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Opinions of dessert apple varieties from flavor and growth habit to disease resistance and annual bearing.
Re: curculio progress - 8 months ago
Thank you Mike for so eloquently framing this conversation in a larger framework. One of the enduring mysteries in apple growing is why there are wild/feral/untended trees which seem to, with minimal human input, produce such bountiful crops of beautiful fruit every other year or so. I am convinced that there is more to genetics than this, that these trees have found their place. Even withby Jason MacArthur - Bug by Bug
Re: curculio progress - 8 months ago
I'm the one who mentioned Imidan, though not because I intend to use it nor because I am trolling! I guess I'm simply frustrated. I do wonder though about the impacts of the application of Surround at the rates we are talking about. This is clay which has to be mined, sifted, heated, packaged, shipped, and finally sprayed. In a wet year how many applications are needed to maiby Jason MacArthur - Bug by Bug
Re: curculio progress - 8 months ago
Here in my orchard Plum Curculio presents itself as a deafening wave of destruction battering down both my defenses and my morale from before the end of bloom until about now. I think my orchard is particularly susceptible for several reasons- 1) it is small and surrounded by both old unsprayed trees and hardwoods 2) growing a wide range of varieties, from European bittersweets tby Jason MacArthur - Bug by Bug
What kind of fruit did I press? - 1 year ago
Last fall I gathered fruit from a very bushy roadside tree, about 10' tall, which produced a beautiful rose colored juice which has fermented beautifully. The land-owners are convinced that it was a quince tree, but the fruits were unlike any quince I have ever seen. They may have been crab-apple, but again, they were very unusual for a crab. I noticed the other day that the tree was cutby Jason MacArthur - Just Talk
Late season dormant scionwood grafting - 1 year ago
I just found some scionwood in my refrigerator which I had somehow missed during grafting season. Here at our orchard the trees are just finishing full bloom, and I'm wondering how late grafting with dormant scionwood can be done- does anyone have any experience working this late into the season?by Jason MacArthur - Grafting
Oddly staggered bloom sequence - 1 year ago
I have had Hewe's Crab in bloom for about a week, essentially all alone. In the last few days a few other things have opened a few blossoms, but not in their typical sequence. Dabinett is now in King Bloom in my orchard, along with Sweet 16 and Keepsake, while Ribston Pippin, usually one of my earlier bloomers, is in Pink. This has me thinking that different varieties not only haveby Jason MacArthur - Pollination
Re: Fear of the unknown- Organic Confidence Needed - 1 year ago
Brandt: It would seem to me that it might be helpful to think of this transition not in black and white terms but rather as a gradient along which you can move. Even if you are never fully able to transition your orchard to holistic or organic management you will have been successful because you will have reduced, if not eliminated, your dependence on chemical pesticides. As in the rest of lifeby Jason MacArthur - Just Talk
Re: Questions on Effective Microbes (From Growing to Storing) - 1 year ago
Looking into this more I see it is almost certainly a temperature issue! I'll work on maintaining a 90° environment somehow...by Jason MacArthur - Arboreal Microbes
Re: Questions on Effective Microbes (From Growing to Storing) - 1 year ago
Last year I activated EM-1 following directions given on the Teraganix website, and the fermentation seemed take a long time to get started and to last much, much longer than it should have, as in it seemed to linger on for months, me having to burp the container throughout that time. I did not check pH. This year I read a little more carefully on the Teraganix website and noticed that they rby Jason MacArthur - Arboreal Microbes
Re: Learning from mistakes - 2 years ago
I am certainly happy to help trees along with nutrients sprays, soil amendments, etc. What I am struck by though is how, in my case, a regime of "benign neglect" made my trees look terrible yet grow great fruit, while a more hands-on approach seems to be yielding the inverse of that. (And truthfully there are many many variables here: new trees, with different varieties and rootstocks,by Jason MacArthur - Just Talk
Learning from mistakes - 2 years ago
The only way I seem able to learn anything is to make a mistake and then observe the fallout. As all of you no doubt appreciate, orchards are wonderful teachers in this way, reminding us for years of our missteps while prompting us to keep trying to improve. I am often reminded of a pithy adage used by my first orcharding mentor, "The orchardist is the most dangerous pest in the orchard&quby Jason MacArthur - Just Talk
Re: Grafting new varieties onto old rootstock - 2 years ago
What I have seen done quite successfully on a many acre scale, and what I have done myself on a limited number of trees myself, is to leave one branch of the original tree, then remove the central leader above this point and cleft or bark graft into it. The branch you leave will help the "new" tree grow for the 1st year or so, at which point it can be either removed or top-worked itselby Jason MacArthur - Grafting
Re: SPreading Mineral fertilizer in winter - 2 years ago
Thanks Mike. It seems like the conditions are good: 5 or 6 inches of hard snow, frozen ground, and the gate opens!by Jason MacArthur - Tree Fruit Nutrition
SPreading Mineral fertilizer in winter - 2 years ago
This weekend presents me with an unusual, at least historically speaking, opportunity- the snowpack largely melted in recent rains but the ground has now frozen up again, leaving the orchard quite accessible by tractor. I am considering spreading Gypsum throughout the orchard at this point since the tractor is sitting idle, something it certainly will not be come May when the ground is dry enougby Jason MacArthur - Tree Fruit Nutrition
Re: Interesting link from the failing NYT! - 2 years ago
Let me add the link!by Jason MacArthur - Just Talk
Interesting link from the failing NYT! - 2 years ago
Here is a fascinating article published in the New York Times summarizing some pretty cool work done recently on plants and their responses to stress. This drove home for me how much like our tree cousins we really are. Jasonby Jason MacArthur - Just Talk
Re: Sweet Sixteen - 3 years ago
Sweet 16 is one of my favorite all time apples for all the reasons Todd outlined above. However, this year a gorgeous crop is dropping to the ground too early. After a wet and rainy summer we have had a few weeks of above average temperatures here, and in the last few days close to half the fruit has hit the ground. The flavor is not yet developed and they still have a starchy texture, so I doby Jason MacArthur - Apples
Re: leaves on new growth curling under, turning brown - 3 years ago
Peter- I would make sure that the "lime green aphids" you are seeing are not Potato Leafhopper,(PLH) whose toxic saliva causes just the type of curling and burning effect you describe. The PLH will jump sideways or scurry down the stalk when discovered, and are much more mobile than an aphid.by Jason MacArthur - Bug by Bug
Re: A word of caution about Fedco's tree paint formula - 3 years ago
Pat- I understand your frustration and I am sorry for the loss of your trees. Perhaps, for the sake of building communal knowledge, you could tell us exactly what products you used, and when and how you applied them. I will say that I have used a mix of interior paint and joint compound almost every year for the last 10 years on trees of all ages, including many whips, without seeinby Jason MacArthur - Just Talk
Re: A word of caution about Fedco's tree piant formula - 3 years ago
I have used this formula several times over the years on trees of mixed ages, including very young whips, and I have never seen the type of damage you describe. Sorry for the loss! Jasonby Jason MacArthur - Just Talk
Re: Best spray strategy for SWD and cane borers? - 3 years ago
Refrigeration of berries can also be helpful. Even though the SWD eggs may already be in the fruit, they will be killed by cold and not turn into maggots. Rigorous consumer testing reveals that most of us prefer eating eggs to maggots!by Jason MacArthur - Brambles
Re: Best spray strategy for SWD and cane borers? - 3 years ago
Sorry- I missed your parallel post on the topic of the flavor impacts of neem.by Jason MacArthur - Brambles
Re: Best spray strategy for SWD and cane borers? - 3 years ago
I don't have any experience with spraying neem for SWD, but I would be concerned about flavor impacts on the berries. One of the difficulties with SWD is that it shows up just as fruit are ready to be eaten by humans. Neem has a pretty distinct aroma that might clash with berry!by Jason MacArthur - Brambles
Re: Neem, cold weather, and hard water - 3 years ago
So after numerous unsuccessful attempts at getting neem onto my trees I seem to have hit upon a formula that works, though I will admit that I changed two variables at once. I was tired of failure though, and the thought of coming back from the orchard again with a sprayer full of chunks of neem was enough to make me throw the scientific process to the wind. I started with water softened througby Jason MacArthur - Spray Nuance
Re: Tree Row Volume and Micronutrients - 3 years ago
Mike- As far as my dilute TRV of 50 that is based simply on experience- two trips with a full backpack allow me to cover everything to runoff(what fun!). Remember, many of my trees are in 2nd leaf with few branches, and of course they really don't have leaves at this point in the season. When I do the calculations I get a dilute TRV of something more like 108 gallons. I think wby Jason MacArthur - Spray Nuance
Tree Row Volume and Micronutrients - 3 years ago
This year for the first time I am using MicroPak as a source of micronutrients. MicroPak has a label rate of 1 pint/acre for foliar feeding. I have done some basic calculations to ascertain that I will not be over applying boron using this product, which I thought I would put out there either to be corrected or perhaps to help some one else out. My orchard is planted entirely on dwarfing roby Jason MacArthur - Spray Nuance
Re: Neem, cold weather, and hard water - 3 years ago
Peter- In your successful trip to the orchard was the water you used softened with citric acid or softened tap water?by Jason MacArthur - Spray Nuance
Re: Tow-Behind Sprayer (half acre) - 3 years ago
We are looking into a 12v sprayer for our orchard. I see two types of pumps available, a diaphragm pump running at about 60psi and a plunger pump running towards 200 psi. Those of you using these pumps, which type are you working with? Our trees are not that tall, topping out at around 10 ft, though beyond the reach of our backpack sprayer. I would like the pump to be able to handle neem oilby Jason MacArthur - Sensible Equipment