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Post by honker on May 18, 2019 10:17:06 GMT -6
I've got a 0.1 acre opening on some higher ground that I think will make for a good Apple spot.
I just got the results of a soil test I took in the area this spring
Course Sand Organic Matter: 2.8% pH: 5.5 Ca: 599 ppm, 42% BS Mg: 76 ppm, 8.9% BS K: 52 ppm, 1.9% BS
Any recommendations for trees to target with this info or actions to take this season to dial it in better?
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Post by smsmith on May 18, 2019 10:23:05 GMT -6
I'd go with b118 rootstock for sure due to the coarse sand and relatively low OM. Getting your ph up to at least 6 would also help. Art will tell you to go with Chestnut and Dolgo crabs. Probably good advice for zone 3b
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Post by nhmountains on May 18, 2019 11:10:03 GMT -6
For that size plot I’d go with 3-4 trees and pamper and protect them well. If you have grafted before or want to learn I’d plant straight B118 rootstock and let them go. After 4 years framework graft them into a frankentree with many different drop times all on one tree.
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Post by smallchunk on May 18, 2019 12:19:23 GMT -6
Get that ph up a bit and I would think Antonovka or B.118 would be good for you. Are you going to just keep the area brush hogged or turn it into a little clover plot, also?
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Post by benmnwi on May 18, 2019 12:35:45 GMT -6
I would also add some potash to improve that k reading. I believe 150 ppm is a decent goal if my memory is correct.
Maybe 50 pounds of potash, 200 pounds of Pelletized lime and 100 pounds of regular slower acting lime.
Are you going to plant the trees this year or next year?
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Post by benmnwi on May 18, 2019 12:37:44 GMT -6
If you want fast growth, I'd look for a b118 Franklin for one of the trees.
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Post by honker on May 18, 2019 17:24:21 GMT -6
Get that ph up a bit and I would think Antonovka or B.118 would be good for you. Are you going to just keep the area brush hogged or turn it into a little clover plot, also? Clover plot. I always like the look of your spacing and surrounding area on your land thread. What distance do you keep between trees?
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Post by honker on May 18, 2019 19:02:47 GMT -6
Are you going to plant the trees this year or next year? Thanks for the suggestions. Planting this year was going to depend a bit on the advice from this group. If I can find trees that would work with the soil as is I would plant this year. Otherwise if I can't find some that work for this season, I'll just do the soil work this year and order the right trees for next spring.
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Post by nhmountains on May 18, 2019 20:07:15 GMT -6
Get that ph up a bit and I would think Antonovka or B.118 would be good for you. Are you going to just keep the area brush hogged or turn it into a little clover plot, also? Clover plot. I always like the look of your spacing and surrounding area on your land thread. What distance do you keep between trees? Any photos or the dimensions of the plot? How high are surrounding trees? How are they on the east, south, and west sides of the plot? Sunlight is the best thing you can give an apple tree. If the trees are tall and close on those sides now is the time to clear as many as you can.
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Post by Bwoods11 on May 18, 2019 20:17:02 GMT -6
Common Wild Apple will grow anywhere, fast, and produces apples in 4-5 years.
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Post by Sandbur on May 19, 2019 4:32:14 GMT -6
Common Wild Apple will grow anywhere, fast, and produces apples in 4-5 years. Are they rated as zone 3 hardy? That has always been my concern.
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Post by smallchunk on May 19, 2019 7:31:31 GMT -6
Get that ph up a bit and I would think Antonovka or B.118 would be good for you. Are you going to just keep the area brush hogged or turn it into a little clover plot, also? Clover plot. I always like the look of your spacing and surrounding area on your land thread. What distance do you keep between trees? 20' between trees and 15' between rows. Trees are staggered and not lined up which adds a little more room.
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Post by smsmith on May 19, 2019 7:37:46 GMT -6
Common Wild Apple will grow anywhere, fast, and produces apples in 4-5 years. Are they rated as zone 3 hardy? That has always been my concern. Many common wild apple (common domestic apple is the same thing) are grown from plain old Red Delicious seeds. I believe Univ. of ID rates theirs to zone 3, but I'd have to check. I've got your Swampcrab growing on a CDA rootstock...one that I grew from a seed. I don't recall what variety I pulled that seed from though.
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Post by honker on May 27, 2019 11:52:59 GMT -6
Any photos or the dimensions of the plot? How high are surrounding trees? How are they on the east, south, and west sides of the plot? Sunlight is the best thing you can give an apple tree. If the trees are tall and close on those sides now is the time to clear as many as you can. The starting plot I had in mind is roughly 40x100. There is a large cluster of Paper Birches and then small potential plot to the east. To the west is about 2.5 acres of high ground with a lone oak tree that was the old pasture that I could expand towards in the future. There would be full sun. I planted some of the Red Splendor Crabs in 2016 in the surrounding area and they are doing really well so far. There some wild plums, hawthorns, and chokecherry in the cluster of shrubs to the north. It starts to slope down into wetter ground right where I have the boundary. Looking West from the east side of the plot Looking East from the west boundary
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Post by honker on May 27, 2019 11:56:22 GMT -6
At this point, I'm thinking soil prep and clover/rye plot this year, get my apples picked out for next spring planting. Unless I stumble across the right one in some of the year end sales.
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