weekender21
Well-Known Member
Dolgos are probably my most consistent crabs. Even as young trees they produce a pretty impressive crop every year.
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Native Hunter 2023 Apples
- Thread starter Native Hunter
- Start date
DouglasCorrell
New Member
I have a lot of relatives, neighbors and church friends who love fruit. What we don’t use ourselves I give to them free of charge. It’s just something that I enjoy doing.
And of course, it also draws in the deer.
PS - a preview of Kieffer that will ripen in the fall. I have about 10 trees that look like this.
View attachment 28343
How old is this Kieffer, sir?
Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
I think about 16 years old, but you can get some significant pear crops on 8 to 10 year old trees.
DouglasCorrell
New Member
Thank you. I'm only in Year-3 and am still learning patience.
Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
Keeping Arkansas Black in storage for 4 months is the trick. I really enjoyed chomping down on these now that they have mellowed out.
Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
2025 is shaping up to possibly be the best fruit year we have ever had. Last year was exceptional and I expected most everything to take a break this year, but most apples and pears are coming right back with a heavy fruit set.
As of right now I have zero frost damage on high ground and only slight damage in my frost pocket. The long term forecast shows one night getting down to 28, which should be safe for high ground, however, I will probably get more kill in the frost pocket from that.
It looks like I will get to try some new apples this year. Galarina is one of those, and I especially look forward to tasting it. It also appears that a lot of my young Blue Hill trees are going to show up good this time.
As of right now I have zero frost damage on high ground and only slight damage in my frost pocket. The long term forecast shows one night getting down to 28, which should be safe for high ground, however, I will probably get more kill in the frost pocket from that.
It looks like I will get to try some new apples this year. Galarina is one of those, and I especially look forward to tasting it. It also appears that a lot of my young Blue Hill trees are going to show up good this time.
NoviceTreeGuy
New Member
I’m looking forward to hearing your reports for the young trees you mentioned in a previous post. Thank you for posting this thread. It has been very enlightening for us.
Ed's Crazy Crab
Whole Season Crab
Sonofcal Applecrab
Big Dog Crab
Advent Pear
Canisteo Apple
Big 10 Apple
Turning Point Applecrab
Rifle Deer Pear
Roadkill Crab
Buckman Crab
Big Lou Crab
Sweet November Crab
Malus Pear
Candy Crab
Ruby Rush Apple
Atago Pear
Galarina Apple
Ed's Crazy Crab
Whole Season Crab
Sonofcal Applecrab
Big Dog Crab
Advent Pear
Canisteo Apple
Big 10 Apple
Turning Point Applecrab
Rifle Deer Pear
Roadkill Crab
Buckman Crab
Big Lou Crab
Sweet November Crab
Malus Pear
Candy Crab
Ruby Rush Apple
Atago Pear
Galarina Apple
Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
You are very welcome. Hopefully I will have some good info for you this time.
KSQ2
Well-Known Member
We have a pretty special apple tree behind the house, it is so much bigger than the other three that were planted at the same time 10 years ago. It has been very easy to shape, its blooms are soft pink that Dawna loves, and the apples taste awesome. The apples were a total failure last year, because of big hail we got in June. This year I’m hoping for better luck. The problem is I don’t remember what variety the tree is, honestly, I’m not even sure what nursery it came from. Stark Bros maybe?? 
I’ll post some pics of the apples next fall, Native, to see if you can give it a guess.
Question for you Native. Do you ever buy root stock, or just cheap local apple trees on sale to eventually graft to? The crab on the Massey from Northern Whitetail Crabs, that got sun-scald and died, is in the process of growing a pretty impressive shoot from the below the knuckle, in another year or two, I plan to topwork it with some scions from this tree. But I’d really like to have some more of these on the farm. I’m not too worried about pollination, we are getting enough crabapples going over there now to make that a non-issue.
I’ll post some pics of the apples next fall, Native, to see if you can give it a guess.Question for you Native. Do you ever buy root stock, or just cheap local apple trees on sale to eventually graft to? The crab on the Massey from Northern Whitetail Crabs, that got sun-scald and died, is in the process of growing a pretty impressive shoot from the below the knuckle, in another year or two, I plan to topwork it with some scions from this tree. But I’d really like to have some more of these on the farm. I’m not too worried about pollination, we are getting enough crabapples going over there now to make that a non-issue.
Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
We have a pretty special apple tree behind the house, it is so much bigger than the other three that were planted at the same time 10 years ago. It has been very easy to shape, its blooms are soft pink that Dawna loves, and the apples taste awesome. The apples were a total failure last year, because of big hail we got in June. This year I’m hoping for better luck. The problem is I don’t remember what variety the tree is, honestly, I’m not even sure what nursery it came from. Stark Bros maybe??
Question for you Native. Do you ever buy root stock, or just cheap local apple trees on sale to eventually graft to? The crab on the Massey from Northern Whitetail Crabs, that got sun-scald and died, is in the process of growing a pretty impressive shoot from the below the knuckle, in another year or two, I plan to topwork it with some scions from this tree. But I’d really like to have some more of these on the farm. I’m not too worried about pollination, we are getting enough crabapples going over there now to make that a non-issue.
If you do this, I recommend buying a known rootstock rather than the cheap local apples on sale. Lots of places use B118 rootstock on the cheap apples, and that is one which has given me and many other people trouble of not anchoring well and going down in storms. I will no longer buy an apple tree without knowing the rootstock, and the only three I trust for sure are MM111, Dolgo and Antonovka. Most of my trees are on MM11, and they are rock solid in the ground. The young Blue Hill trees are on Dolgo, and they are great too.
I would be willing to experiment on a small scale (maybe a couple of trees) with some of the Geneva rootstocks like Cummins uses. The reports I hear from knowledgeable people on G890 and a couple of others have been good. What I am not willing to do is buy another apple tree without knowing the rootstock, because I'm not willing to take a chance on getting another B118. Unfortunately, Stark Brothers will not tell you what rootstock you are getting, and my understanding is that they use a lot of B118. I will buy other things from them but not an apple tree.
PS - Yes, post up some pics and info on that unknown apple when you get fruit, and I might be able to ID it for you!
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KSQ2
Well-Known Member
One of my hesitancies with buying rootstock is how small I’m assuming it would be. I’d much rather top work an existing tree than try to graft something small. But if you could walk me through that, I’ll give it a shot next year. I prefer standard sized trees ideally and will not buy dwarf trees at all; I’ve always buried the knuckle on plantings hopefully help with that, that might be a myth though when it comes to making the trees bigger and sturdier. From whom do you order your rootstock, and will they accept small orders?
Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
This link below would be a good place to order MM111 rootstock, and you can order as few as ten of them.
I would plant (and cage) the rootstock and let it grow for 3 or 4 years and then topwork it. Do it just like you have been doing your wild pear trees. That's what I'm doing with persimmons this year. I planted and caged some seedlings recently. I can topwork them in a few years from now.
PS: Make sure you get MM111 and not M7. That is another problem rootstock that goes down easily without permanent staking.
Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
Below are some young Blue Hill trees that are flowering this spring:
1. Galarina planted spring of 2023
2. Big Dog planted fall of 2020
3. Sonofcal planted fall of 2020
4. Ed's Crazy planted spring of 2022
1. Galarina planted spring of 2023
2. Big Dog planted fall of 2020
3. Sonofcal planted fall of 2020
4. Ed's Crazy planted spring of 2022
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KSQ2
Well-Known Member
Are you going to let them set completely Native?
Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
I will #2 and #3. I will thin the other two if they don’t thin themselves.
Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
I have some more BH trees setting fruit that I didn’t take pics of. Big Ten is also an impressive looking tree, as well as others that have set some fruit this time.
