be death, it could be lots of things - but regardless of what it is - that day is inevitable. When that day comes, and the intense human intervention stops, then the party ends. Not my cup of tea, but my best wishes go out to anyone who makes the decision to go that route.
That's fine if someone enjoys doing that, and I wish them the best. Hobbies don't have to make sense or even be productive - they just need to be something we enjoy doing.
But I can tell you that the day will come in everyone's life (sooner or later) that you will be either unwilling or unable to keep babying a bunch of inferior apple trees on life support. It may be sickness, it may be death, it could be lots of things - but regardless of what it is - that day is inevitable. When that day comes, and the intense human intervention stops, then the party ends. Not my cup of tea, but my best wishes go out to anyone who makes the decision to go that route.
My point is, that while it may require intense human intervention right now, with a rigorous spraying schedule, we are advancing towards a point in time where all that's required is a soil test and corresponding mineral fertilization. Work smarter, not harder. We aren't there yet, but at least there are some who are working on it.
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
Knowledge is king. But for now, I'm in the DR camp for planting. I'm 3 hours from camp, so our trees won't be hand-held, nor do I want to constantly spray. If they come up with accurate fertilizing advice - in lieu of spraying - I'd be for that.
