Why no dwarfs?

[Buckly]

Most of the apples I planted this year were on B118. If mine look like that in a couple years I would be very happy!

 

[Maya]

That is a hell of a nice tree. Seems big for only 3rd leaf.
It pretty cool that I can get on here and find this stuff out. Not many apples around here so asking face to face doesn't really work. Learning stuff all the time!

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You're right, I just check, it was planted in 2013. Got my trees and picks of them mixed up. In this pic the one on the right is the 4th leaf, 3rd leaf on the left. The 3rd leaf tree does have about 8-10 apples on it. Still, my point still stands B118 puts out apples quickly! No need to plant dwarfs for deer.

 

[Catscratch]

You're right, I just check, it was planted in 2013. Got my trees and picks of them mixed up. In this pic the one on the right is the 4th leaf, 3rd leaf on the left. The 3rd leaf tree does have about 8-10 apples on it. Still, my point still stands B118 puts out apples quickly! No need to plant dwarfs for deer.

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Huge difference between those two trees. The one on the right looks like a much larger trunked tree. Either one would make me ecstatic as a 4th leaf tree in my orchard.

 

[Maya]

Huge difference between those two trees. The one on the right looks like a much larger trunked tree. Either one would make me ecstatic as a 4th leaf tree in my orchard.

I think it's just the pic a little. Here's a 3rd leaf B118 Enterprise, only 1 apple. I just wish these trees were getting more light, but that's where they needed to be planted for hunting purposes.

 

[Catscratch]

I notice that you don't have any cages around your trees. Do the deer not mess with them or are they big enough that it doesn't matter?

 

[sandbur]

Stu recently posted that B118's do not grow as fast in central Minnesota as they had in southern Wis.

Dolgo rootstock has given me faster growth and this is just based on a few trees and a a few years.

 

[sandbur]

How does a fruit bearing shrub respond to bears hitting it?

Do bears destroy it, or does it regrow quickly enough to not be a major factor?

 

[Maya]

I notice that you don't have any cages around your trees. Do the deer not mess with them or are they big enough that it doesn't matter?

I caged them for a couple years Cats. I don't have a lot of deer here and certainly no big bucks! ;) No bears here either.

Bur I can't for the life of me figure out why you live in polar bear country? You guys can't grow sh##because of the cold, sunscald, and you've got no deer! ;)

I did have this 2 yo rub on this Siberian crab last year.....

 

[Catscratch]

I really have no reason to cage my fruit trees other than I saw it on the internet ;)
Everyone says that deer will rub them or eat them so I don't give them a chance. I've never left one unprotected to see if anything bad would happen. Too much work and money to chance it I guess.

You northern guys have hearts of gold to fight everything you do just to make a couple of deer happy!

 

[CuivreDog]

I really have no reason to cage my fruit trees other than I saw it on the internet ;)
Everyone says that deer will rub them or eat them so I don't give them a chance. I've never left one unprotected to see if anything bad would happen. Too much work and money to chance it I guess.

You northern guys have hearts of gold to fight everything you do just to make a couple of deer happy!

Oh yes you do Cat - if I remember right you're located in Kansas.

Leave 1 tree unprotected out in a field in November and see how long it takes to become a buck rub!

 

[Catscratch]

You guys are probably right. I just have never taken the chance to find out if they would hit them or not...

Maya, that is a nice buck. Here are a couple of guys that have been hanging out in the orchard this summer. One of them feeling a little uppity one night could probably set my trees back quite a bit...

 

[Maya]

Nice pics, those are some great bucks.... ya Cat, CuivreDog, cage em if ya got brutes like that running around! We just cage them for 2-3 years to cut down on the browsing and some rubbing, but we've got nothing like that running around. We do have a lot of bears, but they are all up in the mountains, not where these pics are taken. They are going to do damage no matter how long you cage them.

 

[Catscratch]

I'm continually reminded of how glad I am that we don't have bears (or pigs for that matter).

 

[Bowsnbucks]

My camp is in ground zero for bears in Pa. We plant mainly B-118 and Antonovka rooted trees for the bigger wood they will put on. We cage our trees for the long haul and stake the crap out of them to minimize the bear damage. It's usually the smaller bears that do the climbing ( the biggest one I've seen in a tree was about 85 lbs. ) The bigger ones seem to stand on their hind feet and reach to the lowest limbs or pick up the drops. With our limbs starting at about 6 ft. off the ground, and the larger tree frames, hopefully we can sustain good apple / crab trees for years.

We've had deer nibble the lowest limb tips of our caged trees when they extend out of the cages, but no harm done to the trees.

Nice bucks in those pix guys !!