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Post by Sandbur on May 28, 2019 14:38:08 GMT -6
Liberty has come through multiple winters of -25 and last winter at -38. It is as close to a "sure thing" here as a fruit grower could get. Man this chaps my ass. I wonder if the 4-5’ snow pack along with the temps is killing these trees. I have read somethings from a Canadian fruit group where they think sudden temperature changes are more detrimental. Some also think prolonged cold weather is worse. Do you have wet Falls where growth doesn’t harden off well? Any difference of trees planted on north or south slopes? Just some random thoughts above. I like my dolgo rootstocks. |
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Post by chummer16 on May 29, 2019 6:20:33 GMT -6
Man this chaps my ass. I wonder if the 4-5’ snow pack along with the temps is killing these trees. I have read somethings from a Canadian fruit group where they think sudden temperature changes are more detrimental. Some also think prolonged cold weather is worse. Do you have wet Falls where growth doesn’t harden off well? Any difference of trees planted on north or south slopes? Just some random thoughts above. I like my dolgo rootstocks. We have very wet falls and it turns to winter very fast. We never saw bare ground after November 10th last year. The only difference I see on location is trees planted in the woods have less winter damage. The only enterprise I have left is in the woods along with what was my last Liberty. They are on 6th leaf and it looks like the liberty died this winter. It has leafs trying to poke through but I have seen that movie before. I notice on a couple of the Franklins that took off last year the last 4” on a few branches died off but the trees look great again this year. It was a time consuming, expensive research project but I have to stick to the few varieties that have not failed and play around with top working and see if getting something above the snow line works. |
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Post by Sandbur on Jun 1, 2019 16:43:19 GMT -6
I have read somethings from a Canadian fruit group where they think sudden temperature changes are more detrimental. Some also think prolonged cold weather is worse. Do you have wet Falls where growth doesn’t harden off well? Any difference of trees planted on north or south slopes? Just some random thoughts above. I like my dolgo rootstocks. We have very wet falls and it turns to winter very fast. We never saw bare ground after November 10th last year. The only difference I see on location is trees planted in the woods have less winter damage. The only enterprise I have left is in the woods along with what was my last Liberty. They are on 6th leaf and it looks like the liberty died this winter. It has leafs trying to poke through but I have seen that movie before. I notice on a couple of the Franklins that took off last year the last 4” on a few branches died off but the trees look great again this year. It was a time consuming, expensive research project but I have to stick to the few varieties that have not failed and play around with top working and see if getting something above the snow line works. Did you ever try topworking five or six feet above the ground? One Canadian group has been discussing that as temps are coldest by the ground. |
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Post by chummer16 on Jun 1, 2019 18:14:24 GMT -6
We have very wet falls and it turns to winter very fast. We never saw bare ground after November 10th last year. The only difference I see on location is trees planted in the woods have less winter damage. The only enterprise I have left is in the woods along with what was my last Liberty. They are on 6th leaf and it looks like the liberty died this winter. It has leafs trying to poke through but I have seen that movie before. I notice on a couple of the Franklins that took off last year the last 4” on a few branches died off but the trees look great again this year. It was a time consuming, expensive research project but I have to stick to the few varieties that have not failed and play around with top working and see if getting something above the snow line works. Did you ever try topworking five or six feet above the ground? One Canadian group has been discussing that as temps are coldest by the ground. I did some this year in the 5-6’ range. They were looking good last weekend. I am going up tomorrow for a few hours hopefully I will have some grafts that have popped. It has been 3-4 weeks since they were grafted |
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Post by honker on Jun 12, 2019 9:05:07 GMT -6
Did some soil work on the site this weekend. Ended up being just under 0.2 of an acre. Spread 400 lbs of lime and 50 lbs of potash. Broadcast soybeans based on a suggestion from smallchunk. I’ll see how that experiment goes this summer. Forgot to take a picture after I did the final clearing, but this gives an idea of progress. The rain was starting to fall on me. Timed it right for a change.  |
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Post by honker on Aug 2, 2019 12:26:55 GMT -6
Bean progress. Turned out better than I was thinking for my first go. Turkeys thinned out some seeds, but otherwise ok. I’ll probably overseed rye at the end of the month and look to frost seed clover in the spring. Then starting adding trees next year.  |
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Post by nhmountains on Aug 2, 2019 18:42:06 GMT -6
Nice beans Honker. Is that an older apple tree in the center of the background?
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Post by honker on Aug 2, 2019 20:59:58 GMT -6
Nice beans Honker. Is that an older apple tree in the center of the background? No apple trees on my place. I believe what you are seeing in the center is a big basswood. |
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Post by honker on May 16, 2020 12:12:18 GMT -6
Apple Plot update I got the trees planted this spring. Unfortunately I have Mullein Weed overtaking the open spaces. Some work to do there.  Trees I got from smallchunk are doing well and waking up Chestnut Crab  Liberty  SLN Wildlife Crab  Fireside  SLN All Winter Crab  |
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Post by smsmith on May 16, 2020 15:45:38 GMT -6
Mullein pulls pretty easy. Ya, it takes time but it's pretty much a "once and done" deal if you keep it from going to seed. I've been using my new Grandpa's weeder to pull mullein and thistle this spring.
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Post by smallchunk on May 17, 2020 19:33:53 GMT -6
Mullen......free TP of the woods! Like Stu, I pull hundreds of the stupid things a year. Isn't that why you had boys?!?  It thrives when there is bare ground, so work on that and it should start disappearing! |
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Post by honker on May 23, 2020 20:30:24 GMT -6
Fireside finally woke up. Both grabs are putting out some good flowers <br />  <br /> <br />  <br /><br />  <br /> |
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Post by nhmountains on Jun 1, 2020 9:17:13 GMT -6
Pinch/snip those flowers off shortly after the petals fall. You don’t want them to fruit this early but, you can let them pollinate other trees.
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Post by honker on Jun 14, 2020 20:51:34 GMT -6
Looks like I missed some and I've got some fruit coming in on the All Winter Crab. Should I pinch them off now?  |
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Post by badgerfowl on Jun 14, 2020 21:27:18 GMT -6
Looks like I missed some and I've got some fruit coming in on the All Winter Crab. Should I pinch them off now? I just pinched some off yesterday on first year crabs. They’re growing great and I don’t want them stunted. |
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It thrives when there is bare ground, so work on that and it should start disappearing! 