Friday, May 1, 2020

Orchard notes 2020

Looking west from bottom of hill
Looking south

Notes placed here for later reference.

In the G.210 extension on the side hill.

North row, 13 grafted to Liberty.

Second from north, 7 Liberty on east end of row, 6 Novaspy

Third from north, 1 Sweet Sixteen at east end. 14 Novaspy.

South row, 12 Jonafree X Golden Del seedling similar to late Gala. 2 Caville Blanc D'Hiver. 3 Belle de Boskoop.



In the wildlife planting
It rained 2" last night. The holes were filled with water.
9 Enterprise grafted on to Bud-118. One Novaspy on Bud-118

18 Korean Giant grafted on P. betulifolia. 2 Potomac on P. bet

11 Persimmons already planted

The apple grafts were wrapped with paper to deter rabbits. Pear grafts are naked.
P. betulifolia seedling on left. Bud-118 apple rootstock on right.
Current thinking on apple cultivars
Liberty is the Toyota Camry or Glock 19 of apples for this part of Michigan. Not fussy. Documented to be as cold hardy as McIntosh, i.e. -30F. Liberty is a good "default" choice for Michigan plantings. Liberty can generate "off" flavors if it ripens when the weather is hot.

Enterprise is a disease resistant apple similar to Idared. A late ripening apple. Big. Keeps well. As productive as Liberty. Cold hardiness probably slightly better than Golden Delicious.

Novaspy generates very positive reviews in our taste tests. Sometimes has a bit of water core and would benefit from calcium sprays. Apples size well. Tree is a tip bearer and weepy. Likely to be less productive than Liberty. Cold hardiness probably slightly better than Golden Delicious.

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