Its simply time to jump in

[TMIL]

I'm not waiting any longer. I've owned my ground for 10 years and always knew that I wanted apples, but I've never taken the plunge. I'm going to start relatively small with 10-15 trees. And the plan will be to plant more in the future.

I've looked around and its kinda late to be ordering now, when you're picky. I have found that Century Farm has Goldrush, Enterprise, and Arkansas Black on MM111. I'm targeting those because I've read about them on this forum as late-dropping, disease resistant varieties. I want to start with those for obvious reasons and I plan to add earlier-dropping apples next year.

As I contemplate my order, 2 other apples have caught my eye at Century. Rockingham Red claims to drop from Sept-Late Nov. Yates is a smaller apple that drops very late. Does anyone have insight with either of these apples? They seem great, but I figure there must be a reason they are not on the 'must have' list here. If the issue is disease resistance, I'm not interested. However, if the reason is climate related, I need to check them out further. I'm blessed, compared to my northerly brethren, with a deep silt loam soil located down in Zone 6b. Perhaps there are other varieties I should look at, considering my location? I appreciate any input.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Never heard of Rockingham red. Yates, I believe, is a good deer apple. I think Native Hunter in Kentucky has Yates at his place. If I remember correctly, he posted a pic of a Yates. Maybe he can give you some info on it. If you're looking for disease resistance, get some Liberty apple trees too. Wolf River is another good stalwart for deer. It'll help if we know what state you're in - planting zones don't always tell the full story.

 

[Turkey Creek]

I have not heard of Rockingham Red either, Yates can be a good tree. I sent you a PM as well.

 

[TMIL]

BnBs - I'm in Southern Illinois. Liberty will be at the top of my list next year when I get some earlier-dropping apples. I'd like to get a few different crabs also.

TC - I got your PM, I will be in touch.

Thanks!
Trent

 

[Jordan Selsor]

Im new at this with no long term experience so for what its worth I planted all the same trees you listed above including liberty. Of all the trees the liberty grew the best. They are way ahead of my other trees. Enterprise did second best. I planted 2 honey crisp and they did not grow near as well as the others. I should have listened to the guys on here an their opinions of this finicky tree. Look into pears too. I planted kiefer an moon glow that are growing like weeds. Gonna go with some olympic asian's next yr from a forum member on here that I believe has reached out to you;)

 

[j-bird]

TMIL IF you go container tree route - get trees with good form. I got lazy and bought container trees because they where on sale. I got one that the form is just terrible. I am litterally having to start over as it essentially has 4 leaders but nothing close to being central in nature. Also give crabs a look - They seem to requie a little less care (but only use ornamentals for pollinators). Be prepared to put as much if not more into protecting the trees as the cost of the trees themselves.

 

[Jim Timber]

Site prep and caging was about $15 a tree all-in for me. That's remesh cage, weed fabric, window screen, and gravel mulch. I'll add t-posts next year too to prevent the remesh from being knocked over. I would've done it this fall yet, but the orchard is now buried and I don't have a snowmobile that runs.

 

[Jim Timber]

:p Sucks growing old don't it?

I just found grey in my sideburns - I thought my hair going south was bad, now what's left is changing colors. :eek:

 

[TMIL]

Ha ha! My beard has lots of gray in it! But I have a 14 year-old son who is getting pretty serious about hunting. I guess bagging 3 deer in 2 days as a 13 yr-old will do that to you! The trees will mostly be for him. I'm aware of the measures suggested to protect the trees and, trust me, I'll have teenage boy (slave) labor!! Here he is plowing a plot for oats/PTT this year.

http://www.habitat-talk.com/index.php?threads/short-video-plowing-plot-with-little-old-tractor.1236/

Oh yeah, that's him in my avatar. He was sitting beside me when I took that 11-point typical when he was 9 I believe.

 

[Jim Timber]

Mine didn't - I yank those effers as soon as I find them! :cool: If I keep it up at this rate in a couple more years my goatee will look like a 14 yr old boy's. :eek:

 

[j-bird]

I find I'm not loosing my hair - it's just migrating south to my back!

 

[Jim Timber]

Yeah, mine too. Well some of mine stopped in my ears on the way down. :mad:

 

[TMIL]

Yank 'em?!?!?!? I have earned every single one of those gray hairs!!

 

[Jim Timber]

I'm not over the hill yet. Maybe next year I'll embrace the color shift, but for the next 10 months I ain't grey! :p

 

[kskid]

I planted 2 honey crisp and they did not grow near as well as the others. I should have listened to the guys on here an their opinions of this finicky tree.

X2 Never again for this tree.

 

[Maya]

Why do you think HC's are not good to grow for deer? They are somewhat upright growing and need a lot of training, and they are biannual bearing, but they grow fast, good disease resistance, and pretty good cold tolerance. I'm not saying it is at the top of my list for deer, but "finicky"? I would take them above many of the scab prone trees being mentioned.

 

[deepsleep]

I agree on HC, so far mine have grown well, and have started to fruit on B118 (3rd leaf). Also, you mentioned Yates. I planted several in zone 5b and they have been great. They seem to be very precocious and tried to bear in 1st and 2nd leaf on M111. They are pretty tasty as long as they aren't too ripe. They get mealy when overripe, but stay on the tree. I was at my place this past weekend, and the Yates have not dropped many (if any) yet. Of note, they are small, more of a large crabapple, IMO. I would say of all the varieties I planted (lots), Goldrush, Yates, Centennial, and Chestnut have been the most precocious. If I were you, I would plant a mix of trees people on here recommend, Liberty, Enterprise, Goldrush, Late hanging crabs, etc., and get those in the ground right away. After that, you can continue research and add other apples. I'm at that stage--wondering why the heck I didn't plant any Russets years ago, for example. Also, don't rule out pears. My Kieffers and Asian Pears have done fantastic, and are more precocious, faster growing, and reliably bearing than the apples.

 

[Jim Timber]

The honeycrisp I planted was meant to be for us. The top died back pretty severely last winter, and then promptly started trying to rebuild the tree this spring.

 

[Jordan Selsor]

I will be surprised if my honey crisp make it through the winter. They look sick. Not sure what went wrong with them. They were puny compared to the other trees I got from burnt ridge.
You all think I should prune them back heavily???

 

[Jim Timber]

I will be surprised if my honey crisp make it through the winter. They look sick. Not sure what went wrong with them. They were puny compared to the other trees I got from burnt ridge.
You all think I should prune them back heavily???

What do you mean when you say sick?