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
Does Jamaica get enough chill hours for apple trees? I’d imagine that would be the hurdle so far south.
These varieties were all recommended by @applenut aka kuffel creek . He as a list of varieties that do well in warm climates.
Cool. It amazes me how versatile apples are, growing well from Jamaica to Alaska.
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.
I would be interested to get more information on growing apples in Jamaica.
Hello. How are things going with the grafts. I’m looking into growing apples and peaches down here as well. Any info would help. Thx.
Very good. I currently have over 20 varieties grafted on Seedling Rootstocks and a hand full on G890 & G41 Rootstocks. See pics below (just a handful of my collection.)
All trees were grafted in 2023
You should try some from seed. Sometimes seedling plants adapt to their environment better.
It seems that you doesn’t understand my last post. Seedling Rootstocks are Rootstocks grown from seeds. After i grow my apple seeds for atleast a year, i graft known varieties that do well in warm climates. If you have ever grown apples trees from scratch, the pictures i have shared with you would have led you to see the fast progress i have made in 1 year.
Using seedling rootstock is a good idea, but it doesn’t change the habits of the scion. I’m referring to trying them all the way to fruit from seed. Granted there is a strong chance the fruit may be garbage. If it did produce something worthwhile I think it would be more adapted to your environment. Someone started those warm climate scions your using the same way I’m suggesting.
It wouldn’t be worth it. Because I’m not in control of the pollination from store brought apples. Only when the current trees that i have start producing, then I’ll do my own apple breeding project. Doing it that way, I’ll be able to know the parents of the apples that I’m trying to breed.
Good point. That part slipped my mind. Somehow I was thinking you had some producing.
No geneticist, but i think that apples grown in your climate in grafted trees will have less learned information than seedlings on their own roots. Obviously, you have to start somewhere, but better to start with a abundant supply of seed (e.g. grocery apples) and then a couple of generations down the line you should have some adaptability. This would take a while of course, but having kids isn’t a bad thing either.
My friend from Colombia was saying someone he knows is growing apples there, I didn’t believe him due to lack of chill. But apparently how they do it there (after reading) is they plant on a hillside and the wet season somehow initiates dormancy (along with manual leaf stripping). Not sure of your elevation in your orchard, but I know Jamaica has some elevation that even once in a while receives snowfall on Blue mountain (although rare and doesn’t accumulate). But perhaps you can time stripping with your wet season to inhibit a short dormant period. But I see you’re getting some blooms, really excited and hope your experiments are fruitful. Here I am trying to grow more exotic things (to here) and almost discarded the idea of growing apples until recently. I have one tree with 6 varieties grafted onto it. Got my first two delicious apples this year. Good luck and looking forward to hearing your progress.
Well based on @applenut research in California, there are various varieties that do well in no or low chill areas. Plus, I also have the Wambugu variety from Kenya. A contact of mines in St. Elizabeth has gotten fruits from that variety. To induce early bearing, I’m keeping each scaffolds/tree branches between an angle of 45 to 90 degrees. Below is the Gold Rush Tree (Gave its first Blossoms) I grafted last year in March 2023, on a Seedling Rootstock.
Below is Hawaii Grafted on another Seedling Rootstock (Grafted between March-June 2023).
First Pink Lady Blossoms after 1 Year 8 Months Graft.
Lessons learnt :
