These clusters of Goldrush apple are up high in the top of my one standard pear tree. They were not sprayed or bagged but appear to be without any damage. Think I will just observe and see how they do without any treatment.
I waited until my fruit was about that size last year and had PC damage on most of my fruit.
This year I decided that it would not happen again and I sprayed just as soon as the blooms fell and I still have no PC damage. I check EVERY DAY.
I am not sure that my spray is effective and think that maybe this will be a light year for PC?
Either way, I check them every day and if I see ONE bite I am going to spray again.
Good luck!
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What was your interstem?
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I’ve sprayed my stonefruit and some of my apples with pyrethin…i’m saw light damage prior to spraying. I don’t spray my sweet cherries and I see some damage in there. Actually found a live PC on a fruit yesterday afternoon. I squished him/her.
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Auburn, I’m very impressed that you found a way to graft apple onto pear! Great job!
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Come to think of it, I don’t remember any PC damage on my Goldrush last year either. I also do not see any this year …at least not yet. Mine are weeks behind your’s.
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Goldrush is somewhat PC resistant. Its high density may crush the larva before they can do any damage, or adults may not favor it, but it is a variety that can develop useable fruit here in southern NY without spray. Ugly, but useable.
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Hope my Goldrush do as well in my location. I don’t have any fruit on my Arkansas Black apple but I’m thinking (wishing) that it also will have some resistance to PC.
Here it does, as does Winesap.
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I’m still learning the details of PC. From what I’m seeing my damage from PC occurs early in the fruits development. After they get about 1/2-3/4" I stop seeing any new cuts. Bill
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Sounds like you have the PC under control. Good luck, Bill
I enjoy trying different combinations just to see what happens. My oldest pear/apple combination is about five years old and appears to be doing well. My personal feeling are that these combinations will have to do well for many more years to determine which are compatible.
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I’m wondering if some of the other apple varieties are hard enough to escape PC damage.
I used to maintain a nursery without any spray and Fuji also produced useful fruit so I’m guessing harder is helpful. Also old strain Yellow Delicious- the type that often gets some russeting, seems to often produce decent fruit without spray.
A man who used to work for me and also for a commercial apple grower for a decade provided me with some wood this year from a fully russeted YD that he claims produced perfect apples without spray. Says the fruit is wonderfully sweet and juicy as well.
I assume this all is dependent on local pressure and climate. Sometimes pressure is less in suburban landscapes of endless lawns.
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Thanks
Nothing I’d like more than to find an apple that could do well without spray. Bob Vance and I (and maybe others) are growing the PRI varieties 672 and 996. One of them, I forget which, is supposed to be insect resistant. It will be at the very least, cool to see how it performs here in Maryland as well as in Connecticut.
Both seem to have taken (in fact, all my apples did it appears), so hopefully I’ll get to see for myself.
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It is PRI 996 which is supposed to be PC resistant. Both the apples are scab resistant and have brix in the 17+ range. PRI has bred apples with resistances to other bugs as well, but there were often issues such as astringency or lack of flavor.
I’m pretty excited to see how these do as well. Of my apple grafts from 3+ weeks ago, I’m currently 25 for 28 and have at least 1 take for all the ARS varieties, and all 5 of the seedlings (descended from Goldrush, Golden Russet, and Goldrush x Hudsons Golden Gem).
So you grafted wood from seedlings you grew out from pips? Darn, I had a seedling grown out from a goldrush - honeycrisp hand pollenated cross I made and didn’t even think about grafting it, even though I’m grafting over it and had the wood as fodder. I have so much to learn, I really got to start being able to see the oppurtunities. If there was just some way to get the absolute best of those two varieties I’d really have something.
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That combination would be interesting to see the resulting fruit. At least on a small scale looks like grafting would speed up the evaluation time by years. Bill
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My Enterprise has no PC damage while my Liberty does. Might have aprayed too late though, Liberty bloomed earlier.