Big Dog - first year

Native Hunter

5 year old buck +
I planted this Big Dog this spring. Don't scold me for not picking the fruit off the first year. I couldn't help myself due to the excitement....

sxUEiac.jpg
 
Where did you buy the tree from ? looks great !
 
Where did you buy the tree from ? looks great !

The tree came from Blue Hill Wildlife Nursery. The Big Dog cultivar originally came from Sandbur on this forum. Blue Hill sells them now.
 
Is it showing any CAR?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I had some rootstock suckers that I planted years ago. They were about 10-12 feet high. I topworked them to Big Dog and Buckman Crab.

I also did 3 last year.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Is it showing any CAR?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
It is growing very, very clean for my area. I see almost zero CAR. I also had 3 trees (different cultivars) nearby that had some fireblight, but none on this one.
 
I might add that those apples are the cleanest from bug damage of any I have seen this year.
 
I might add that those apples are the cleanest from bug damage of any I have seen this year.

Nativ ... when did you plant that tree? Amazed at the development of the lateral limbs.
 
Nativ ... when did you plant that tree? Amazed at the development of the lateral limbs.

I know it's hard to believe, but I planted that tree this spring. I have two other Blue Hill trees planted this spring that are also fruiting. One is Whole Season Crab, and the other is Primetime Crab.
 
PS - I think some of the dark streaks on a few of those leaves are from my severe storm this spring. They called it 85 MPH straight winds, but I know we also had a tornado. A few yards from this tree the wind twisted off and carried off an entire pear tree that was 25 feet tall. I have searched a 200 yard circle and still have not found the tree. I think it was carried off my land.
 
It will be interesting to see what drop time is in your climate. I suspect it will be earlier than for me.

The last week in October and first part of November is typical for me. However, last year we had a severe drought and it started dropping earlier.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
It will be interesting to see what drop time is in your climate. I suspect it will be earlier than for me.

The last week in October and first part of November is typical for me. However, last year we had a severe drought and it started dropping earlier.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I have noticed that my drop times for some other trees are generally about a month earlier than what is shown on the Blue Hill chart. And like you said, the weather can affect what I would call “typical drop times.”
 
The tree came from Blue Hill Wildlife Nursery. The Big Dog cultivar originally came from Sandbur on this forum. Blue Hill sells them now.
This really excites me! I’ve been talking with Ryan about appropriate trees for my zone. I’m planning on 20+ trees from BH nursery this next spring. Ryan seems like a top notch guy from our conversations.
 
I don’t consider Big Dog to be edible.

I am aware of three places with Big Dog. Blue Hill, Turkey Creek, and Midwest Deer Trees(Quicky Trees is a branch of the same business).

All do a good job and seem to be honest people to me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I know it's hard to believe, but I planted that tree this spring. I have two other Blue Hill trees planted this spring that are also fruiting. One is Whole Season Crab, and the other is Primetime Crab.
Wow that's crazy , I planted Turning point , Whole Season, Son of cal, Roadkill and a Kerr from Blue Hill LAST spring and still no fruit . Maybe my location (on a slight slope) or soil is Poor ?. I still give them 4 gallons of water once a week , when it doesn't rain or is very hot out.
 
This really excites me! I’ve been talking with Ryan about appropriate trees for my zone. I’m planning on 20+ trees from BH nursery this next spring. Ryan seems like a top notch guy from our conversations.
I've been to Ryan's place and talked to him many times by phone and e-mail. He's all about the trees ...... BIG-TIME. He IS a really good guy!! AND - he's always searching for new, DR, well-proven apple and crab varieties to graft & sell. I pointed Ryan to a couple many-years-proven trees that he'll take scion from to graft. Those are from zone 5 / 6 border, in a cold mountain valley, so I think they'll do well for anyone in those zonal areas. He searches for new proven trees with a number of guys from several states. His nursery impressed me when I visited.
 
Wow that's crazy , I planted Turning point , Whole Season, Son of cal, Roadkill and a Kerr from Blue Hill LAST spring and still no fruit . Maybe my location (on a slight slope) or soil is Poor ?. I still give them 4 gallons of water once a week , when it doesn't rain or is very hot out.
Really this is more the norm but sometimes in transplanting it shocks the trees into a fruiting state. Next year it wouldn’t surprise me if my Big Dogs don’t bloom and are back to a vegetative growth state again for a couple years.
 
Thought fruit buds are developed before a tree goes into winter dormancy. Expect a tree that blooms same year as planted really had a great growing season the year prior at the nursery and if left in place at the nursery would continue to bloom every year. But once shipped out and planted somewhere else transplant shock restricts future growth for that year and likely why the next year the tree does not bloom as it does not develop much for buds to bloom a yr later

Had a crab apple completely girdled for a couple of feet one winter. Just on the energy it had stored in its buds the prior fall, it bloomed, leafed out and croaked by end of the summer.
 
Most of my trees are fairly young but I think I only had blossoms on one tree. That includes plums, apples, and pears. Out of all of them I have one honey crisp that has about 3 or 4 apples on it. That tree fruited in it's first spring last year. It was a larger bare root though, that I got from the local conservation district.
 
Top