Hello
I put in 3 Arkansas black trees in this spring. All replanted in spots where there was previous apple trees. Pulled out previous roots and all with tractor. Two were on g41 one was m109. All trees were treated the same and did fine for first 2 weeks. Then both g41 the dropped leaves and died. Not sure what happened. Plenty of rain in TN this spring. No bugs. Just curious if y’all have any ideas before i try and replace them
G41 is replant tolerant per the Washington state guide. Don’t think the grafts were damaged. Maybe should have cut them back when planting. They bloomed heavily.
1 Like
With all the rain we have had I’m guessing that could have caused them to die. Did the area around the trees drain well?
Yea. Hillside so no pooling. May replace with liberty on m.106 or retry ark black on g.41. Lots of firelight issues so a bit scared of m.106 rootstock but liberty top is resistant. Not sure how much it would matter
I found apples to just be a little finicky. The majority of grafts survive transplant from the pot to the ground. Occasionally the rootstock just up and dies for no apparent reason 
.
1 Like
I see from the members map that you are in the Chattanooga area. I’ve read that the Liberty tree is disease resistant but is more susceptible to the insects than most. Its in the McIntosh family of apple trees. I’ve considered it to be apple that does well in the northern areas but maybe not the same quality texture in the south. I really do like the McIntosh apples that I have eaten though.
I’ve go a 14 year Honeycrisp apple tree that never has produced anything but a small crop until this year. Its has always been the last to bloom and leaf out. This year it is loaded with apples but I would not consider it to be a southern apple tree because of chill zone difference.
I sometimes think that if I had to plant my trees all over again I would go with dwarfs rather than semi-dwarfs.
2 Likes
You didn’t put fertilizer in the plant hole?
Nope. Just dirt. Maybe root rot from all the rain.