North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["PATTY " <jrplelie@centurylink.net>]

It seems to me that a good argument is being made for the use of dwarfing 
interstems on rootstocks with good drought resistance and anchorage.  A 
rootstock like MM111 would preclude staking(longterm) and maybe regular 
irrigation while the interstem would keep things at a manageable height for 
U-picks and reduce pruning (dependent on vigor of the variety grown).  As to 
which rootstock and interstem combination would best serve the grower is a 
decision for that grower.  A friend of mine has a Geneva series with 
interstem in his small orchard of 60 trees in Northern Michigan. I am not 
familiar with the Geneva series so I am interested in seeing how things 
progress.  

Orchard planning is key to a good orchard.  Once they are in the ground, you 
are, for the most part, stuck with that plan.

Jim Elie
Pulaski WI
Zone 5a

Original Message -----
From: "david liezen" <chandos49@hotmail.com>
To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Friday, November 15, 2013 1:16:09 PM
Subject: Re: [nafex] Apple rootstocks, was freeze

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.