North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[sherwin <sherwindu@att.net>]

On 12/1/2013 5:08 PM, Richard wrote:
> Hello my friends;
>   
> What a great year my orchard had! Unfortunately, some of the apple varieties just don't sell that good. Summer Rambo and Pound Sweet are not popular at all; especially the P.S. The Wolf Rivers are bought by people who cook with them; the trees are very productive, though. TONS of fruit.
>             There are 8 Rambo trees, 6 WR trees, and 7 PS trees. I'm going to 
> keep 1 of each for pollination, but the rest are doomed. They are 8 years old.
>   
> Here's the question:
> Would you pull out the trees and replant, or top work them into new varieties?
>   
> Please tell me which you would do, and why....
> This should be interesting!
>   
> Thanks
> Murph
> Murph
>                                         
      Murph,

      If your rootstocks are healthy and vigorous, that would give you 
a leg up on restarting new varieties.
      However, I have had only limited success in topworking and for 
me, it is a slow process.  It depends
      a lot on the compatibility of your new scion to this older 
rootstock.  I would try one year of topworking
      to see how this works out.  You can always pull the trees at a 
later date.

                                     Sherwin in Morton Grove, IL