2023 Drought vs. Apple Rootstocks

[PoorSand]

The U.S. Drought Monitor has had our area rated as under Severe Drought or Exceptional Drought for most of this summer, plus our soil is very sandy to begin with. I spent most of the day walking around orchards. I have listed below, grouped by rootstock, what I perceived as the average conditions of the apple tree whips under six feet tall that I observed today and that had not received any supplemental watering. I put ballpark sample sizes in parentheses for each grouping.

• B118 (about ten of them) – Most survived, but on all those that survived, the trees died back to the graft unions.
• M111 (a few dozen of them) – Quite a few dead, and most of the alive ones died back to just a few leaves or shoots above the graft union.
• Standard (about a hundred of them) – Quite a few dead and just small leaves on most of the survivors. No new growth.
• Antonovka (about a dozen of them) – All survived, but didn’t put on new growth.
• Dolgo seedling (a few hundred of them) – Nearly all survived and most put on a modest amount of new growth.
• Whips on DIY rootstock (about a dozen and a half of them) that had been DIY stooled from trunk suckers and root suckers of a couple older Dolgo seeding trees that are vigor standouts on this soil – They thrived in the drought, just like the parent trees did.

I hope this information helps somebody. I recall the question of drought tolerance of rootstocks coming up on here from time to time.

 

[Backspasm]

The U.S. Drought Monitor has had our area rated as under Severe Drought or Exceptional Drought for most of this summer, plus our soil is very sandy to begin with. I spent most of the day walking around orchards. I have listed below, grouped by rootstock, what I perceived as the average conditions of the apple tree whips under six feet tall that I observed today and that had not received any supplemental watering. I put ballpark sample sizes in parentheses for each grouping.

• B118 (about ten of them) – Most survived, but on all those that survived, the trees died back to the graft unions.
• M111 (a few dozen of them) – Quite a few dead, and most of the alive ones died back to just a few leaves or shoots above the graft union.
• Standard (about a hundred of them) – Quite a few dead and just small leaves on most of the survivors. No new growth.
• Antonovka (about a dozen of them) – All survived, but didn’t put on new growth.
• Dolgo seedling (a few hundred of them) – Nearly all survived and most put on a modest amount of new growth.
• Whips on DIY rootstock (about a dozen and a half of them) that had been DIY stooled from trunk suckers and root suckers of a couple older Dolgo seeding trees that are vigor standouts on this soil – They thrived in the drought, just like the parent trees did.

I hope this information helps somebody. I recall the question of drought tolerance of rootstocks coming up on here from time to time.

Very helpful! Where did you get your dolgo seedlings?

 

[sandbur]

I am on light to medium soil but do not plant on blow sand. We will see what survives as I have some plantings along the edges of wetlands.

I still prefer dolgo rootstock.

 

[RGrizzzz]

I won't buy anything that isn't dolgo rootstock anymore. The trees are just so much more successful than all the others I've planted.

 

[sandbur]

I won't buy anything that isn't dolgo rootstock anymore. The trees are just so much more successful than all the others I've planted.

Well said.

 

[BuckSnort]

My trees on B118 did better than expected this summer in Central WI. Only lost 3 overall which was a pleasant surprise considering the extremely dry conditions. Was even able to pick some apples for eating.
I did graft some new trees on M-7 and that was a disaster. Many died in the month of June.
I also grafted to some seedling rootstock in the garden and most were successful although growth was less than normal years with the drought.

 

[bigboreblr]

Cant speak of what rootstocks. However, did an experiment this summer. Put 2.5 gallon containers with a 1/8" hole next to my trees. Filled the bucket with water and let it slowly water the rootball. Maybe 10-15 minutes. Trees got the same amount of water during the northeast early summer dry spell. Trees were growing noticeably better. So, I put buckets out on all. I did notice the 1/8" was getting clogged, so I went with 3/16"s and some 1/4" 1/4" still produced good results, but the bucket was empty in about 5 minutes. 3/16" had minimal clogging, about 10% had to be fussed with when watered. Did both apple trees and pine / spruce trees.

Still tempted to rent a ditch witch and put an irrigation system in. Would like to see an traditional orchard setup. Seen the new style with small trees on trellises. After the november rut, I will rent a core aerator and go all around my young tree sites.

Is there a place I can purchase both antonovka and dolgo at the same place? Maybe even P18 and one of the 2?

 

[H20fwler]

I have loamy clay here, for my soil type M111 thrives best wet or dry. Dolgo does fine but tends to sucker more in my dirt.

 

[bigboreblr]

The antonovka, was it seedling or grafted?

Id take a guess thst any seedling would be better than any graft with the summer you guys had.

I got a antonovka that didnt take grafts for 2 years. Letting her be an antonovka at camp. Makibg room for a m111 empire.

That seedling grew about 4 ft tall with easily a dozen branches, despite rejecting a tongue and whip.

 

[bigboreblr]

I bought an Arkansas Black on a whim from Stark Nurseries when they had a sale on it.

Thy say its low bearing. I was wondering why they were promoting a tree that doesn't make many apples. Looked into it some more, it has high heat tolerance. Maybe a low bearing tree is better for drought prone areas.

We look for a mix of trees to cover different months of the sesaon, and even some for late frosts. Maybe having a few southern trees in the mix might be a good idea.