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Post by Bwoods11 on Apr 23, 2017 11:19:28 GMT -6
I talked to a nursery owner in Parkers Prairie, MN this weekend and he really praised Fireside Apple trees. Cold hardy, disease resistant. Great survival he said.
He was not as high on Honeycrisp, as he's had some winter kill. I was wondering if any of "Apple guys" have planted Fireside and what your results are?
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Post by Sandbur on Apr 23, 2017 12:05:42 GMT -6
As a greenhorn, I planted Connell Red (Variety of fireside) in spring of 96 as well as Honeycrisp. I lost both of those during the winter of 96-97.
Perhaps if I knew how to take better care of them it would have been different.
Have you looked at the older post on facebook from Bergeson Nursery from Fertile, MN?
They listed 10 favorite apples for northern Mn.
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Post by Sandbur on Apr 23, 2017 12:07:29 GMT -6
Two or three years ago, they had a fruit growers meeting at Central Lakes College in Staples. Lee was there and I caught most of the meeting. They had some loss of Honeycrisp the previous winter.
Maybe Lee remembers if they mentioned Fireside.
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Post by Bwoods11 on Apr 23, 2017 13:21:36 GMT -6
The nursery owner said Honeycrisp does well in areas around St Cloud/Metro
But he said he loses trees to winter kill Otter Tail
He was high on Fireside and a pear tree and no I can't remember the pear.🤕
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Post by coop on Apr 24, 2017 20:47:05 GMT -6
My late grandpa had a Fireside in the yard (3b) at his cabin. It thrived, producing very tasty apples annually. I had such fond memories of those apples that I bought 4 for my SE MN place. They are the most disease ravaged trees on my farm (Honeycrisp would be the worst, but they died). Cedar Apple Rust crushes my Fireside trees. I'd top work them if I knew how.
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Post by biglakebass on Apr 24, 2017 23:35:23 GMT -6
The nursery owner said Honeycrisp does well in areas around St Cloud/Metro But he said he loses trees to winter kill Otter Tail He was high on Fireside and a pear tree and no I can't remember the pear.🤕 Losing apple trees in OTC, the story of my life. I have replaced trees every year now for several years. Last spring I went to Grass Roots nursery by Rush Lake and yakked with Tom for a long time. He asked me how many apple farms I have seen in OTC..... I thought about it and said,,,,,, "I guess not really many or any." He then asked how many apple farms I have down by Big Lake..... Several. His point was simply that its very hard to maintain most apple trees in the OTC climate. I ended up getting a Chestnut Crab and Cenntennial Crab from him. He said they are proven hardy all the way to Canada. It was one of those times where I went cross eyed with all the data he threw at me, so I could be off a bit on some of my "facts" above. But the guy lives for plants and trees. Very fun to talk to. |
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Post by smsmith on Apr 25, 2017 6:17:19 GMT -6
Most of OTC is zone 4a, the northern third or so is 3b (on the new zone map anyway). Plenty of apples and crabs grow into 3a with some making it to 2b. You can grow apples and crabs (and pears) in OTC, you just have to pick the right varieties on the right rootstocks.
Sandy soil is likely your biggest challenge there. Using watersorb at planting and constantly building OM through the use of ramial would be good ideas.
The guy I bought mulberries from in Fargo is growing peaches and getting them to fruit. Fruit trees are tough
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Post by smsmith on Apr 25, 2017 6:30:28 GMT -6
My late grandpa had a Fireside in the yard (3b) at his cabin. It thrived, producing very tasty apples annually. I had such fond memories of those apples that I bought 4 for my SE MN place. They are the most disease ravaged trees on my farm (Honeycrisp would be the worst, but they died). Cedar Apple Rust crushes my Fireside trees. I'd top work them if I knew how. That's interesting. Fireside is noted as being DR to CAR. Obviously, that isn't consistent from site to site. |
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Post by coop on Apr 25, 2017 6:54:49 GMT -6
My late grandpa had a Fireside in the yard (3b) at his cabin. It thrived, producing very tasty apples annually. I had such fond memories of those apples that I bought 4 for my SE MN place. They are the most disease ravaged trees on my farm (Honeycrisp would be the worst, but they died). Cedar Apple Rust crushes my Fireside trees. I'd top work them if I knew how. That's interesting. Â Fireside is noted as being DR to CAR. Â Obviously, that isn't consistent from site to site. I'll share pics of them this summer. I'm planning to spray Rally right after petal fall. |
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Post by Freeborn on Apr 25, 2017 7:10:09 GMT -6
I have two Honeycrisp in OTC that are on their 5th leaf and are doing well. One of the biggest issues I have n OTC is winter scolding. I painted my trees 2 years ago and last year I thought they were good enough but I see I have some minor damage again this year. This year I plan on going to Harbor freight and buying a cheap spray gun and I am going to spray my trees instead of painting with a brush.
Keep the deer, rodents, bugs and drought away and they will make it.
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Post by Bwoods11 on Apr 25, 2017 9:00:57 GMT -6
We planted chestnut crab, liberty and common wild apple this weekend up on OTC....I am thinking they will all make it from a "winter hardy" standpoint, time will tell.
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Post by smsmith on Apr 25, 2017 9:30:05 GMT -6
I don't envision fruit trees being the long lived, monstrous trees here that they are in traditional fruit tree growing areas on the coasts. Sooner or later, they are likely to succumb to a brutal winter, or to the effects of a few brutal winters in their lifetimes. That said, I think a person can get "lucky" and maybe get a few decades out of them. That's all I'm really hoping for at this point anyway.
Diversity in varieties planted is a good idea. While variety "X" may not do well for somebody in a location not all that far from me, it may indeed do very well here. The only way to know is to try.
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Post by Bwoods11 on Apr 25, 2017 10:04:09 GMT -6
I looked up Bergeson Nursery top 10 for their area--NW MN (tip from Art)
Prairie Magic was one they were high on...early producer and very cold hardy (Manitoba origin)
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Post by smsmith on Apr 25, 2017 10:40:26 GMT -6
In the next few years, I should be able to give a report on how a number of varieties have grown and produced at my location. I don't anticipate another winter like we had in '13-'14 again in my lifetime(since nobody under 114 years of age had seen a colder winter in their lifetime). I could of course be wrong about that.
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Post by Sandbur on Apr 25, 2017 12:58:45 GMT -6
In the next few years, I should be able to give a report on how a number of varieties have grown and produced at my location. I don't anticipate another winter like we had in '13-'14 again in my lifetime(since nobody under 114 years of age had seen a colder winter in their lifetime). I could of course be wrong about that. Wrong twice. It was probably 96-97 and probably about 68 or 69. However I was not in Todd county at that time. I still think many crab apples have an advantage over MOST larger apples in this climate. So Many wild apples are crab sized. |
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