Little Pup thinks it's already a Big Dog

Native Hunter

5 year old buck +
This little pup thinks it is already a Big Dog...

ctCKDyd.jpg
 
Was that a whip?

Mine were whips from Blue Hill. Planted last weekend. Showing signs of life. Rather not see flowers right away though. :)
 
Was that a whip?

Mine were whips from Blue Hill. Planted last weekend. Showing signs of life. Rather not see flowers right away though. :)
Yes, a whip planted this spring.
 
That is fantastic. The first apple trees planted here many, many years ago took up to ten years to get any blooms. I planted a row of Big Dog whips two days ago and blooms would be great to see. Naturally the apples will be picked off if any begin to form this spring.
 
It will be interesting to see how Big Dog performs in other climates. Drop times for me can vary about two weeks for nearly all of my apples, depending on weather for that year. Most often, Big Dog starts dropping about the 25th of October with a slow drop through most of the winter.

I have lots of red cedars within 50 -100 feet and cedar apple rust has never been a problem on this tree. I have not seen fireblight on this tree either, but fireblight pressure is not real high here.
e9b590eb3547ae0beab22b99aa1ecb01.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
That is fantastic. The first apple trees planted here many, many years ago took up to ten years to get any blooms. I planted a row of Big Dog whips two days ago and blooms would be great to see. Naturally the apples will be picked off if any begin to form this spring.

2e97ed307338e57fa08a420675d260ad.jpg

Your area might be a good test case for fireblight.

Deer use the ‘mother ‘ tree in my yard all winter. I get a heavy crop every other year and a few apples on, the in between years.

I have three or four top works that are on different year schedules. Some topworks are on dolgo and a few are on a wild swamp crab.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
It will be interesting to see how Big Dog performs in other climates. Drop times for me can vary about two weeks for nearly all of my apples, depending on weather for that year. Most often, Big Dog starts dropping about the 25th of October with a slow drop through most of the winter.

I have lots of red cedars within 50 -100 feet and cedar apple rust has never been a problem on this tree. I have not seen fireblight on this tree either, but fireblight pressure is not real high here.
e9b590eb3547ae0beab22b99aa1ecb01.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Red cedars are in the background.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
It will be interesting to see how Big Dog performs in other climates. Drop times for me can vary about two weeks for nearly all of my apples, depending on weather for that year. Most often, Big Dog starts dropping about the 25th of October with a slow drop through most of the winter.

I have lots of red cedars within 50 -100 feet and cedar apple rust has never been a problem on this tree. I have not seen fireblight on this tree either, but fireblight pressure is not real high here.
e9b590eb3547ae0beab22b99aa1ecb01.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I agree that it will be good to see how it does here. I've always admired the pictures you show of how it performs in your area.
 
I agree that it will be good to see how it does here. I've always admired the pictures you show of how it performs in your area.

I would also like to see how Big Dog on dolgo performs in the northern plains like South Dakota and North Dakota. I feel dolgo would be a good rootstock for that location.

What is your preferred rootstock for wildlife in your location?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I would also like to see how Big Dog on dolgo performs in the northern plains like South Dakota and North Dakota. I feel dolgo would be a good rootstock for that location.

What is your preferred rootstock for wildlife in your location?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

MM111 does excellent here, and that is what most of my best trees are on. It anchors very solid, and I've never experienced any problems with it. I have a couple of trees on MM106, and they are okay because I have them planted on a hillside. However, I am told that they are not a good choice for wet areas because of collar rot.

I've had a lot of trouble with B118 trees falling over. My solution for the B118 trees is to make a big hump of dirt above the ground at the base and let them take root above the graft. So far this seems to be working well. I also brace them for a while after doing this. However, this is a lot of extra work and will keep me away from B118 in the future.

I like the idea of using Dolgo as a rootstock. It's anchoring characteristics and disease resistance qualities are proven already. I think it will work just fine here in our area.
 
Some of myB118’s are tipping. Good idea about adding dirt around them. Do you use fence posts to anchor the trees?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Some of myB118’s are tipping. Good idea about adding dirt around them. Do you use fence posts to anchor the trees?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yes, I use fence posts, and at some places I have just guyed to nearby trees with plastic coated clothes line.
 
Steve, We get 70 MPH here and more on and off and it doesn't even make the news as a big event--just another hard blow. With all of the wild apple trees here, I can only recall ever seeing two that blew over. They were both growing inches from drainages. Of course being wild they are all on standard roots. I think that alone tells us something.

Fire Blight does show on some trees here (really only a handful) and I'm thinking that Fire Blight may have not been here for at least a sixty year period. When I first spotted it about five years or so ago I had no clue what it was, just that I had never before seen apple tree leaves drying up on a branch in the summer and then the telltale blackened sections of branch spotted later.

Art, I know how you feel about Big Dog. It has shown to take everything your area throws at it but will another area throw a new curve at it that it can't take? That's how I feel about Turning Point. It is a super great tree here with the conditions thrown at it so far, but will it perform so flawlessly in all or most of the neighborhoods it is now planted in throughout the country? I don't know but I sure hope both of those trees are as great and special in their new homes as they are in their original homes. If so both trees will feed many thousands of deer in their new homes.
 
I got scions from Art a couple years ago of his Garden/Big Dog, they also bloomed the year after grafting for me. Probably pick off the fruit for a couple more years. Excited to see what it does, been a vigorous grower for me.
 
Steve, We get 70 MPH here and more on and off and it doesn't even make the news as a big event--just another hard blow. With all of the wild apple trees here, I can only recall ever seeing two that blew over. They were both growing inches from drainages. Of course being wild they are all on standard roots. I think that alone tells us something.

Fire Blight does show on some trees here (really only a handful) and I'm thinking that Fire Blight may have not been here for at least a sixty year period. When I first spotted it about five years or so ago I had no clue what it was, just that I had never before seen apple tree leaves drying up on a branch in the summer and then the telltale blackened sections of branch spotted later.

Art, I know how you feel about Big Dog. It has shown to take everything your area throws at it but will another area throw a new curve at it that it can't take? That's how I feel about Turning Point. It is a super great tree here with the conditions thrown at it so far, but will it perform so flawlessly in all or most of the neighborhoods it is now planted in throughout the country? I don't know but I sure hope both of those trees are as great and special in their new homes as they are in their original homes. If so both trees will feed many thousands of deer in their new homes.

Dave, I'm excited to get both Big Dog and Turning Point. Experimenting with new cultivars is a lot of enjoyment for me. The knowledge gained from trying some northern apples in the south should provide us with a lot of useful information that we won't be able to find anywhere else.

Ryan and I already know that some cultivars do well in both locations (i.e. Priscilla and Yates). We just ripen earlier down my way. Hopefully that will be the case with many others.
 
Last edited:
Dave, I'm excited to get both Big Dog and Turning Point. Experimenting with new cultivars is a lot of enjoyment for me. The knowledge gained from trying some northern apples in the south should provide us with a lot of useful information that we won't be able to find anywhere else.

Ryan and I already know that some cultivars do well in both locations (i.e. Priscilla and Yates). We just ripen earlier down my way. Hopefully that will be the case with many others.

At age 66 1/2, I am still experimenting with seedlings. I hope I am around long enough to evaluate them. I see an Almata seedling has broken the surface of the ground in my garden. I moved two seedlings from the garden and have three more to move from seed planted fall of 2019. I have limited myself to about 4 seedlings per year, while I used to grow 50 plus.

I also will be planting some dolgo seedlings ( rootstocks) with red stems. Those that get CAR will be weeded out. I hope to get a two inch, red fleshed crab. They might all end up like red splendor. Who knows.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
One more year and I couldn't believe my eyes. I forgot to check it before today and found this. And look how clean the fruit and leaves look.

IzlqTNS.jpg
Little guy looks nice. If you pluck a few of those apples, doesn't the tree grow more that year? Did that with my younger toringo crabapples and potted citrus trees this year.
 
Little guy looks nice. If you pluck a few of those apples, doesn't the tree grow more that year? Did that with my younger toringo crabapples and potted citrus trees this year.
Yes, that is the right thing to do.
 
My trees just bloomed!
 
Top