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Post by Bwoods11 on Mar 16, 2017 9:25:42 GMT -6
I was out walking around scouting and looking for antlers yesterday and came across three wild apples that I planted last spring. I was shocked to see that all three were out of the tubes, and the diameter of the tree was way thicker than I thought for one year. This was on very good soil, but I was still really surprised. I can get a picture once it greens up.
For those that want a cheap apple tree ($3 or so) from University of Idaho Nursery. Cage or tube them and they grow fast. Cheap and easy. Tubes seem to work well on these trees, once they pop out of the tube, we typically cage them. I am hoping to see apples in the next two years on some I planted 4 years ago. I usually order 15-25 a year.
Dang nice little fruit alternative.
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Post by smsmith on Mar 16, 2017 10:14:38 GMT -6
I'm anxious to get a fruit report from you on those trees. I find a handful of wild trees here every year, but almost all of them are crabs. If yours bear decent size fruit, they likely will produce more tonnage of food.
On a different note, I'm pretty sure I saw my first robin of the year this morning. It was in the Pillsbury crabapple down the road aways...eating the fruit that was still hanging in the tree.
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Post by Bwoods11 on Mar 16, 2017 12:38:00 GMT -6
Crossing my fingers that it happens soon, but you never know, growth does not always mean they will produce.
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Post by daydreamer on Mar 16, 2017 12:50:48 GMT -6
I'm anxious to get a fruit report from you on those trees. I find a handful of wild trees here every year, but almost all of them are crabs. If yours bear decent size fruit, they likely will produce more tonnage of food. On a different note, I'm pretty sure I saw my first robin of the year this morning. It was in the Pillsbury crabapple down the road aways...eating the fruit that was still hanging in the tree. I saw my first pair of bluebirds in the 601 Sunday before we got 2" of snow. Yikes!
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Post by Sandbur on Mar 16, 2017 13:01:35 GMT -6
I was out walking around scouting and looking for antlers yesterday and came across three wild apples that I planted last spring. I was shocked to see that all three were out of the tubes, and the diameter of the tree was way thicker than I thought for one year. This was on very good soil, but I was still really surprised. I can get a picture once it greens up. For those that want a cheap apple tree ($3 or so) from University of Idaho Nursery. Cage or tube them and they grow fast. Cheap and easy. Tubes seem to work well on these trees, once they pop out of the tube, we typically cage them. I am hoping to see apples in the next two years on some I planted 4 years ago. I usually order 15-25 a year. Dang nice little fruit alternative. Are those zone 4 rated?
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Post by smsmith on Mar 16, 2017 13:54:04 GMT -6
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Post by chummer16 on Mar 16, 2017 15:28:25 GMT -6
I'm anxious to get a fruit report from you on those trees. I find a handful of wild trees here every year, but almost all of them are crabs. If yours bear decent size fruit, they likely will produce more tonnage of food. On a different note, I'm pretty sure I saw my first robin of the year this morning. It was in the Pillsbury crabapple down the road aways...eating the fruit that was still hanging in the tree. I saw my first pair of bluebirds in the 601 Sunday before we got 2" of snow. Yikes! We have robins and blue birds back and just got 2' of snow. There were flocks of robins on the side of the road today where the snow plows left a little bare ground. No warm up in the 10 day either. Spring started early then got punched right in the face.
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Post by smsmith on Mar 16, 2017 16:14:15 GMT -6
I bet it'll be at least 2 weeks til I see a blue bird here
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Post by ogemaone on Mar 16, 2017 16:20:17 GMT -6
I bet it'll be at least 2 weeks til I see a blue bird here I got to clean out my blue bird houses this weekend!
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Post by Bwoods11 on Mar 16, 2017 16:59:44 GMT -6
Sandbur--I planted some in NW MN
Great survival.
I also planted a dozen on my farm with high deer numbers, basically put a temporary tomato cage on each, kind of forgot to tube them. Despite heavy browse and complete neglect , 7 of the 12 are alive.
Tough tree
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Post by Bwoods11 on Mar 17, 2017 13:16:57 GMT -6
I should order 500 of these and put them in rootmater bags or pots, let them grow 2 years, then sell them for $7-10 each.
Nah that's too much work.
I know that guy in Wisconsin sells out almost every year.
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Post by smsmith on Mar 17, 2017 13:43:09 GMT -6
Heck, if you were gonna do that I'd just plant 500 apple seeds and save the up front cost
edit..it sounds like a number of new, marketable varieties are coming from Honey Crisp seeds. Apparently, the odds of getting a tasty apple from a H.C. seed are high. I do think the new varieties were hand pollinated, so there is some "control" going on...but it's tempting to grow out some seeds from H.C.
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Post by nhmountains on Mar 17, 2017 15:18:12 GMT -6
How big are the fruit on these apple trees or does it vary from small to large?
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Post by Bwoods11 on Mar 17, 2017 15:46:02 GMT -6
How big are the fruit on these apple trees or does it vary from small to large? The brochure says medium size fruit, not really meant for human consumption, more just for wildlife. The tree itself is supposed to branch out fairly wide and tall?
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Post by Bwoods11 on Mar 17, 2017 15:46:52 GMT -6
Heck, if you were gonna do that I'd just plant 500 apple seeds and save the up front cost True, they both sound like too much effort!
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