North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Ed Fackler" <efackler@woh.rr.com>]

 

Lon:

 

     These sorts of mutations and/or (more likely) chimera are common as the dickens.  My gut says if there are no other change in characters, I doubt that it has any usable value.  However the only way you find out if there have been other changes is to propagate and look at it for a few fruiting seasons.

 

     Some years back I read about efforts at some research station in England doing extensive work on finding a Cox which was self fruitful (exact reasons escape me now) and I think they did.  However I don't know what became of it.  Anyway the point is that Cox is so very difficult to grow (even in maritime climates) as it genetically possesses a multitude of problems.

 

Ed

-----Original Message-----
From: Lon J. Rombough [mailto:lonrom@hevanet.com]
Sent: Friday, August 26, 2005 10:19 PM
To: NAFEX
Cc: Ed Fackler
Subject: bud sports

Twice in two days I have found what seem to be bud sports on two of my fruit trees.

While doing some summer pruning of a Cox's Orange Pippin, I found what seems to be a spur type shoot. The buds are spaced more closely than on the other shoots, and they are almost whorled, with buds very close to opposite each other. My question for apple afficianados, like Ed Facker, is "is there enough interest in a spur type Cox's Orange to bother saving the shoot?" I already cut it partly back before realizing how odd it looked, but there is plenty left to reproduce it.

The other oddity came on a red leaf plum of my own discovery. It has one shoot that is like a watersprout, but is much more vigorous and has larger leaves. Instead of being solid red, like the rest of the tree, the leaves have bright green upper surfaces and red undersides. I suppose I'll have to let it bear fruit to see if THAT is different, too, but I'm trying to decide if the odd appearance has any value.
-Lon Rombough
Grapes, writing, consulting, my book, The Grape Grower, at http://www.bunchgrapes.com Winner of the Garden Writers Association "Best Talent in Writing" award for 2003.