Dax, I am eagerly awaiting fruit from Goldrush. Just got it this year.
I guess tastes differ: I know someone who thinks Fuji is the best apple in existence. For my taste, I really like the Russets, the Cox derivatives (queen cox, cherry cox) and Rubinette. I also have a few other highly reputed ones such as : Karmijn da Sonnaville. But I haven’t yet tasted it.
smsmith, I don’t think Ashmead’s Kernel is rated hardy enough for this far north. I had considered getting one, but didn’t, for that reason. I might try graft a scion, though, if I can figure out how to get them to survive. My first attempts at grafting were dismal failures.
I think AK is rated to zone 4, but whether that’s 4a or 4b I do not know. I also know that some nurseries will rate varieties “liberally”. My AK made it through a few winters, but perhaps the reason it didn’t grow much was due to winter damage.
I have an Ashmead’s Kernel on M111 from 39thParallel, I’m a zone 4a. Check with me in the spring to see how it handles the winter.
I still have about 8 Ashmead’s bagged on the tree but about a half dozen more are unbagged and getting hit by yellow jackets. I decided to try one today. It was 16 brix, I’m going to try to let the rest get closer to 20. At 16 brix it is still a little on the tart side but very tasty. I ate a 16 brix Gala side by side with it. Both were good, but they tasted like different types of fruit altogether.
My apples on M111 have burr knots. I found a thread about them here.
What I’m saying is Andy bury the entire rootstock at planting time.
Dax
They’re not in their permanent location yet (still in the nursery bed), but that’s something to consider when they get moved to the orchard. I initially thought that would negate the effects of the rootstock, but perhaps not. Treco notes: “EMLA 111 is recommended for situations where its vigorous growth is needed to overcome the poorer cropping capacity of dry sandy soils in low rainfall areas.” We have sandy Adirondanck soil, but not dry. I need to propagate 2 more, my goal is at least 3 of every variety.
I would consider doing it.
Dax
Golden Russet was probably the single largest inspiration for my apple obession. Here I’ve not had ashmeads that could truly compete. Here, so far, I’d rate AK very good and GR best. GR is also extremely sweet. GR is weird to grow though. It doesn’t like to grow as a neat compact pruned form. It’s lanky, rangy and not very productive. I’ve had terrible luck growing two different GR , bears and pack rats and more bears and packrats. If I were superstitious, I’d say there is a malevolent force trying to keep me from my Golden Russets! A bear just broke the tree I regrafted after it was broken by a bear previously. Packrats stripped another tree of all the fruiting spurs in two different years.
Sorry to hear about your back luck with the GR. I have only a small tree with the GR on it. The last two years I have had apples on it and my results were as you have had. Something has eaten every one before I got them. I did pick one last year that was high on one branch and it was GREAT. Now I sense I am not the only one jinxed with not getting any fruit to use off of it. My tree is very small still so it looks odd at this point, like a gangly teenager.
I ate several more Golden Russets today. These had been kept in the fridge for about 2 weeks. What an amazing apple! An amazing aroma each time you bite into one, accompanied by tartness and sweetness. Somewhat dense, less crunchy and dry compared with other apples but far more aromatic with a lot more flavor.
I will take this over most non russeted apples.
Wildlife and insects share your taste for high sugar low acid fruit. Here GR is frequently targeted by yellow jackets and coddling moths. At one site, it was the only apple squirrels removed.
It is not grower friendly and takes a long time to figure out how to prune for productivity and to train it even when you know to encourage and force smaller wood.
I find varieties like this benefit from sustaining surplus scaffolds to supply more anchorage for smaller shoots you tape them to in the process of forcing shoots to horizontal position and heavier fruiting.
I’m glad I prefer a more acidic fruit. Spitz and Goldrush are much more grower friendly than Golden Russet. Ashmead’s, on the other hand, is the least productive variety I grow, no matter what I do. However, it has the most flavor in its season- a few weeks before Golden Russet has reached its peak sugar, incidentally. At least here and most seasons. This one has been very weird with varieties ripening out of normal sequence and failing to reach good sugar before dropping from the trees.
Truly the worst season in memory for fruit quality in my part of NY. Further upstate they missed a lot of the rain we got down here, but a pretty wide swathe of the east just got way too much rain to produce excellent fruit.
I’ve observed the very same thing way out here on the Marin County coast. Not caused by rain here, to be sure, but probably by an abnormally cool summer.
so here’s a question: I have an ashmeads on M106, was thinking of turning it into a multi-graft…
I’ve heard Ashmeads can be an odd one to grow in tree habit as well as being a stingy bearer, would this be a poor choice for turning into a frankentree?
When I PMed @Alan for advice on this, he suggested Crimson Crisp for the frankentree. I’m planting mine in the spring.
I don’t have crimson crisp But have quite a few others…Did he say why he recommended Crimson?
I don’t remember the context of what I wrote Joe, but Crimson Crisp is my favorite disease resistant apple in its window. Here, it ripens in late Sept-early Oct. It is one of only a few trees that consistently produces tasty, crisp fruit in my nursery without much help from me. It also has an excellent growth habit with nicely spaced spreading branches and doesn’t keep you waiting to come into baring. .
In other words, a perfect starter tree for a grafter, with a percentage of the tree left to CC.
I planted a Golden Delicious solely for apple pies because of childhood memories… would you guys recommend Golden Russet for pies? It seems its sweetness may make it a good apple for pies??
My Golden Delicious has sat in a near non-vegetative state for eight years and has literally grown inches per year.
The graft is very low (bought it from Stark) and I would need graft Golden Russet on GD wood.
Dax
Interesting you mention that- I have two yellow delicious branches on my frankentree and they haven’t done particularly well, just OK. Macoun is another that doesn’t seem to have much vigor on that tree. Winesap, Cameo, some others, however, seem to reliably take right off when grafted to the same tree, no matter where they’re stuck on.
There’s always the possibility it’s the roots: but I would’ve noted at planting time (I write on the the tags) that the roots were weak. So I’m going to say it’s not roots. The other apples within feet of it are growing good to very good.
Dax
