Belle de Boskoop Apple- how many years before fruit?

Update: I thought I’d have to wait years and years for Belle de Boskoop to fruit but apparently not. I just saw one cluster of flower buds on the tip of a one year old graft. The rootstock is Geneva 30, supposed to be precocious. Wow.

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Nice to know things are already happening, but it might be better for the tree if you remove the blossoms and let the tree put its energy into wood instead of fruit- like Appenut says (above).

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I should have mentioned this was not a bench graft of Boskoop last year but a graft on one limb of a ten year old Franken-Tree.

Can a single small branch (on a large tree) “runt out?” I assumed the energy of the large tree would prevent that, but it’s just an uninformed guess.

Thanks for ideas.

Steve

My thought is that yes, it can, but I may be judging from too limited experience. I thought it happened to me on one graft on my frankenapple, and I haven’t let it happen again!

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Thanks for passing that along Mark. I need to think about this. Since I have so many varieties on this tree, space is limited for any one variety, I might decide to let it runt out to keep it within a small space. Hmmm. I call this tree my Audition Tree. If a variety does well on it I promote that variety out to many friends’ trees.

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That’s great! I have a five year old BdB on Bud-9 that should produce for its first time this year. It had a few flowers last year, but no fruit.

Well, we got lots of growth on the Belle last year and it leafed out nicely this spring but no blossoms. Encouraging to read glowing reviews of the fruit though because it is finally turning in to a nice looking tree. I think I may prune it pretty severely this weekend just because there is a shape I’m after and it finally looks possible. Probably delay fruit a further year or two but oh well.

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No fruit for the 2017 season.:cry:

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Taste Update: Today I ate my one and only Belle de Boskoop apple on one of my Frankentrees. A winner! Crunchy, complex tart/sweet, reminded me of a slightly muted Goldrush. Mouth-watering acid aftertaste… Very dense. I plan to graft more of this on friends’ trees next year even though the branch had some fireblight the last two years.

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Hey joehewitt and hambone. Can you compare Belle de Boskoop to Northern Spy and Rhode Island Greenling? Those seem to consistently top 3 for pie apples. I have only tasted Northern Spy and immediately made an agreement that small orchard would never advertise them and I would buy their entire stock every year - best apple pies I have every had (spicy, super apple taste like the old fried McDonald apple pies, softish but certain slices hold enough to still give some texture.

Fresh eating Northern spy sounds different texture from fresh BdB. Northern spy is not that dense but is very juicy with a complex sweet/tart. taste.

I’d be really interested to hear from any one who can compare all 3. Growing notes would be great too as I am pretty no-spray in my backyard due to gov regs. The orchard I go to does no spray but runs chickens under the trees to keep insect pressure down. The Northern Spy are very good condition but with thin skin that bruises easy.

I have all 3 grafted but am now planning a larger orchard and wondering how much of each (if any besides Northern Spy) I will plant.

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@hungryfrozencanuck4b It’s been 30 years since I ate a N Spy but my memory tells me I’d take a Boskoop over it for any purpose. But I don’t live in Spy country- am in 7B- not where Spy is meant to grow.

BdB is mysterious: a lot of descriptions say takes long time to bear and I find the opposite- here on G30 it’s one of my most precocious. Descriptions about disease are all over the map from resistant to blight to very susceptible. Here I’ve pruned some substantial blight off a few years ago but none since. I don’t have enough years experience with it to see its true disease profile.

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