How many years has this been producing for you?
Just noticed this thread Chikn. Glad to hear your peppers finally started producing. Sounds like you had something to sell from them.
Interesting to hear about the apples. Zestar and Liberty on the only ones on your list I’ve tried. And mine matched your description exactly. I ended up pulling Liberty, but Zestar is a pretty decent apple.
It sounds like your year has been very busy, but everything considered very profitable. 
Glad to hear that.
Two years now, it’s on g16, only 15-20 apples, so I grafted it to G969, G210, and G222. We’ll see how they do.
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If I didn’t have so many things grafted to Liberty, it would also see the business end of the smoker too.
Hope your year turned better too!
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Did you guys spray your Wickson at all? I sprayed with Pristine three times in the spring around bloom, and then no spray whatsoever after that. All of my apples, including the Wickson, were practically flawless.
You are in a much cooler area. Also it takes years for rot diseases to build up. I sprayed a lot more than you did, I expect with more powerful chemicals. Wickson will probably be much better for you. I think cracking still is a problem with Wickson anywhere in the east though.
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Is there any way to prevent that rot from building up? I can feel heartbreak already lol
My expectation is people doing biweekly summer cover sprays from the beginning will avoid rot better – basically act like its there to begin with. I don’t know how bad rot is in your climate, you might not need to worry much at all even without any summer cover sprays. My combination of heat, humidity, south hill location, and less than optimal sun makes things super bad for rots in my orchard.
If Wickson doesn’t do well for you, use the rootstock for another graft(s). Enjoy your trees and the experience they give you! Life is too short for regrets or heartbreak from something you can fix so easily.
My Wickson will give me numerous places to graft old to me varieties that I know do well or new to me varieties that I will get the joy of trying in 2-3 yrs,
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Really doesn’t seem as if your bad year was so bad, except for the working part! Great going on your grafting!
Late May and early June don’t seem quite as bad when you see them from an early November cold snap!!
Standing in your metal barn, not being able to think because the hail is so loud, with 500 tomatoes and 1000 peppers and your orchard getting pounded with hail, gives you a sick feeling you don’t soon forget. Like others on the forum, good riddance to 2018 growing season.
On the grafting thing, I’m not that good, divine guidance??
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Do you remember the accession number for this variety? I see two RdR crosses in the USDA database:
PI 279325 Reine des Reinettes x 82
PI 279326 Reine des Reinettes x 1700
For me, Macoun is perfect when it drops, but a few other varieties have a tendency to overripen on the tree here. I start sampling them a few weeks before the expected ripen date. When they seem ripe, I force them off the tree. They get mealy and tasteless if left on too long. Also, a lot of my apples have produced lousy first crops, sometimes even second crops. I try to give them at least 3 crops before judgement. Surprise turnarounds have forced me to change my opinion a few times.
The thing that frustrates me most is a healthy Empire that drops most of the fruit by june. The remaining fruit is excellent, but I never get more than a bushel. I’m not sure what to do with a tree like that.
Stan, I have both. I think 82.
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I have 2 Margil grafts from ars, same banded bundle, one is weeping and one is upright. Both should bear this year. What one is the real Margil?
According to Hogg, Margil’s tree has “small and slender habit of growth”. I hadn’t seen anything in the literature about the growth being weeping vs upright.
I don’t go by shape much as an identifying tool. The rootstock, location, and how it was pruned can have more of an effect than the variety. The color of the wood is a better indicator if you are trying to tell apart dormant trees. I grew two Margils (from the same scionwood), one (M9) was small and slender like Hogg’s description and the other one (M26) was upright and vigorous.
Hail got all our melons this year. The vines were beat to the ground. Our tomatoes and peppers survived, but took a beating. Persimmon trees had lace for leaves…so did squash.
Great report! Glad things did rebound a bit. Hope you have a better 2019!
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Me too!