What's Happening in the Fall of 2017

Old Farmers Almanac email reminders said its time to plant my garlic. It feels a little early, are they possibly talking about seed and not cloves?

this is a purple wonder strawberry, the only one that fully turned red, it probably was because it was also the smallest one

this strawberry has deep strawberry fragrance

it is also the last of the season

i recomend this variety

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It varies by zone, of course, but my notes remind me to wait until the ground temp, at 9AM, at 4" deep is about 50 deg. Usually this is around the 1st frost or end of October for me. You donā€™t want too much growth before the worst of winter or this can set them back. Mine are about 2-3" above a heavy mulch by Christmas.

It looks so lonely.

It looks like a fungus. Often when there are aphids above a spot they drop dew down below and then it gets infected by fungus and looks like that.

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Those look very nice, congrats. So, what will you do with all that fruit? Freeze, can, make preserves, send some to a certain GF member in Kentucky??

Is the FK that much better than DD? Think it would grow and produce here? Do either of those varieties need a pollinator(s)?

Yes they need a pollinator. Now that I got a taste of both Iā€™m not as keen on Flavor King. I think itā€™s better than dapple dandy but my wife does not. DD is better than I thought. I could have them on the tree another couple weeks as they seem to have excellent hang time. Flavor king was falling off. DD I think is better than satsuma, and it grows very well here it would be worth trying or maybe others in the dapple family like dapple jack or dapple fire. Itā€™s not a wow fruit like the best plum I ever had but it is decent and I could eat them no problem. A for sure keeper. I can send you some no problem pm address again to me. I wonā€™t be home till Tuesday.
Flavor King has a perfume taste my wife dislikes. I think the taste is good but I can see how some would not like it at all. So donā€™t always believe all you here about so and so fruit. I wish we all could taste samples before we bought trees. I gave about one third away I still have too many!

Thanks Drew, I was just joshing with you about sending me some, but I really appreciate the offer. I bought some DD from the store recently and didnā€™t even finish them before they went bad. Iā€™m not a big plum fan, but I did like this particular hybrid. I wonder if they sell FK in any stores?

So, do you have any other plumcot hybrids youā€™re growing? Did you get them from Bay Laurel? They seem to be the only nursery, besides Adams County, that sells these types of trees.

I hear ya about sampling fruit before buying trees. Iā€™ve bought all these trees the last couple of years, and never had tasted any of them beforehand. Thankfully, the orchard we frequent had 9 of the 13 varieties of apples we planted, so we got to sample some of them last year. Based on those samples, I think we did alright with our selections.

I will say 4 of our 5 pears I still havenā€™t tried before. And itā€™ll prob be years before weā€™ll get any to try.

Yes I got a four in one tree from Bay Laurel. I also have five other Pluot grafts, so about nine different pluots. You can graft unto peach.

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Depending on where you are in zone 7, Iā€™d recommend waiting till mid to late October. In zone 8a, Iā€™ve had success planting in early November.

I ate my first Dabinett apple yesterday. Well, I could only stand eating half of it, and then I had to spit it out after chewing. :persevere: :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

16 Brix, though. Sweetest of my apples for the season so far. Soft tannins. It should make good cider. That is if the tree ever decides to grow. I certainly didnā€™t help it by letting it fruit this year. I moved it from a wet spot and gave it plenty of fertilizer this year. Will give it more next.

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Isnā€™t that the variety you have on a G222 rootstock? I planted a Golden Russet on that RS last spring and it has been a dog, has not really grown much at all. Maybe I should have fertilized it more than once this year.

Iā€™m considering moving it next year, along with a couple of peaches in the same area. The soilā€™s really acidic and I think thatā€™s hampered some of the trees there.

Yes, and it didnā€™t have too many roots on it when I moved it. It was a dud from the nursery, it had 1 or 2 roots on it when I got it.

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How long has it been in the ground? Iā€™m surprised it fruited at all judging by your account of its poor progress. Did it have much trouble getting transplanted? Did you have to prune it any after that, or was it so pitiful it didnā€™t need any?

I was wondering how your other apples have done (Liberty, Enterprise, Harrison?). I do recall you got some nice Zestarā€™s this year.

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Now that I have grown some of my own apples, I am racking my brain trying to figure out what to plant next. I have room for one more apple tree and I want either an early apple or a very late apple, both would have to be disease resistant as I try to stay organic.
This puts me at Williams Pride or Gold Rush.

I can not find a Williams Pride on a dwarf root stock that is fire blight resistant.
I am concerned Gold Rush will be destroyed by CAR, which I know is in my little orchard.

I have changed my mind on a daily basis after reading this forum. I swear I put more thought into this question than buying my house or marrying my wife.

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Glad you know whatā€™s important in life :smiley:

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Jim,

I grow both WP and GR. Both on M 7. I do not have any problem with this rootstock. Iā€™ve WP for several years now. I like it for an early apple. @scottfsmith, who is in your zone has an issue with water core in his WP. I donā€™t have that issue. Maybe, itā€™s more of an issue in a warmer climate. I donā€™t know. Also, early apples do not keep for long.

My GR just fruit this year so I have not tasted it myself. Iā€™ve read that everyone likes it and that it tastes even better in storage. It also keeps well in storage for several months.

WP virtually has been disease resistant to me. GR is known for CAR but I spray myclobutanil (brand name I use if Immunox) twice. Thatā€™s it.

All things considered, Iā€™d go with GR. However, if you are a no spray guy, GR may not be for you. My trees were from Burntridge nursery.

BTW, I wonā€™t tell your wife what you told us :smile:

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Thanks for the input.

And I meant that as a compliment to my wife! She is a wonderful woman and my decision to marry her was very easy.

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This is the 3rd year for the Dabinett/G.222 combo. It probably fruited because it was so poor of a grower - ā€œthe OH CRAP I gotta reproduceā€ strategy. I did not prune it after I transplanted it. But it established pretty well, as I babied it with water and foliar applications of Miracle Grow up til July 1.

Yes, I harvested about 15 lbs of Zestar apples, and accidently froze about half of them. I ate the last one of the non-frozen Zestar this morning. I also had about 6 or 8 Williamsā€™ Pride on a graft that were ready about the same time that mostly had watercore (yum!) (all gone).

I harvested Kiddā€™s Orange Red last week, and am letting it hang out in the fridge for a while while we eat and bake through the shorter-keeping Sweet 16 from my dadā€™s tree. Sweet 16 are awesome off of his tree this year. Anise and cherry candy flavors on top of apple flavor.
My Liberty are close to ready, but late last week one still was quite grainy from un-converted starch, so they still needed some time.

Next after Liberty will be Suncrisp, which has a decent crop for 3 years old and Enterprise with its two lone apples despite being a large tree and 4 years old.

Dabinett is my first cider tree to bear. Nothing yet off of Harrison, Brownā€™s Apple, nor Harry Masterā€™s Jersey. Harry Masterā€™s Jersey is really slow to wake up and Iā€™m not sure about how it will ever get pollinated.

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My opinion is to go with Goldrush for a late apple and either Williams Pride or Pristine for an early apple if your only going with two. Liberty and Enterprise are two other options. If you do grafting add several options on a couple of trees and eliminate what you donā€™t want later. Good luck deciding, it is a tough decision.