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Post by Sandbur on Aug 23, 2017 3:29:04 GMT -6
Awesome post, Art! Thank you for sharing. I released two trees today on a high spot next to a swamp that closely resemble yellow dog. I was in too big of a hurry to snag some pics! Next time! Watch their drop times and see if they are different.
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Post by jbird on Aug 23, 2017 10:31:43 GMT -6
OK - Art, since your the "crabs man" - I need your advice. I have had less than stellar results with regular apples and I want something more maint. free so I am interested in crabs. I dont; seem to have much issue with disease, but I really would like something as close to plant, protect from browse and walk away from as possible. I want them just for the deer not for people and I prefer as late dropping as possible. If the crabs actually do well I may actually convert some of my true apples to crabs.
What in your opinion in my area would be my best options?
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Post by Catscratch on Aug 23, 2017 13:09:42 GMT -6
OK - Art, since your the "crabs man" - I need your advice. I have had less than stellar results with regular apples and I want something more maint. free so I am interested in crabs. I dont; seem to have much issue with disease, but I really would like something as close to plant, protect from browse and walk away from as possible. I want them just for the deer not for people and I prefer as late dropping as possible. If the crabs actually do well I may actually convert some of my true apples to crabs. What in your opinion in my area would be my best options? I'm interested to see the answer. ^^^ this is almost word for word what I asked Turkey Creek before my last order from him. Pretty much want exactly the same results. Your trees look great. I can't wait (and hope) to get pics like this thread has someday.
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Post by jbird on Aug 23, 2017 13:50:54 GMT -6
OK - Art, since your the "crabs man" - I need your advice. I have had less than stellar results with regular apples and I want something more maint. free so I am interested in crabs. I dont; seem to have much issue with disease, but I really would like something as close to plant, protect from browse and walk away from as possible. I want them just for the deer not for people and I prefer as late dropping as possible. If the crabs actually do well I may actually convert some of my true apples to crabs. What in your opinion in my area would be my best options? I'm interested to see the answer. ^^^ this is almost word for word what I asked Turkey Creek before my last order from him. Pretty much want exactly the same results. Your trees look great. I can't wait (and hope) to get pics like this thread has someday. Cat - I am looking at getting some trees from TC as well...... where you happy with what you got from him?
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Post by Catscratch on Aug 23, 2017 14:47:13 GMT -6
I'm interested to see the answer. ^^^ this is almost word for word what I asked Turkey Creek before my last order from him. Pretty much want exactly the same results. Your trees look great. I can't wait (and hope) to get pics like this thread has someday. Cat - I am looking at getting some trees from TC as well...... where you happy with what you got from him? Very happy with his trees and service! He was very easy to work with (I ask a lot of questions and am probably a pain to work with).
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Post by jbird on Aug 23, 2017 15:33:27 GMT -6
Cat - I am looking at getting some trees from TC as well...... where you happy with what you got from him? Very happy with his trees and service! He was very easy to work with (I ask a lot of questions and am probably a pain to work with). Depending on what Art tells me I think I may order 2 each of the 4 varieties TC carries (Dolgo, Chestnut, Hewes & Kerr). I will plan to put them all in the same orchard and if they do well I will change over my non-productive apple trees to the variety of crab that seems to do the best for me. I have 5 different apple trees and only 1 really produces any fruit at the moment....and of course it has the poorest form imaginable! I am really liking the idea of orchards for feeding deer vs plots.....especially warm season annual plots. It just seems to be a better long term solution. That is where your sawtooths and my trials with chestnuts come into play. Wouldn't hurt my feelings at all if a day comes I have my mast orchards and some clover plots that I can do a little throw and mow into for the fall and that be the extent of it for me. The deer may like the corn and beans, but the time will come when those will require more work than I may be willing to muster.
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Post by mnfish on Aug 23, 2017 15:41:35 GMT -6
Great looking trees Art! I have a whitney putting down some good numbers. Dologs pretty solid numbers too
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Post by Sandbur on Aug 23, 2017 17:33:34 GMT -6
I had a killing frost on blossoms last year and that led to a bumper crop this year. Probably few apples next year as a result (and I did Not thin as I should have). A few trees did not bear this year, so maybe next year.
J bird and cat. I can't really answer your questions as I have no experience in your climates.
STU- can you help out?
My suggestions would include... 1 Begin with finding the right rootstock for a care free planting. It is probably different for each of you as the stresses are probably different in your climates. My very limited experience is that I like dolgo in MY AREA. The right rootstock is probably one key factor.
TC has (had) Big Dog and Yellow dog from me. They might not be worth a darn in your climates. They bare every other year for me and are late droppers.
suggestion 2., if you are young guys...drive around at apple blossom time and look for wild trees. Ask if you can collect some seed. Especially for Cat, and maybe for J, see where these wild trees are growing. If drought is the major stress, they might need to be planted along the seam of too wet and too dry like the edge of a river bottom. Maybe they need protection from hot west winds. Grow from seed and keep the fastest growing ones. You will get bird crabs and decent crabs.
suggestion 3. Contact your local swcd and see what they recommend for flowering or other crabs in wind breaks. A few might end up being deer crabs and the rest could be topworked.
Some things I have been wondering about, does rootstock affect when trees of the same variety drop? My cuz has a chestnut crab up north and it drops and attracts deer before my chestnut trees that are about 80 miles south. I have seen deer and even a buck or to under HER at this time of year, just as she just saw a nice buck. Or is the climate just different enough that her tree drops earlier. I do have some trees on the same rootstock, that are across a ditch and I do not watch them as closEly. But deer where I live have corn, soybeans, and alfalfa to eat, while her deer have some corn and an old alfalfa stand.
STU- CAN YOU HELP THESE GUYS OUT?
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Post by smsmith on Aug 23, 2017 17:38:16 GMT -6
^^^I think you did what I could do Art
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Post by Sandbur on Aug 23, 2017 17:40:50 GMT -6
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Post by Sandbur on Aug 23, 2017 17:45:08 GMT -6
The second picture above looks very similar to the dolgo seedling from swcd, but the trees are not the same. One row is labelled as seedlings i grew from wild trees and the other row is the combined order with foggy. The seedling I raised is showing more disease/insect damage than the other tree.
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Post by smsmith on Aug 23, 2017 17:47:29 GMT -6
Some things I have been wondering about, does rootstock affect when trees of the same variety drop? My cuz has a chestnut crab up north and it drops and attracts deer before my chestnut trees that are about 80 miles south. I have seen deer and even a buck or to under HER at this time of year, just as she just saw a nice buck. Or is the climate just different enough that her tree drops earlier. I do have some trees on the same rootstock, that are across a ditch and I do not watch them as closEly. But deer where I live have corn, soybeans, and alfalfa to eat, while her deer have some corn and an old alfalfa stand. Rootstock can impact when fruit matures and drops. So can latitude and soil type. I also think it's likely that there are multiple sports/variations of "Chestnut crab" and most other fruit trees (for example, Red Prairie Spy is a sport of Prairie Spy. Today's Red Delicious bears little resemblance to the original Red Delicious, it's been selectively bred and a great many sports of R.D. exist)
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Post by Sandbur on Aug 23, 2017 17:50:30 GMT -6
I stepped up to adjust the cage on this rootstock crab but quickly backed out.
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Post by Sandbur on Aug 23, 2017 17:53:07 GMT -6
Some things I have been wondering about, does rootstock affect when trees of the same variety drop? My cuz has a chestnut crab up north and it drops and attracts deer before my chestnut trees that are about 80 miles south. I have seen deer and even a buck or to under HER at this time of year, just as she just saw a nice buck. Or is the climate just different enough that her tree drops earlier. I do have some trees on the same rootstock, that are across a ditch and I do not watch them as closEly. But deer where I live have corn, soybeans, and alfalfa to eat, while her deer have some corn and an old alfalfa stand. Rootstock can impact when fruit matures and drops. So can latitude and soil type. I also think it's likely that there are multiple sports/variations of "Chestnut crab" and most other fruit trees (for example, Red Prairie Spy is a sport of Prairie Spy. Today's Red Delicious bears little resemblance to the original Red Delicious, it's been selectively bred and a great many sports of R.D. exist) My chestnut crabs that I purchased from Lee Nursery(now closed) tend to have more red color, but they are on unknown rootstock and on very different soil than the trees by my house.
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Post by Sandbur on Aug 23, 2017 17:57:28 GMT -6
This is a Grandma tree. Started from seed by my wife's grandma.
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