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Author Topic: Doggone seed catalogs!  (Read 3676 times)

Offline Vance G

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Doggone seed catalogs!
« on: December 26, 2013, 10:19:39 pm »
The seed catalogs are pouring in and I could plant a fair sized orchard with all the fruit varieties I would love to have!  Trouble is that on my residential lot, something has to die so I can plant something new!  If you could only pick one zone 3/4 apple tree what would it be?  Pear?  Apricot?  Plum? 

Offline Burl

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Re: Doggone seed catalogs!
« Reply #1 on: December 27, 2013, 02:26:56 am »
  Hi Vance ,  If I could only plant just one apple tree in your zone it would be a SPARTAN .   Because that variety is as close to self-pollinating as you can get, so it does not usually require a second tree nearby that blooms at the same time to produce fruit .  The fruit is crisp,& sweet with a hint of grape flavor.
They are prolific annual bearers of medium sized deep red to mahogany apples that store 4 or more more months under proper conditions .  I rate them tops for both fresh eating and baking .  You should try a SPARTAN apple pie !
A dwarfing rootstock will tend to bring them into bearing sooner, take up less space , but , will be less hardy and have a shorter lifespan .  A good compromise is the semi-dwarfing rootstocks .  I can heartily recommend the rootstock named "Bud 118" .  Research these two recomendations for yourself .   See if you can find any SPARTAN apples at a grocer and try them out .  I think you'll like them .  If you are adventurous, in a year or 2 ( when the tree has established you could graft a compatable pollinating variety onto your SPARTAN , and you could have a two-in-one apple tree .  I'm pretty sure a HONEYCRISP would work for this ,  they are absolutely amazing !
   Hope this helps you ,    Burl
Of all the things I've ever been called ;
I do like "Dad" the most .   ---Burl---

Offline Vance G

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Re: Doggone seed catalogs!
« Reply #2 on: December 27, 2013, 10:39:02 am »
I have a honeycrisp and a Kerr already planted.  I don't recall seeing a Spartan in my seed catalogs.  I espalier fruit trees so they don't take all that much room. 

Offline Andrew Dewey

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Re: Doggone seed catalogs!
« Reply #3 on: January 01, 2014, 03:58:20 pm »
You might consider Duchess a/k/a Duchess of Oldenburg  Zones 3-6  "This red selection is very cold hardy and produces an abundant annual crop of medium to large apples in late August. Fruit is tart and juicy, good for eating but best for pies and sauce. Short storage life. It is truly an old time favorite."  It was very popular here in Maine in the late 1800s.  It ought to grow ok where you are.

Offline Vance G

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Re: Doggone seed catalogs!
« Reply #4 on: January 01, 2014, 04:40:59 pm »
The dutchess has my interest thanks.  Anyone know how cold hardy the wolf river apple is?  That might be a conversation piece.

Offline Andrew Dewey

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Re: Doggone seed catalogs!
« Reply #5 on: January 01, 2014, 06:01:37 pm »
Wolfe River is Z3-5.  I have that and Duchess - the WR has not yet started fruiting - this year perhaps?  I don't worry about pollination as one of my be yards is smack in the middle of my orchard.  I'm going on 6 years with a Northern Spy that hasn't started fruiting yet too - My grandfather had a bunch of them growing up and they made for lots of good sauce!

Offline bulldog

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Re: Doggone seed catalogs!
« Reply #6 on: January 08, 2014, 11:57:25 pm »
I've had some limited success with my fruit trees. the apples and pears are only just beginning to bear fruit. the apples I bought were all from guerneys, the one remaining yellow delicious  (one died due to poor drainage )  seems to be doing well though the bugs tend to get into them. the macintosh have not bore any fruit yet. the two prairie spy ? (never heard of it before or since) seem to be my best so far. they have produced the most fruit with little problems with bugs. they ripen in mid to  late October. I actually got about a dozen off the one tree with 6 of them as big or bigger than you'll find in the store, so I consider that to be a good start.

the pears have only produced a couple of golf ball sized fruit as of yet. I have a green jade and a dutchess that are older than the others and have had a few blossoms the past couple of years. I also planted a keiffer, Bartlett and ayers varieties a couple years ago and they seem to be doing ok, but will be years before I get any fruit.

the peaches and plums I think they are all going to be an abysmal failure. at least 50% of my peach and plum trees die every winter and I'm not going to plant any more. the apricots seem to be doing ok but again it will be years before they have fruit and I'm not sure what variety they are.

I'm in zone 3/4, I think actually 3. there is a funny little finger that extends down into zone 4 and I think that's where I am.
Confucius say "He who stand on toilet is high on pot"

Offline minz

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Re: Doggone seed catalogs!
« Reply #7 on: February 02, 2014, 12:36:46 am »
I just took my espalier up another cordon (honeycrisp) with a bud graft.  If you are pinched for space and like to mess with them it is my recommendation to find some other fruit nuts and go get a branch in September.
Poor decisions make the best stories.