Grafting Apples Trees in Jamaica

It’s been a while since i made a post on my progress. 2023 is the year of the Graft! These are my results (Pink Lady, Gold Rush, King David & Winter Banana:





Ps: I seem to get better results with the chip bud grafting method vs cleft grafting. Also, my scionwoods were purchased from fruitwood nursery

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Does Jamaica get enough chill hours for apple trees? I’d imagine that would be the hurdle so far south.

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These varieties were all recommended by @applenut aka kuffel creek . He as a list of varieties that do well in warm climates.

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Cool. It amazes me how versatile apples are, growing well from Jamaica to Alaska.

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I visited Jamaica a few months ago on some business and was very surprised to see how many apples were on sale everywhere. From the Supermarkets to the street vendors, I saw more apples than Wax Jambu or other fruits that I knew were in season. They weren’t as large as some in the USA, but it seems they’ve worked out the fruiting. I’m not sure if they grow them at higher elevation or if the varieties fruit according to the water cycle…

Unfortunately, those apples are imported form overseas. Funnily, I have been studying growing apples trees (hobby of mines) in warm climates since 2011-2015 & started back 2021-present. Lucky for me, a group of us recently got the Wambugu Apple variety from Kenya , so hopefully, over time we can start promoting grown apples on the island. As of now, i have about 500 seedling Rootstocks, so i decided to just follow @applenut advice on which apples grow well in warm climates. Currently, editing a vid to post on YouTube to show my process.

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