Grimes was not very good for us and didn't like the heat. Hudson's was outstanding, as was Kind David. We have Royal Limbertwig which is good if you pick them early enough.

Despite my love for heirloom apples, it would be hard to do without William's Pride, as no other summer apple we have comes close to the quality, and it beats out quite a few of the fall apples also.

Applenut

Applenut, is your William's Pride on MM111? If so, where did you find it?

Rosefolly

Rosefolly:

No, its on M27, and I think it came from Raintree. I also grafted it onto M111, and it bore the second year. The patent expired, so I think you'll find it a lot more places.

Applenut

if you're considering a dry orchard then stay away from Hudson's golden gem and other dry fleshed apples. King David is very winy and will do well even if it gets limited water. Bauer pippin is an excellent choice as well.

It's a shame you are forgoing graveinstein. It's an excellent choice for dry orchards and produces fine apples without any spraying. A friend of mine has several 20 year old trees that are never sprayed and are dry farmed meaning no wateringa at all, and they produce the best apples I've eaten. Gravenstein is the best apple for norcal and it would be a shame if you didn't grow one.

Really? I love Gravenstein. I was shying away from it after reading a list of diseases it was subject to. I'd love to grow it if it can produce good apples under a low-spray regimen.

I'll delete Grimes Golden if it doesn't do well here.

I would recommend a zero spray regiment. Apple trees don't need sprays to thrive. I use organic means to deal with coddling moths.

In my yard you're not getting apples if you don't spray something.
Too many years of neglected trees in the neighborhood have the bug populations too high. If you've got apples eventually they'll find you, I managed organically for about 5 years.

One person's answer/opinion does not apply to everyone everywhere.

I've decided to put off planting the second batch of apples for a year. I want to get a handle on caring for the fruit trees I already have before I add more.

Besides, I'm still mulling these over in my mind. Choices, choices. What a pity it is we can't grow everything, but there is just not enough time in the day, or even the year!

I did order two more grapes, Golden Muscat and Glenora to join with the Bokay and Steuben that I planted a year and a half ago.

AXEL,
How do you cope with pc?
Thanks Bonnan

We don't have Plum Curculio out here in the West, at least not yet. So far, my main issue has been apple coddling moth only. PC is a fairly new pest so there aren't any good organic techniques yet, but there are some promising approaches. Check out the following website:

http://www.organicfruit.msu.edu/report-pest.htm

Plum Curculio Weevil Management

Coleoptera is the order of insects that we call the "beetles". Plum curculio (PC) is the most damaging beetle in apples. While they have only one generation per year in Michigan, they are long-lived and a single individual has a high capacity for yield-reducing damage. Both males and females consume fruit, but most of the crop damage is from female oviposition is crescent-shaped and, in apple, has a brown, fanlike appearance at harvest. If the larvae develop in the fruit, there is a tunneling damage inside the fruit- often causing the fruit to drop off from the tree. If fruit remain on the tree, the damage can significantly reduce the market value of the crop. Currently, there are no sanctioned organic control strategies for plum curculio. The historical means of conventional control has been calendar sprays of organophosphate insecticides- primarily Guthion (azinphos-methyl.)

Plum curculio activity is difficult to monitor and this is not well understood. A new method for attempting to monitor their activity is modified black pyramid trap. This device is essentially a tree mimic that provides a high contrast, visually attractive target for PC. The design takes advantage of their natural climbing behavior and captures the beetles in a standard cotton boll weevil trap that is placed on the top of the 4-foot tall structure. In addition to visual stimuli, the pyramid traps can be baited with fruit essences (kairomone) that mimic the attractive chemistries of the orchard they are designed to protect. The attractant strategy is effective against both males and females, since both sexes respond to the visual and odor stimuli. Traps are placed throughout the orchard in an attempt to map PC behavior patterns. Trapping may reduce the plum curculio population in an orchard depending on the number of traps. However, additional control measures are usually necessary to maintain PC populations below the economic threshold.

Orchard floor management after June drops is an important element in long-term organic control of PC. The dropped fruit is often infested with larvae. These larvae eventually leave the fruit to pupate, and emerge as adults in August. These second-generation adults over winter, and in the following spring they mate and lay eggs in the fruit. Prompt removal of June drop fruit can help substantially reduce established in-orchard populations the following season.

In addition to trapping and June drop removal, we are utilizing degree-day modeling to time pyrethrum and kaolin clay sprays. Insect growth is dependent on temperature and typically has a minimum environmental temperature requirement for growth to occur. Degree-day modeling helps us to determine the stage and activity of insects based on their temperature units or "degree days" accumulated. Kaolin clay is a substance that is Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) by the EPA. It is sprayed on as a liquid that evaporates leaving a particle film, which allows light to pass through it. The particle film creates a barrier that prevents insect feeding and egg-laying. It also makes the tree unrecognizable as a host and provides secondary benefits to trees by reducing the canopy temperature, which reduces heat and water stress. Kaolin clay is sprayed starting early in the season to prevent plum curculio and other insects from damaging fruit. Thorough coverage is necessary for it to be effective. In the North and Rootstock blocks, it will be sprayed throughout the growing season. In the South Block it will be sprayed through 900 degrees-days Base 50 F , which marks the end of the plum curculio season. These sprays will be supplemented with pyrethrum as necessary. Pyrethrum is a broad spectrum insecticide that is broken down rapidly by UV radiation.

Here in the Maritime PNW, the Hudson Golden Gem is annually productive but not the very best keeper, it softens in storage. Gravenstein is a triploid and blooms very early and is excessively vigorous. I do have a 'Discovery' but it has a mosaic virus so I won't share wood. Fruit comes on VE and is a fair keeper for such an early apple, 'just a few weeks after Transparent'.
Have you heard of Canada Griese? It is a gigantic russett apple and ripens very late here.

Here is a link that might be useful: Golden Russet