Will this day ever come?

BobinCt

5 year old buck +
Every time I plant a 2 year old fruit tree and realize it won’t be really effective until probably 10 years later, I always say to myself that there will be a day when you can plant a fruit tree and the growth will be 5x faster than we are dealing with today. With the advanced technology we have today, I’m sure it’s going to come. This day will probably come someday, but I’ll prob be under the dirt. Does anyone believe something like this with fruit trees will happen someday? Our grandkids will think we were absolutely nuts for planting and waiting so long for fruit trees to be effective .
 
Plant the tree on a M26 rootstock and you'll get the fruit faster but the tree won't live near as long and it will be so small the rabbits will be chewing the top of the tree.
 
If your waiting 10 years for a good crop of apples you are buying on the wrong root stock or have some very harsh environmental conditions. Our parent trees on M111 that are 4 years old probably all produced 2-3 gallons of apples this last year. We chop the heck out of them for scion wood each year.
 
I bought a few trees on M7. A pair of Hewe's and a rxobury or golden russet. That'll get me started. Few of them crabs put well in 6 or 7 years. Droptine, Big Dog, 30-06, and Corssbow.

I bit the bullet and just ordered alot now for my home, and getting started up at camp 4 hours away and my brother in laws 450 acre field about 2 hours away. The common disease free apples, deer crabs, and took a guess on what hard cider trees might be good, 2 saturn peaches, and a few common cider pears too. That'll be the long haul, those pears....... onx 87 and 97 rootstocks

Those M7's and a few B118's for quick enjoyment.. M111's probably best for my soil type. Some antonovka and Dolgo for when I'll be used as fertilizer.............. 45 and aint getting any younger.

Wish Wife would make mind up on out future. Retire in area, go somewhere sunny instead. Her youngest is in community college, I drive 53 miles to work to a more affordable and much more rural area in the catskill mountains. Town is turning into NYC transplant mish mash mess. Houses are getting fancier and expensive at a fast rate. Town is on edge of having professional fire dept too. Taxes gonna ballon fast. Would like to get solar panels, greenhouse, pave the driveway, and get a hot tub too if we're keeping it.
 
We are there now plant them on dwarfing root stock and have fruit in a couple years. Most of use use larger semi dwarfs or non dwarfing rootstocks to have larger trees to survive bears and be much longer lived trees. I even bury the grafts on most of my trees to to allow them to self root I’m fully aware that I’ll be waiting longer for apple production but my great grandchildren may still be reaping the fruits of my labor.
 
If your waiting 10 years for a good crop of apples you are buying on the wrong root stock or have some very harsh environmental conditions.
For guys that have no bear problems - they can probably get away with rootstocks that grow smaller trees that produce faster. Those of us with bears, or those just who want BIG, longer-lived trees, the rootstocks that grow such trees take longer to produce in quantity. That's just how it is, unless science finds a new path. I guess we have to pick our trees accordingly.

Environmental conditions .......... You're right, TC. Soil and planting location too. Some rootstocks do better in certain soil types. Some apple varieties are more suited for certain climates.

I posted this before I read b116757's post just above. I started at the OP's post and worked down. He made the same points. I should have read ALL posts first!! I wasn't plagiarizing from you B116757!!!!!
 
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