Disease Resistant Apples

General Fruit Growing
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I have 24 dwarf trees, which unfortunately are planted within spitting distance of an orchard of cedars that are infected annually. I also have 16 semi-dwarfs that have a few cedars within 50 yards. In many cases, the same variety is growing in both orchards. The dwarfs are much more severely affected, so proximity and dosage matter.

I should note that all of the trees grew heathy leaves after the CAR had passed. Even the “Very Bad” varieties grow OK and bear a decent crop in the orchard with less exposure.

I went through the orchard a while back and rated all the trees on a 10-pt scale, which turned into an effective 8-9 point scale.

Very Bad (7-9). There are bad enough that I would consider removing them, at least from the heavily exposed dwarf orchard:

Hudson’s Golden Gem
Fiesta
Jupiter
Golden Russet

Moderately Bad (4-6). These can be severely impacted but the impact is temporary and cosmetic. Most of these trees bear a good crop.

Claygate Pearmain
White Jersey
Gnarled Chapman
Snout’s Perfect
Harrison
Roxbury Russet
Bramley’s Seedling
Bella Rezista
Black Oxford
Belle de Boskoop
Zabergau
White Jersey

Not too bad (2-3). These trees had minor damage

Enterprise
Muscadet de Dieppe
Red Byrd Bitter
Wolf River

Very Good (1). These trees showed little or no impact:

Centennial
St Edmond’s Russet
Sundance
Campfield
Red Byrd Bitter
Munson’s Sweet
Puget Spice
Dabinette
Liberty
Redfree
Franklin
Redfield
Otterson
Winesap

Please understand that this was a very unscientific process. Take it all with a grain of salt.

Edit:

FYI, these trees were mostly planted pre-Covid, 2018-19 as I recall. The Enterprise was planted in 2015. So in general my trees would be slightly ahead of yours.

I did not spray these trees with anything specifically targeting CAR.

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43

This is actually VERY helpful–thank you! I wonder if perhaps the fact that the closer exposure trees are dwarf rather than semi-dwarf might have something to do with how badly they’re affected as well.

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44

This year Cedar Apple Rust (CAR) popped up on several differnt apple varieties. I will spray myclobutanil post-bloom next year or as directed per label.

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More CAR resisters surrounded by red cedar: Paducah; Caney Fork Limbertwig; Black Limbertwig; Keener Seedling.

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46

Yeah, that occurred to me as I was writing. Right now, I can’t tell for sure. But maybe next year I’ll know better – I didn’t mention that I had a few extra dwarf trees after grafting that I ended up transplanting late last year / this year next to the (low dosage) semi-dwarfs. It’s too soon to tell for sure but I can say that dwarf Redfield, moved last year, looks very similar to an established semi-dwarf Redfield 20 yards away.

Finally, note my edit above as to when I planted the trees.

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Whats your experience with Montys Surprise?

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Not much been growing it 3 years no spray, no disease but no apples

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@MikeC I picked our first Pristine apples July 8 and just cleaned off a few trees today. Started picking Ginger Gold Monday July 15. Seems like we are pretty early on everything this year in south central Kansas.

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TY for that info. That helps me knowing this ripening time.

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I’m surprised that Black Oxford isn’t mentioned here more often. I loved the apple itself and according to what I’ve read it has great all around disease resistance in addition to long keeping. I grafted onto G890 stock this year along with two grafts onto existing trees so I cant comment on its growth but I have high hopes going into the future.

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52

i just planted one this spring and grafted 2 scions to my redlove odysso. both took. i planted it for its disease resistance , long shelf life and flavor profile. i started another thread on here asking how its performed for others that have it. surprised more people havent heard of this apple. guess its Maines best kept secret. :wink: got mine from fedco.

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53

I have one potted on G11 and just put one in ground on MM111 this past spring. The potted one has been vigorous despite some neglect. This is the first year I’m allowing a crop and so far I’ve only bagged the fruit. We have a lot of CM pressure at the moment.

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54

I’ll graft a Black Oxford and stick it in my heirloom row.

Thanks

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55

There’s a thread on Black Oxford that you should check out.

I have one. I wouldn’t describe it as disease-resistant. It seems moderately susceptible to CAR. Last year I didn’t spray much and I lost almost the entire crop. This year with spray it looks very good. Anyway, it needs some care.

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I wanted to just say thanks to everyone who replied in this thread. Its nice to be able to chat with you all who are more experienced growers than I am. I appricate you all very much.

This is my apple scion order for grafting next year. I’ll be sticking them on MM111 RS. Milden was out of stock, so looking for one stick of that still.

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57

Updating for you: This year I sprayed diligently. I had no obvious insect problems and only one disease problem – black rot, usually starting at the blossom end. Maybe this rot was initiated by subtle insect damage followed by fungus.

Here’re my unsystematic review:

Minimal damage. Redfield, Roxbury Russet, Winesap, St Edmond’s Russet, Jupiter, Redbyrd Bitter, Puget Spice, Campfield, Redfree.

Low damage: Liberty, Ashmead’s Kernal, Golden Russet, Hudson’s Golden Gem, Otterson

Moderate damage: Enterprise.

Severe damage. Black Oxford. I’d guesstimate that 80% of the apples on the tree in early July were ruined by late October.

I also had good results from Egremont Russet, Muscadet de Dieppe, Belle de Boskoop but there were very few apples on these young trees / grafts.

I also had a severe problem with Harrison but I’m not sure it’s the same issue.

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Got some apples grafted :slight_smile: I wanted to thank everyone for their input. So many apple varieties out there, it’s overwhelming…

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59

Do you put these out in the ground or do you leave them in the plastic containers until they get bigger, such as next season?

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Apples it depends on how well they take off. If they are growing fast, i’ll set them out in the row. If the need babysitting, i’ll keep them in their pot and be the babysitter.

Cherries I set out as soon as the grafted buds break. Have yet to loose one.

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I wonder if your Enterprise is truly Enterprise. I have had zero issues with CAR on Enterprise and I am surrounded by cedars.

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