3 Apple Trees

[E_308]

Thinking about planting some apple trees. If you could plant 3 apple trees what varieties would they be? Planting in northeast Missouri. Full sun old field with well drained soil. Minimal maintenance, only make it to the farm about once a month. I have pears dropping from late August - early October, so later would be good. Mostly for the deer but would be nice if they where good for humans to eat too! Second part: best source to order from?

 

[Native Hunter]

Where I live it is hard to get apple trees to drop into November. The other problem is crabapples that hang on too long, turn into dried up mummies and don't drop until the next spring. People up north in places like PA and WI don't have those problems.

1. Yates will go into early November here some years and is highly DR. Good for humans too but small.

2. Arkansas Black - same as Yates on drop and DR. Good for humans too but better after keeping a while.

3. Kenner Seedling - I'm getting my first big crop, and it looks like they could be my latest apple. They are highly DR, slowly dropping right now but still lots of apples hanging. Good for humans too.

I would add a crabapple like Dolgo to ensure good pollination. It produces lots of pollen and will pollinate all three above. The Dolgo that Wildlife Group sold was a good one, because it was late and did better with the mummy problem than lots of others. However, I think they are out of business. One reason I would add a crabapple or two is because Arkansas Black produces sterile pollen.

I would look at Blue Hill's and/or Turkey Creek first. I know Blue Hill has the ones above, and I think Turkey Creek does too. Best Wishes,

PS - Whatever you do don't get anything on M7 or B118 rootstock. Dolgo, MM111 or Antonovka are generally the best rootstocks. You can research them and see how the description fits your soils.

 

[Flatiron75]

Good advice here ^ ^ ^ ^. Take a pic of that post to store on your phone!!

Liberty is widely known to be a very disease-resistant (DR) apple, and it seems to grow well in zones 5, 6, and 7. Without looking at a zone map, I'd bet NE Mo falls into one of those zones.

 

[gurgalunas]

Good advice here ^ ^ ^ ^. Take a pic of that post to store on your phone!!

Liberty is widely known to be a very disease-resistant (DR) apple, and it seems to grow well in zones 5, 6, and 7. Without looking at a zone map, I'd bet NE Mo falls into one of those zones.

I'm in west central MO and liberty is earlier to drop here. Late September to early/mid October. It's finishing up now. Great apple for our area, but not a November drop.

Remember AR Black is a triploid hybrid, and needs 2 pollinators with the appropriate bloom season to produce. I planted Goldrush as a late apple 10 years ago, honestly haven't paid attention to them to know if they really are good and as advertised. If I ever decided to plant apples again, I like the sounds of that Kenner Seedling... I'll probably stick with my chestnuts, persimmons, and grafting volunteer callery pears, though.

Eric, let me know if you want to try Chestnuts, I can help.

Craig

 

[Turkey Creek]

Actually you don't need 2 varieties to pollinate a triploid like Arkansas Black. Just a single variety with overlapping bloom time is enough to pollinate the Ark Black. Its that the pollen produced by Arkansas Black is unable to pollinate other varieties. If you planted only 2 apple trees that need cross pollination and Arkansas Black is one of them then you wont get fruit. 3 trees works because the two that aren't Arkansas Black can pollinate each other and one or both can pollinate the Arkansas Black.

For late season apples Arkansas Black, Enterprise (most years) and Yates are good choices. I love Goldrush as a late season apple (one of my favorite eating apples) but it is not resistant to CAR so does require spraying to keep that in check yearly. While not a late season apple technically Hawkeye is reallty starting to open my eyes to possibilities. My is still holding apples and they do not rot in the tree. They eventually drop, human eating quality goes down as they are getting softer, but I am sure the deer won't mind. Heavy bearing tree and with the thicker skin that it has the insect damage to the fruit seems to be reduced as well.

 

[KSQ2]

Where I live it is hard to get apple trees to drop into November. The other problem is crabapples that hang on too long, turn into dried up mummies and don't drop until the next spring. People up north in places like PA and WI don't have those problems.

1. Yates will go into early November here some years and is highly DR. Good for humans too but small.

2. Arkansas Black - same as Yates on drop and DR. Good for humans too but better after keeping a while.

3. Kenner Seedling - I'm getting my first big crop, and it looks like they could be my latest apple. They are highly DR, slowly dropping right now but still lots of apples hanging. Good for humans too.

I would add a crabapple like Dolgo to ensure good pollination. It produces lots of pollen and will pollinate all three above. The Dolgo that Wildlife Group sold was a good one, because it was late and did better with the mummy problem than lots of others. However, I think they are out of business. One reason I would add a crabapple or two is because Arkansas Black produces sterile pollen.

I would look at Blue Hill's and/or Turkey Creek first. I know Blue Hill has the ones above, and I think Turkey Creek does too. Best Wishes,

PS - Whatever you do don't get anything on M7 or B118 rootstock. Dolgo, MM111 or Antonovka are generally the best rootstocks. You can research them and see how the description fits your soils.

Wildlife group went out of business??

 

[Native Hunter]

Wildlife group went out of business??

The following notice is on their website today. Sounds like pick up only, but I didn't check with them since I'm not buying any trees now.

Final Season begins 11/01/2025​

Pick Up Only. Buy One; Get One​

 

[KSQ2]

The following notice is on their website today. Sounds like pick up only, but I didn't check with them since I'm not buying any trees now.

Final Season begins 11/01/2025​

Pick Up Only. Buy One; Get One​

Well bummer, I always liked them. We ordered most of our oak trees from them.

 

[Flatiron75]

I'm in west central MO and liberty is earlier to drop here. Late September to early/mid October. It's finishing up now. Great apple for our area, but not a November drop.

Remember AR Black is a triploid hybrid, and needs 2 pollinators with the appropriate bloom season to produce. I planted Goldrush as a late apple 10 years ago, honestly haven't paid attention to them to know if they really are good and as advertised. If I ever decided to plant apples again, I like the sounds of that Kenner Seedling... I'll probably stick with my chestnuts, persimmons, and grafting volunteer callery pears, though.

Eric, let me know if you want to try Chestnuts, I can help.

Craig

I guess I didn't realize you were looking for late season apples only. Our drop time for Liberty is about the same as yours. I wouldn't call it late season either. Our better late season apples are Enterprise, Goldrush, Kerr, Arkansas Black, and several crabs. The crabs are All-Winter-Hangover, Winter Wildlife, Centurion, and 4 un-named seedling crabs of about 3/8" dia. we got from a state seedling sale years ago. If you can somehow work around the CAR susceptibility of Goldrush, it's a November apple in the NC Pa. mountains - zone 5/6 border. Superior eater too!

Still don't have a Yates - but will as soon as any tree we already have poops out for any reason. I've been advised by Native Hunter and a couple others to plant a Yates. It too, is a dandy late apple.

 

[Mennoniteman]

My favorite 3 apple trees are Enterprise, Goldrush, and Liberty, mostly due to disease resistance and availability. Enterprise probably the favorite. Goldrush and Enterprise are pollinators.

 

[Flatiron75]

Our camp is mostly no-spray ..... except for bugs & caterpillars, which don't hammer all of our varieties.

I'm happy with the crabs and apple-crab crosses we've gotten from Blue Hill Nursery here in central Pa. Turning Point, Roadkill crab, Sweet November, Crabarina are all doing well for us. We've found that crabs seem to just do their thing without hassle every year. We have other crabs as well (mentioned above in post #9) - along with Chestnut crab (an earlier dropper in September here). I have no gripe with any of the apples & crabs I've mentioned here.

As for where to order trees from - I can recommend the ones our camp has ordered from below - happy with all of them. - - -

St. Lawrence Nursery (SLN). They graft their varieties on full-sized rootstocks, meaning you'll grow big, full-sized trees eventually - usually over 20 ft. tall, sometimes over 30 ft. They graft to either Antonovka, Dolgo, or Siberian rootstocks. SLN is in Potsdam, N.Y.

Blue Hill Nursery (BHN) is in central Pa. near Shamokin Dam. Ryan, the owner, grafts apples & crabs to full-sized rootstocks as well. Trees will get big and last for decades with care. I've been to Blue Hill in person. Nice operation, with a serious, dedicated owner.

Cummins Nursery is in Trumansburg, N.Y. We got a good number of trees from them over the years with no problems either. They graft to various rootstocks from dwarf, to semi-standard (80% of full-sized trees). The father of that family was the head of Cornell University's apple breeding program. They have sprawling orchards there - I've been to their place.

Adam's County Nursery (ACN) in south-central Pa. This is a premier fruit tree nursery that supplies many commercial orchards around the country. ACN is on Penn State's list of recommended fruit tree nurseries from all around the U.S. They do grow licensed, experimental fruit trees, testing for disease resistance, growth & taste characteristics, etc.

I would buy from any of those nurseries again, no problem.

 

[KSQ2]

Where I live it is hard to get apple trees to drop into November. The other problem is crabapples that hang on too long, turn into dried up mummies and don't drop until the next spring. People up north in places like PA and WI don't have those problems.

1. Yates will go into early November here some years and is highly DR. Good for humans too but small.

2. Arkansas Black - same as Yates on drop and DR. Good for humans too but better after keeping a while.

3. Kenner Seedling - I'm getting my first big crop, and it looks like they could be my latest apple. They are highly DR, slowly dropping right now but still lots of apples hanging. Good for humans too.

I would add a crabapple like Dolgo to ensure good pollination. It produces lots of pollen and will pollinate all three above. The Dolgo that Wildlife Group sold was a good one, because it was late and did better with the mummy problem than lots of others. However, I think they are out of business. One reason I would add a crabapple or two is because Arkansas Black produces sterile pollen.

I would look at Blue Hill's and/or Turkey Creek first. I know Blue Hill has the ones above, and I think Turkey Creek does too. Best Wishes,

PS - Whatever you do don't get anything on M7 or B118 rootstock. Dolgo, MM111 or Antonovka are generally the best rootstocks. You can research them and see how the description fits your soils.

Just ordered these 3 from David at Century. I also ordered 10 rootstocks.

 

[Flatiron75]

Here's a list of apple & crab trees that we have planted at camp. We chose these varieties for DR, and for varying bloom / ripening times.

Enterprise
Liberty
Goldrush
Wolf River
Prairie Spy
N.Y. 35 "Bonkers"
Arkansas Black - - - Also have 5 OLD! unknown apple trees - over 50 years old, probably over 70
Kerr
Galarina
Priscilla
Sundance
Crimson Topaz
Minnesota 1734
Winecrisp
Rhuby
Sherry
Dayton
Franklin cider apple
Dolgo crab
Chestnut crab
Winter Wildlife crab
All-Winter-Hangover crab
Whitney crab
Violi's Hanging crab
Centennial crab
Centurion crab
Nova Scotia crab
Wickson crab
Trailman crab
Crabarina
Turning Point
Sweet November
Buckman crab
Roadkill crab
(5) wild apple seedlings - (which have all done well & are producing)
Kieffer pear
Morse Hybrid pear

 

[E_308]

Ended up ordering an Enterprise, Arkansas Black, Gold Rush and a Morse Wildlife Apple from Morse Nursery. Set delivery for during MO's turkey season in April.

 

[Flatiron75]

Ended up ordering an Enterprise, Arkansas Black, Gold Rush and a Morse Wildlife Apple from Morse Nursery. Set delivery for during MO's turkey season in April.

Just a FYI on your Goldrush - it's susceptible to CAR, so if you have any red cedars near where you plant your Goldrush, chances are the Goldrush will get CAR. Red cedars (are actually junipers, despite the name) and any other member of the juniper family will serve as the alternate fungal host for CAR. So you may have to spray for CAR on your Goldrush tree.

Goldrush is also a superior eating apple!!

 

[E_308]

How far is close to a cedar? Definitely have cedars in the area. Just wondering if we are talking within 10's of yards or within 100's of yards.

 

[gurgalunas]

I've always been told that the CAR spores travel quite far on the wind, so exposure in MO is inevitable.

A quick Google search says spores can easily cause infection within several hundred yards, commonly cause infection within a mile, and have a max distance of 4-5 miles.

When I bought my Goldrush from ACN about 8-10 yrs ago, they listed it as having excellent CAR resistance. Its one of the reasons it made my list... checking their site, CAR isnt mentioned in the Goldrush description anymore...

 

[Native Hunter]

How far is close to a cedar? Definitely have cedars in the area. Just wondering if we are talking within 10's of yards or within 100's of yards.

More than 100s of yards and you can still see it on the leaves, but the closer the tree, the worse the problem.

I was unable to successfully grow Goldrush at my location in KY due to CAR. It was so bad that the leaves would completely be destroyed. Then the tree would grow a new set of leaves before season was over. The tree would not die, but it never produced the first apple. I have pointed all of this out in some of my older fruit tree posts on this forum.

I'm not sure how bad CAR is in your location in MO, but it is a problem here. Some trees here will get CAR and still be able to produce fairly well, but they look like Hell.

PS - Up north CAR is not a deal killer like it is in the south. Best wishes.

 

[Native Hunter]

Goldrush in South Central KY:

 

[KSQ2]

Good info, it's too bad about the goldrush, too, they are great apples! We picked a bunch of them at an orchard on our trip to Wisconsin this past fall.