Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
There's a reason my Weeping Limbertwig is weeping.........
Theres a Reason........
- Thread starter Native Hunter
- Start date
Merle Hawggard
5 year old buck +
That's a good reason to weep!
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Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
Which limbertwig variety is this? So far Victoria is my "limberest" limbertwig.
That's a Brushy Mountain Limbertwig. It has a massive crop of apples this year and did the same thing two years ago. Last year it had a decent crop but nothing special. I think it has been in the ground 6 or 7 years. It is one of the true weeping types and weeps even when not loaded down with fruit.
Three years ago I saw enough FB on that tree to worry me a little bit. Last year saw just a tad but not bad. I think it will be one of those trees that may occasionally show a little FB, but not enough to worry about. It seems to be immune to CAR, and as you can see has only light Scab spotting on the leaves.
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Jordan Selsor
5 year old buck +
Dang you Steve!
I got bit by the limbertwig bug now from all your pics an feedback! Been reading up on all the different varieties. Cleared a bunch of oaks today to make room for another apple orchard. Gonna be an expensive tree order this yr...
I got bit by the limbertwig bug now from all your pics an feedback! Been reading up on all the different varieties. Cleared a bunch of oaks today to make room for another apple orchard. Gonna be an expensive tree order this yr...
Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
Jordan, with all those good helpers you have, you need a bunch of Limbertwigs. My Caney Fork has a decent crop this year too.
Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
I don't know because I haven't tasted them all. I have tasted Black, Caney Fork, Myers Royal, and Brushy Mountain. Of those, I think I prefer Black, but all of them are good. The guy at Big Horse Creek Farm told me in an email once that they took a bunch of apples to school and let the kids taste them. He said Caney Fork was chosen by a lot of them.
I mentioned this before, but I lost my Black Limbertwig at home due to a new road coming through. We tried moving it with a backhoe, but results were not good. Some of the other trees we moved did okay.
greyphase
5 year old buck +
I have a pair of 4 year old Brushy Mountain's that are each carrying a few apples this year and their both beginning to "weep". I liked the taste of the couple of Myers Royal's that I ate last fall. I've read reports of people liking the taste of Black Limbertwig but it will be several more years before I taste any from my orchards.
Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
Thought you guys might like to see an update on this tree. The apples are starting to get some color, but still some time before ripening.
Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
I think it depends a lot on the area of the country grown in. I seem to recall the apples being ripe starting in Late September going well into October, but I see web sites that say it is a November ripening apple.
PS: Have one limb near the top that is broken and hanging from fruit overload. However, I think I can make a clean cut below the break and the tree shape won't be affected much. There is no such thing as a central leader on a weeping limbertwig....LOL.
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sandbur
5 year old buck +
I can’t bleep a central leader on my chestnut crabs either.
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Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
I'm starting to think that another Limbertwig I'm growing may prove to be one of the best. It's the one they call "Old Fashioned Limbertwig."
I have a young one that I had to dig up and move. The year before it was moved it had 3 or 4 apples which looked extremely clean - no bug damage or blemishes. They were so low that the deer picked them off before ripening, so I didn't get to see them ripe or taste them. This year it had a few more apples, and a deer stood on it's hind legs and ripped most of them off the tree. There are two apples left that I hope make it, because I want to see what they end up looking like. As of right now, they are super clean with no bug damage at all.
To further my good feelings about this apple, I've seen no CAR at all, and both years that it has flowered, there has not been a hint of fireblight. I think I'm going to go right now and put some screen wire around the two apples left this year and see if I can save them from the deer and birds. That will probably be my best chance of seeing one ripe until the tree gets bigger.
I have a young one that I had to dig up and move. The year before it was moved it had 3 or 4 apples which looked extremely clean - no bug damage or blemishes. They were so low that the deer picked them off before ripening, so I didn't get to see them ripe or taste them. This year it had a few more apples, and a deer stood on it's hind legs and ripped most of them off the tree. There are two apples left that I hope make it, because I want to see what they end up looking like. As of right now, they are super clean with no bug damage at all.
To further my good feelings about this apple, I've seen no CAR at all, and both years that it has flowered, there has not been a hint of fireblight. I think I'm going to go right now and put some screen wire around the two apples left this year and see if I can save them from the deer and birds. That will probably be my best chance of seeing one ripe until the tree gets bigger.
Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
The Bushy Mountain Limbertwigs are getting close to being finished. There may be 15 - 20 apples left on the tree as of today. I've been going out every morning and eating a few. The taste is just excellent - sweet, with that familiar limbertwig twang.
My FIL commented to me today that he thought they were up at the top of the best apples he has ever tasted. I have to agree. If I see this variety go though a bad FB year with few problems, I will be recommending it in the future.
My FIL commented to me today that he thought they were up at the top of the best apples he has ever tasted. I have to agree. If I see this variety go though a bad FB year with few problems, I will be recommending it in the future.
Merle Hawggard
5 year old buck +
I'm pretty pumped about all these Limbertwig apples thanks to you and Rick.
So far they've been great growers, but I'm still a few years off apples.
Cue the old Heinz ketchup commercial from the '70's, anticipation.
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So far they've been great growers, but I'm still a few years off apples.
Cue the old Heinz ketchup commercial from the '70's, anticipation.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk
blueKYstream
5 year old buck +
Any updates on your Limbertwigs? I've been pondering an order of apples this Fall (and maybe one in the Spring). I'm debating if I want to plant crab apples from a place like NWC or planting some disease resistant apples. It would mainly be for wildlife purposes, but having something I can snack on during a hunt would be cool (but not the deciding factor). I spoke with David at Century Farms...great guy! There isn't a whole lot of information out there on some of the heritage apples. He recommended considering the following along with some others on my list:
Harrison – October
Keener Seedling – Can hang until November
Old Fashion Lumbertwig – Ripens late October/mainly in November?
Virginia or Old Fashioned Winesap (doesn't seem like a better option than Arkansas Black to me from a disease standpoint but not sure)
Is your Old Fashion Limbertwig or other Limbertwig varieties vigorous? I have cattle on half my property. I spray around my trees, but they still like to mess the fence up to pick the leaves from my young pear trees. Fortunately, they haven't eaten the leader. I think they'll be fine if they can put on some vertical growth. The cows seem to leave the persimmon and chestnut trees alone though. If some of the above varieties are slow to establish, I may try crab apples on that portion of the property and perhaps apples on the other.
Some of my other considerations (x = almost certainly planting):
x Arkansas Black – October/Nov – Poor Pollinator
x Enterprise – Late October – Avg Pollinator (Group 2)
x Liberty – Sept/Oct – Poor Pollinator (Group 2), Self Fertile
x Yates - October
Dolgo
Freedom
Galarina
Hewes
Kerr
Trailman
Wolf River
Chestnut
Black Oxford
Sundance
King David - reported drop dates are extremely variable with this apple (Late August or Late October)
There was 3 Callaway crabs at Menards the other day but they were $60. Good looking trees though.
I'm still waiting to hear back from Cummins on a few varieties as well as some of the pros/cons of P.18. They don't have much on MM.111, so I'd likely have to go with B.118 if I went through them. Any info you got would be greatly appreciated!
Harrison – October
Keener Seedling – Can hang until November
Old Fashion Lumbertwig – Ripens late October/mainly in November?
Virginia or Old Fashioned Winesap (doesn't seem like a better option than Arkansas Black to me from a disease standpoint but not sure)
Is your Old Fashion Limbertwig or other Limbertwig varieties vigorous? I have cattle on half my property. I spray around my trees, but they still like to mess the fence up to pick the leaves from my young pear trees. Fortunately, they haven't eaten the leader. I think they'll be fine if they can put on some vertical growth. The cows seem to leave the persimmon and chestnut trees alone though. If some of the above varieties are slow to establish, I may try crab apples on that portion of the property and perhaps apples on the other.
Some of my other considerations (x = almost certainly planting):
x Arkansas Black – October/Nov – Poor Pollinator
x Enterprise – Late October – Avg Pollinator (Group 2)
x Liberty – Sept/Oct – Poor Pollinator (Group 2), Self Fertile
x Yates - October
Dolgo
Freedom
Galarina
Hewes
Kerr
Trailman
Wolf River
Chestnut
Black Oxford
Sundance
King David - reported drop dates are extremely variable with this apple (Late August or Late October)
There was 3 Callaway crabs at Menards the other day but they were $60. Good looking trees though.
I'm still waiting to hear back from Cummins on a few varieties as well as some of the pros/cons of P.18. They don't have much on MM.111, so I'd likely have to go with B.118 if I went through them. Any info you got would be greatly appreciated!
Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
The limbertwigs are doing great this year. Here is a quick update:
Brushy Mountain: Another good year but not quite like last year. The trend is a massive crop every other year with a more moderate crop in between. This is a great apple.
Myers Royal: This year is the first massive crop from this tree. Huge red apples (see my other thread of lest eat some fresh 2019 apples). More of a cooking and cider apple than fresh eating for me, but still very good. Long slow drop of apples.
Old Fashioned: I never did fertilize this tree after moving it, and it needs some attention. However, it still has 5 nice big apples on it this year.
Black: My best one died after we had to move it with a backhoe due to the highway coming through. Have a replacement planted. Before this was an outstanding apple in all respects.
Caney Fork: Big crops this year at both my home and my farm. Just beginning to get a little color but still mostly green.
