North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[david liezen <chandos49@hotmail.com>]

An orchard just north of town uses MM111 exclusively, as they dry farm. It 
does well enough for them, although I would be unsatisfied with the ultimate 
size - too big for most varieties in a U-Pick, for which they prune heavily 
each year - and the slowness to yield first crop. Bud118 has a reputation for 
better crops than MM111, which is why I opted for that with D'Arcy Spice. 
D'Arcy grows slowly and offers light crops, but the potential for great 
flavor in this situation is too good to ignore.

I've also found Geneva30 seems to have better anchorage than M26. I had a 
Liberty on M26 which leaned even though I thinned drastically - all the fruit 
grew on one side of the tree. A two year old whip of Rambour Franc, which is 
vigorous, on Gen30 has stood well in spite of 50 mph winds a few weeks ago. 
It is 6' 3" already. I don't know how well Gen30 would do if it were planted 
in a dry land orchard.

Good things are printed of MM106, which yields a tree a bit smaller than on 
MM111, in terms of yield, drought tolerance and earlier first crop, but have 
not tried it here.

Lastly, I recently read of the better anchorage of P2 in comparison with 
Bud9. I have a 3-year-old whip of Lord Lambourne on Bud9, and an early heat 
wave destroyed the youngest leaves at the top of it. It recovered with fresh 
growth above the desiccated bit, but I wonder how that would affect a crop, 
so want to make a graft to P2 next season and run a comparison. If better 
anchorage equals a root system that handles heat, P2 will be the dwarf stock 
of choice for this yard. 

Apparently you live in a part of Wisconsin I am not acquainted with. And no 
lake effect, either, huh?

Dave Liezen, born in Sheboygan, WI and raised in Spokane, WA
----------------------------------------
> From: tanistanis@hotmail.com
> To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
> Date: Fri, 15 Nov 2013 17:49:25 +0000
> Subject: Re: [nafex] Apple rootstocks, was freeze
>
> Thanks for heads-up re the 7s. I try to give away my trees on this, and 
> almost everyone has better soil than me.
> I might have M26, not sure. I bought MM111 years ago, instaed of M26. But 
> most of my MM111 trees are doing so poor, I wonder if it was mislabelled. 
> Or maybe my soil is too sorry even for 111.
> tc
>
>> From: chandos49
>> To: nafex
>> Date: Sun, 10 Nov 2013 04:23:39 +0000
>> Subject: Re: [nafex] Apple freeze question ('Lowville' apple)
>>
>> Tanis
>> I have noted M7/EMLA7 does not handle sandy soils well. I had an apple 
>> (Kingston Black) standing on EMLA7 that I eventually felt compelled to 
>> give to a better home - wetter and cooler.
>>
>> What you say about Bud118 in drought is intriguing. I have D'Arcy Spice 
>> growing on Bud118 - benchgraft in '11 - which ought to do famously with 
>> our light soil, dry climate and the light crops of D'Arcy. Being a slow 
>> grower, it may be several years before that can be tested.
>>
>> Have you used M26 yet? It does well here.
>>
>> Dave Liezen, Spokane, WA, Arbor Day zone 6
>>
>>
>>
> __________________
> nafex mailing list
> nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
> aubscribe/unsubscribe|user config|list info|make a donation toward list 
> maintenance:
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/nafex
> message archives
> https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/nafex
> Google message archive search:
> site: lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/nafex [searchstring]
> nafex list mirror sites:
> http://groups.google.com/group/nafexlist
> https://sites.google.com/site/nafexmailinglist
> Avant Geared http://www.avantgeared.com                                     
>