I think that Goldrush’s main issue is Cedar Apple Rust, not scab or fireblight. I have a two year old tree, and while it hasn’t produced anything yet, it does seem to get those small gold speckles on it that indicate CAR.
Can’t wait for it to produce, it didn’t even bloom this year, but neither did 15 of my other trees. Maybe next year will be the year for our first significant apple harvest.
MikeC, I think the reverse is true actually.
Goldrush was bred to be resistant to scab. Its main disease issue is CAR.
See here:
or
Mike,
Myclobutanil is effective against scab, CAR and other fungal issues on apples. Indar is even more powerful if you have it.
How would you describe Swiss LT taste? More sweet than tart? Crisp? One of your favorite apples?
To me, it has a balanced, somewhat spicy flavor. I like an apple with a good sweet/tart balance and enough complexity to be interesting, like a Swiss Limbertwig or Wickson or a number of other heirloom varieties. With that said, I tried a Pazazz the other day. Now, that’s a tasty modern apple.
Swiss Limbertwig is a nice tasty variety and if you add in Kentucky, Red and Victoria Limbertwig you have the best tasting of the limbertwigs I think.
We grow them at our orchard, Hocking Hills Orchard, in SE Ohio. I do minimal spraying anyway and do even less on the GoldRush trees and they look fine.
Out of curiosity: do you mean the original Red LT or Red Royal? Several knowledgeable growers (Lee Calhoun, Ron Joyner, David Vernon) have said that the latter is particularly good, but I’ve yet to try one. I have a single fruit of it ripening this season, which I hope the codling moths will overlook.
Derek- I’m finding Kentucky LT to be a fireblight magnet here in Chesapeake 7 A/B. I now have several years observation at three locations around the county and it looks like a problem child. Worst of all my limbertwigs for FB. I give up trying to predict susceptibility though.
I was thinking about putting on a Limbertwig, for some reason I had black on the brain. Red u say? Think SE Mich would grow ‘em alright? I also have on the brain that it’s a southern Apple - not sure it’ll take the winters.
To add a bit more data, I’m in third leaf on KY LT and no blight so far. My current Bad Boy is Gilpin, it has taken over from King David (now removed) as my blight magnet.
Re: hardiness, I don’t think they would be a problem in southern Michigan as nearly all apples should be hardy there. Black Limbertwig needs a really long season though, make sure you check on harvest timing for any Limbertwigs.
@scottfsmith Very interesting your experience with Ky LT and Gilpin. A friend of mine who has grown cider orchards in Va and Md calls Gilpin “the cleanest variety in the orchard.” Endless complexity to blight it appears. And you give me hope for Ky LT- I will keep at it.
I have both Red and Red Royal along with 16 other limbertwigs but in this case I mean Red Limbertwig
That is a bummer, no issues here for me with Kentucky Limbertwig. And I have trees of that variety in three different part of my orchard including next to pears
What is your zone? I always tell people they are worth trying.
That is a surprise about Gilpin, my trees of that bear like crazy every year, look good, and I only spray them with dormant oil.
USDA says 6A. I think this changed from 5B very recently .
Any limbertwig recommendations for zone 4a?
My reply is always it is worth a try. Do you have any apple trees growing now? If so, graft a few in and see how they deal with the temps.
609 bench grafts this spring and a lot of grafts added to existing wild trees on our property last spring, nothing at this point I can put additional varieties on. I’ll research them this winter for next spring.