firebroad
Minister of Fire
smokinjay said:
What variety/ies? I was under the impression that cloning is is only sure way to get a good strain, and then it must be grafted onto hardy rootstock.
Fruit Tree Advice
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What variety/ies? I was under the impression that cloning is is only sure way to get a good strain, and then it must be grafted onto hardy rootstock.
firebroad said:
Red Delicious Apple's I not going to get caught up in all that. We or should say dad could never get them back in the 80's they always said there where back order for years. He turn to seeds, so I am trying the same thing. Seem to work out for my him will let you know in about 7 years.
Too bad you aren't out here. They are ripping out Red Delicious from the orchards as quick as they can. Galas, Fujis, and Braeburns seem to be replacing them.
Planting advice used to be amend a large hole, but that seems to be changing towards "make the tree adapt".
A root stock that's amenable to local conditions probably helps with that theory as well.
My dad had an small orchard and I've been tasked with maintaining it.
I've pulled a few semi-dwarf peach trees out that just wanted to grow thirty feet tall.
I can't maintain thirty feet trees. They won't prune. I'm not picking off ladders and platforms. I'm spraying with a back pack sprayer. Pruning for fruit as well as maintainability.
When I yanked out the stumps I found the ones that insisted on growing tall had two sets of roots. One set from the graft root stock and another set from the top of the graft. They were either planted too deep or the ground rose up around them over time and then they grew roots. The roots also swirled around in circles. The planting bags were still around the stumps, too.
So I get new semi-dwarf peach trees. They have the same "bio-degradable" bags . With instructions NOT to remove the bag. To plant as is with soil to the bag knot.
I removed the bags and found the grafts rather well covered with something that resembles dirt and the roots shoved in at crazy angles. I planted them with the graft above ground and fanned the roots out like one might if it were bare root. No large hole amending. I do mulch under them with leaves and have added some leftover compost in the past. Used to cut the lawn under them, but that's nuts. Whacking one's head and knocking off fruit and breaking branches ? I'll pull a few weeds here and there and have no lawn. Plus it's a good way to get rid of leaves. Hopefully a more forest like "natural" setting.
A root stock that's amenable to local conditions probably helps with that theory as well.
My dad had an small orchard and I've been tasked with maintaining it.
I've pulled a few semi-dwarf peach trees out that just wanted to grow thirty feet tall.
I can't maintain thirty feet trees. They won't prune. I'm not picking off ladders and platforms. I'm spraying with a back pack sprayer. Pruning for fruit as well as maintainability.
When I yanked out the stumps I found the ones that insisted on growing tall had two sets of roots. One set from the graft root stock and another set from the top of the graft. They were either planted too deep or the ground rose up around them over time and then they grew roots. The roots also swirled around in circles. The planting bags were still around the stumps, too.
So I get new semi-dwarf peach trees. They have the same "bio-degradable" bags . With instructions NOT to remove the bag. To plant as is with soil to the bag knot.
I removed the bags and found the grafts rather well covered with something that resembles dirt and the roots shoved in at crazy angles. I planted them with the graft above ground and fanned the roots out like one might if it were bare root. No large hole amending. I do mulch under them with leaves and have added some leftover compost in the past. Used to cut the lawn under them, but that's nuts. Whacking one's head and knocking off fruit and breaking branches ? I'll pull a few weeds here and there and have no lawn. Plus it's a good way to get rid of leaves. Hopefully a more forest like "natural" setting.
BeGreen said:
We lost a buch one year do to root rott. After that Purdue came out we started mixing sand into the soil. Pretty such to care of the life threating issues. Still lots of maintance and never ending.
Update - I planted 8 fruit trees, all from Stark: 2 pear, 2 cherry, 2 plum, 1 peach, 1 nectarine. What, no apples you say? I waited too long and was unable to get the varieties I wanted on the rootstock I think will do best in my yard (M111). I dug (by hand) large holes - 3' in diameter, ~20" to 24" in depth and ammended slilghtly with a mineral/lime mixture I use in the garden along with mycorrhizal fungi around the root area when I actually planted the trees - 90% of what went back into the hole was the native soil. I then installed tree guards, mulched heavily (not directly around the tree trunk), and installed a section of 5' high by 3' diameter wire fence around each tree. I'm happy to report all 8 trees have lots of growth emerging! Next year I'll do the apples. Important lesson learned - I could have rented (for the day) a tracked, walk-behind, machine with the tree auger on it for $150 and saved some joint pain and cut the time down consideralby. They even provide the trailer. I'll go this route next year when the apples go in. Once the apples go in, the bees will arrive ....
Thanks again for all of the advice.
Thanks again for all of the advice.
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