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Apple/Pear Trees

Sligh1 said:
I've done it. Cheap stuff rotted away. Good thick stuff worked well. Some critters crawl under but it's not a problem like I've had, say like using corregated tubing around trunk (mice homes). If I had all the time in world, I think I'd put a good quality fabric down and cover it with lime stones. Again, screen stapled around trunk protected really well. I've got 3,000 apples, pears, crab apples, chestnuts and persimmons I'll be transferring out of my nursery in next 1-2 years as 5-6 year old trees so I really gotta have this dialed in & make sense. I'm nervous how much work it's gonna be too!!! Got another 3000-4000 that are extra I'll pry sell so at least reduce work load some. Keeping up on a high fenced nursery with no deer and easy mowing, spraying & weed control is busy enough- oh man I think I'm in for a massive project. All good though. :).
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WOW !!!
 
Sligh1 said:
I've got 3,000 apples, pears, crab apples, chestnuts and persimmons I'll be transferring out of my nursery in next 1-2 years as 5-6 year old trees so I really gotta have this dialed in & make sense. I'm nervous how much work it's gonna be too!!! Got another 3000-4000 that are extra I'll pry sell so at least reduce work load some. Keeping up on a high fenced nursery with no deer and easy mowing, spraying & weed control is busy enough- oh man I think I'm in for a massive project. All good though. :).
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Your wife must be a saint! Either that or she's just as addicted as you are. I thought I had a problem when my bare-root shrubs/trees orders reached 600, but that many fruit/nut trees are way more work!
 
Need Help, Stark Brothers shipped my trees 14 days before I am leaving to plant them , I am worried about them dying before I get to my farm. These are bare root fruit trees do I need to pot these and put in my garage I don't have a option to plant in the yard. What would you guys do ? It's 15 trees so I am in a bad spot.. Would they stay alive in the box ? Appreciate it.
 
Stick roots in a bucket of water or at least wrap them in burlap and keep them wet. Dry roots is your biggest enemy! Keep them somewhere cool. You'll be fine.
 
Jbohn said:
Need Help, Stark Brothers shipped my trees 14 days before I am leaving to plant them , I am worried about them dying before I get to my farm. These are bare root fruit trees do I need to pot these and put in my garage I don't have a option to plant in the yard. What would you guys do ? It's 15 trees so I am in a bad spot.. Would they stay alive in the box ? Appreciate it.
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Either pot them or find a container big enough and pour a bag of potting soil over the roots. Just keep them in shade and check to see that the soil stays moist. I've done this many times and kept them over a month this way.
 
Keep them cool and damp in a dark place.How cold is it there.Don't put roots in bucket of water.keep roots damp in moist sawdust,burlap,or something like thatI usually just leave the plastic that came around roots there and keep box shut up.Not sealed tight.
 
It's about 50 Degrees in my garage , trees came in box with all laid in 1 plastic bag with looks to be news papers shredded up, roots are exposed in the box. Not sure what to do. Should I spray the roots with a spray bottle with water daily or every few days ? I could pot them but that be a pain in the butt but might be best.
 
Jbohn said:
It's about 50 Degrees in my garage , trees came in box with all laid in 1 plastic bag with looks to be news papers shredded up, roots are exposed in the box. Not sure what to do. Should I spray the roots with a spray bottle with water daily or every few days ? I could pot them but that be a pain in the butt but might be best.
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Put the root portion of the trees in a plastic bag with some damp newspaper or something with a bit of moisture in it. Loosely tie the bag around the trunks. If you open the bag and can feel moisture on the plastic it is damp enough. If not spray some water into the bag.
 
I received my apple trees from Stark Bros couple weeks ago also. I kept 'em in the original box and just added a little water to the roots until I was ready to plant which was this past weekend. I got 2 of each, Gold Rush, Arkansas Black, Enterprise and Jonafree. Spacing is 13ft, I dug an oversized hole and used a potting soil/coco fiber mixture to retain moisture. I won't be able to water these as often as I'd like due to the distance from the farm so I hope this works. I used window screening around the base of each and stapled shut. I put down a weed fabric and finished off with some rock. Thanks to the good info on this site!
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That's perfect!! Well done!
*ive expanded some cages before or reshape them. If branches crowd cages- u need to free em & make bigger. One thing I did was widen but shorten height and pruned so they would grow "taller" with a strong central leader.

Looks really good above- well done!
 
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arm said:
I like the detail you went through to ensure you're trees will do great. I've been wanting to plant some fruit too. Will you be expanding the cages as the trees grow so they don't get browsed? Or is that even a concern?
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This is my first batch so I'll be experimenting as I go. As Skip said likely will need to expand the cages in the future, these are located in one of the highest deer concentrations on my property.

Skip, Thanks for all your input. I get a lot of ideas that are posted here
 
Here is a question for ya??? Who goes out and thins the little apples/pears on your trees? I do...If you do not you will end up with boom and bust cycles. A lot of little apples and trees will use up energy and may not bear again for a year or two. I never considered this would be a problem. Lack of bees. Poor pollination. But some of my trees really put out. Is OK let them have little snots. Just for wildlife anyway I know. Plant enough so some bear heavy while others rest I guess, but I like to use the fruit too. My solution is to keep the trees smaller so I can manage them. Tedious to go out and spend hrs taking off little fruit but I do it. Time intensive but I am retired.
 
loneranger said:
Here is a question for ya??? Who goes out and thins the little apples/pears on your trees? I do...If you do not you will end up with boom and bust cycles. A lot of little apples and trees will use up energy and may not bear again for a year or two. I never considered this would be a problem. Lack of bees. Poor pollination. But some of my trees really put out. Is OK let them have little snots. Just for wildlife anyway I know. Plant enough so some bear heavy while others rest I guess, but I like to use the fruit too. My solution is to keep the trees smaller so I can manage them. Tedious to go out and spend hrs taking off little fruit but I do it. Time intensive but I am retired.
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Please elaborate, are you saying I should pluck off any apple buds on my small newly planted trees to promote growth instead? Seems like a great point for the first several years, I have only 8 trees for now so thats manageable.
 
Has anyone planted Fireside apple trees? Met a guy that owns a nursery and he really bragged up Fireside, cold hardy, plenty of fruit, good survival. Just Curious...
 
I wouldn't. You usually "can't have it all" with any variety but you lose on 3 big accounts with fireside....
September dropper, so earlier. Susceptible to Blight and scab.
Rust resistant which is great. But, you can find other rust resistant that are resistant to blight or scab and drop later. Ark black is one example. Many others.
Sure, if you really liked that tree, could you make it work, I'm sure you could. A lot of these diseases you have some options for remedies or sometimes don't deal with any of their susceptibilities, sometimes. But, I still like to find most categories having resistance. Again, rarely do you find a tree that's resistant in EVERY CATEGORY & also drops the time you want it to - you will usually have to give up SOMETHING.
Why, on a simple purchase, it would be really dang easy to put a list of say FIVE trees on the list and get all you want. Maybe 7-8 if you included pears.
 
Fireside was a thought for me, in northern climate, but didn't realize rust and blight situation. Thanks.

Liberty, chestnut crab are two we have planted with success in MN. Arkansas Black would be great for Iowa, but not sure if it would make it in MN.
 
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