2015 Pruning pics

[sandbur]

You and your crabapples ;)

I agree that crabs should be at least part of every "deer apple" guy's plantings. At the very least a few ornamental crabs to aid in pollination (plus they're purdy...I planted quite a few Prairie Fire crabs around the house to make the wife happy).

edit...if a guy doesn't have the room for any crabs..you could always t-bud an ornamental crab on one branch of each tree for pollination too. I did that to most of my trees on my old place...more so just to say I did it than anything else I suppose.

I just went and got what I call an apple sauce milk shake. Dolgo applesauce, equal, and milk.

I think we should plant crab apples in the north country and then see if we have room for any other apples...

I did get an email reply from the apple orchard that is just north of foggy's. He is surely on sand. I need to recheck which rootstock he likes best. He said pH correction is important. I asked him if he worries about boron or sulfur-no reply, yet. There is another thread with a link to an article on apple fertilization.

 

[CrazyEd]

I have a Summercrisp pear on OHxF87 that is growing like a weed in my sand. I did backfill the whole and use watersorb. I think it might have 4x4 lumite with gravel, so far I am impressed.

 

[sandbur]

Ed- do you have any pears that are bearing fruit?

Any fireblight, die back, or sunscauld on pears after last winter?

 

[sandbur]

Ed- about 25 years ago, I planted some flowering crab seedlings on the place where I lived and I put a 2 foot by 2 foot Vis Pore plastic barrier around them. It is black plastic with some holes punched in it and a specific side must be on the top. I have mentioned this before, but you might want to check their website. My trees did well, but this is on better soil than your sand.
Now I would put cedar mulch chips over the vis pore mat.

 

[sandbur]

I just went and got what I call an apple sauce milk shake. Dolgo applesauce, equal, and milk.

I think we should plant crab apples in the north country and then see if we have room for any other apples...

I did get an email reply from the apple orchard that is just north of foggy's. He is surely on sand. I need to recheck which rootstock he likes best. He said pH correction is important. I asked him if he worries about boron or sulfur-no reply, yet. There is another thread with a link to an article on apple fertilization.

The guy withthe orchard north of foggy is on light soil and he prefers m7. He says trees reach a height of 15 feet or so. It would be interesting to see how often he irrigates or waters his trees.

 

[CrazyEd]

Ed- do you have any pears that are bearing fruit?

Any fireblight, die back, or sunscauld on pears after last winter?

No.

No, no, no.

 

[wiscwhip]

6 red delicious won't pollinate themselves, that could be part of your problem.

Well there you go, just another item that I had no clue about, especially not back at the time we planted them. They do get a fair amount of fruit now, so it makes me wonder if they are RD at all? They could be, they look very similar to store bought RD? I don't know how far away bees will carry pollen, or how far it would drift on the wind, but something is pollinating those trees every year? I do know we have a few crotchety old wild trees that look like they hold some marble sized fruit that could be some type of crabapple I guess? I never paid them much attention over the years, because they were always such sparse producers, some years they would have a few hundred "fruits" and other years they would have only a few handfuls. I guess I pretty much ignored them thinking they were some type of wild cherry or other such fruit producing tree? The fruits were always gone by mid to late summer, so I didn't look at them as being a beneficial tree for hunting purposes. The few trees we did have around the area were few and far between though and most were on adjacent properties hundreds of yards away?

 

[sandbur]

Well...he has a commercial orchard and I don't. No way would I ever recommend planting m7 on light soil...unless they could be irrigated weekly, or the water table was only a few feet (like 2-3) below the surface.

We can visit with him at some time. I think foggy's watertable is high.

 

[BJE80]

Back to pruning. I plan on doing mine on March 21st. I'll try and pre and post pictures. I'm as wet behind the ears as they come.

 

[SmallChunk]

It looks like Wednesday it will be 9 degrees and nice after that. Might have to start sometime after that!

 

[CrazyEd]

Looks like there is a good chance I will be helping Weston's Orchard do some pruning Saturday afternoon. I'll be sure to snap a few more before and after shots of some of their giant old trees. **feeling excited**

 

[buckvelvet]

Ed if there are sirens going off around Weston's Orchard this Sunday should we presume you stole some heritage variety scions and are running for it? :)

 

[CrazyEd]

Ed if there are sirens going off around Weston's Orchard this Sunday should we presume you stole some heritage variety scions and are running for it? :)

I won't be taking anything I'm not supposed to. But I'll be honest I have a list of wants =)

 

[CrazyEd]

You're going to have to buy 50 acres of open ground for all of those fruit trees Ed :)

I know. I already have around 100 that i grafted last year in my garden, and i'm putting another hundred there in about a month for this years grafts. Yeah yeah, you warned me. :)

Just trying to live up to my handle over here......

 

[gunfun13]

Ed, are you grafting to purchased rootstock, established trees, or to seedlings?

 

[CrazyEd]

Ed, are you grafting to purchased rootstock, established trees, or to seedlings?

A vast majority to purchased stock. Last year was the same although I did graft to one established tree too.

 

[Lot2Learn]

Winter went out with bang here in Zone 7a. While we’re just a month or so from leaves emerging on the apple trees and the forecast lows won't dip below freezing for the rest of the month, Winter’s last gasp brought a solid snow and temps twenty degrees below normal.

Nevertheless, the pruning was fun!

Also, I discovered at least one advantage you northern guys have…it’s easier to see where you’re sprinkling fertilizer with snow as the background!

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Nice looking set-up you have there L2L. Lots of sun on the trees. I'm liking those brush rows at the edges, too. Snow DOES make it easy to see when tossing pelletized lime around the trees - or fertilizer. I like to throw lime down on top of snow so it can trickle / leach down as the snow melts and takes it into the soil. Good luck w/ the orchard !

 

[CrazyEd]

I was at the farm yesterday and decided to take some more pics of my apple trees - post pruning.

I believe this is a 4th leaf honeygold.

5th Leaf Liberty MM111

Another 5th Leaf Liberty MM111

6th Leaf Goldrush MM.111

 

[CrazyEd]

5th Leaf Pristine MM.111

4th Leaf Honeycrisp B.118

4th leaf Kerr B.118. This tree produced 1/2 dozen fruit last year.

I think 4th leaf black oxford.

4th Leaf Chestnut Crab MM111