North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Jim Hogan <whirlinghurly@yahoo.com>]

 I just joined a couple weeks ago so I wanted to say hi, and to ask a couple 
questions about growing apples in the cold zones like northern Minnesota. 
I've read all the literature form the U of MN which isn't bad, but there 
seems to be conflicting information so here I am. Right now I have 2 haralson 
and 1 crabapple tree which do well here. The only things I do is prune them a 
little and collect apples. Not a lot of pests or insect damage so they've 
been pretty easy. We bought them from a nursery long time ago so I'm assuming 
a standard rootstock. I want to try some dwarfing rootstocks and some other 
apple, but our nurseries around here don't sell them so I'd have to look 
elsewhere.
Basically I have 2 questions:
What dwarfing rootstocks will grow well in the cold?We hit 40-50 below 0 
frequently. I have about 18-24 inches of topsoil, with a softer clay pan 
beneath it(meaning I can dig it out pretty easily) and we grow a lot of corn, 
alfalfa and oats.
Also from the U of MN info, doesn't look like a lot will actually grow for 
apples, maybe sweet 16 and haralson. Do you have any others that you'd 
recommend. I am mostly looking for eating and cider apples. The nursery had 
beacon and chestnut crab, goodland and a couple others.

thanks
jim