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[HDessureault <inter.verbis@videotron.ca>]

Hi John,

I'm in zone 3-4, north of Ottawa (in Canada of course) and I was advise many years ago not to bother with interstem on M111 as in my short growing season the trees takes many, many years to reach their full potential in size, if ever, and in cold climate large size IS a plus. I am noticing that the trees on M111 start producing in five to six years, depending on the variety, while they are still quite small (an average would be 6 feet). They don't carry a lot of fruits at first, but the number increases every year as the tree continues to grow. I have many varieties and all the trees are different in shape and size. I do not boost my trees with fertilizer, just mulch, dolomite and a yearly application of well decomposed manure or composte, plus mulch (we have sandy soil) and I don't irrigate of course. The relax growing practices may also account for the limited size of the trees. So, my conclusion is that on M111 alone you will get some fruits way before you are ready to retire. I just grafted Honeycrisp last year, so I cannot comment on that variety.

Hélène