White Birch Farm
5 year old buck +
Several produced a few apples this year. I anticipate the rest of the dozen trees I have will begin next year.
Franklins lookin good.
- Thread starter White Birch Farm
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Suburbhunter
5 year old buck +
Looks good. How old are the trees?
White Birch Farm
5 year old buck +
Planted as whips in 18.
Apple Junkie
5 year old buck +
CAR is not an issue.
I start many of my bare root trees in pots at home for the first summer. There a a lot of cedars close by, so I can see if a variety is going to be susceptible to CAR right from the start. The Franklin I planted showed just a very, very slight evidence of CAR. Varieties that are susceptible to CAR get it much worse. For example, pics are the from the same year... first the Franklin, then a Wickson for comparison.
I start many of my bare root trees in pots at home for the first summer. There a a lot of cedars close by, so I can see if a variety is going to be susceptible to CAR right from the start. The Franklin I planted showed just a very, very slight evidence of CAR. Varieties that are susceptible to CAR get it much worse. For example, pics are the from the same year... first the Franklin, then a Wickson for comparison.
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Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
My experiences with Franklin so far go along with what Apple Junkie and Chummer have posted - CAR is not a problem with Franklin but Fireblight is a problem. If you think back to when we first started hearing about this variety, it was stated that Fireblight was not a problem in the area where it originated, so there was no historical experience on how it would react to Fireblight when planted in other areas. I knew this when I planted my trees and knew I was taking a chance on Fireblight. However, I like experimenting and trying new things unless there is a good reason not to.
I do recall reading somewhere that S. Bros. did some kind of a test to see if it would be resistant. I think that was on this forum but can't swear to it. But, I trust very little that S. Bros. says anymore since the company isn't what it once was.
Now, with that said, even though I now know that it is prone to the disease, I don't know yet if it will be bad enough to be a deal killer. Another thing we don't know is if age will give the tree more resistance. I have grown a couple of varieties that improved resistance as the tree aged. Unfortunately, every apple in the area of my Franklins lost their crops to the late freeze we had this year, so I'm going to need more years to evaluate.
I do recall reading somewhere that S. Bros. did some kind of a test to see if it would be resistant. I think that was on this forum but can't swear to it. But, I trust very little that S. Bros. says anymore since the company isn't what it once was.
Now, with that said, even though I now know that it is prone to the disease, I don't know yet if it will be bad enough to be a deal killer. Another thing we don't know is if age will give the tree more resistance. I have grown a couple of varieties that improved resistance as the tree aged. Unfortunately, every apple in the area of my Franklins lost their crops to the late freeze we had this year, so I'm going to need more years to evaluate.
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chummer
5 year old buck +
You won’t get FB until you have blossoms. These were great trees until this year. FB killed the entire branch the blossoms were on.
Knehrke
5 year old buck +
Yikes! I have six that have been in the ground since '17, and they have yet to blossom but are doing fine otherwise. One of the Asian pear and a native pear both near them have been affected by fire blight though, so I know it can be an issue here. I will keep my fingers crossed.
Apple Junkie
5 year old buck +
I'm sad to report recent problems with my Franklin. This tree seemed to be thriving until just recently. In the last week to 10 days, leaves throughout the entire tree are shriveling up and dying. I am no expert on fire blight, but it sure looks similar to what chummer saw on his tree. I planted this tree is 2017 and it has done quite well up until now. I plan to wait and see what happens later this year, and next spring. Hopefully it will recover, but I am not counting on it. All the other trees are doing fine. Pics tell it all... last year (1), then this past week (2)
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Apple Junkie
5 year old buck +
I agree BuckSnort, I hope this is an isolated issue here and there. On paper, the Franklin looks like an ideal tree, and it has been for me until just recently.
chummer
5 year old buck +
Only other thing it could be is a borer but it sure looks like FB. I had such high hopes for these trees, they were growing great and had no winter damage through 3 winters.
Luckily fireblight has not been present in my orchard. If any of you suffering from fireblight problems feel like experimenting, I would recommend finding a fish hydrolosate fertilizer. Most of them can be used as a foliar spray, or through fertigation, or both. An example product would be Seashield. https://www.advancingecoag.com/seashield
Knehrke
5 year old buck +
We had a similar phenomenon happen to one of our other varieties recently, but it didn't blossom this year, so I doubt it would have been fire blight. I haven't checked to see if it was girdled or perhaps voles got to the roots, but I also wonder if the drought played some role. It has been a strange year.
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
Apple Junkie - could you possibly zip-lock bag some leaves & shoots to send to Cornell or your local county extension office for verifying what the exact problem is?? Just a thought.
