Looking for some advice on apples: staking wind breaks and replant disease

General Fruit Growing
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Yesterday’s summer thunderstorm brought down a number of neighbor hood tree limbs and 3 or my ten apples trees. Goldrush/g935, Harrison/g935, Bramtot/g222. All three broke at the base, apparently at the graft. Perhaps Goldrush was split not quite at the graft.

I am kind of bummed because it would have been my first crop of Bramtot and Harrison but on the silver lining side of the ledger I can write that my captan usage will go down and the fact that my little apple scatter garage project is a tad behind schedule is now not such a big deal.

The 3 trees that fell are the 3 trees that are on the open end of the back yard “orchard” and less sheltered by the shed and the row of pines that separate the orcahrd from the neighbor’s pool area. They are the most likely to see the highest winds I would think and also the area of the worst drainage. Like all the trees, except 1 peach, they are/were planted on mounds ~12" high.

All the apple trees, remaining and deceased, were supported with a 10’ x 1" dia steel conduit tube. (The tube for the Goldrush tree was only 3/4" dia) Two and a half of the 10 foot length were buried. The tubes themselves stood ~ 4-10" from the trunk of the tree. At regular intervals a small hole was drilled through the diameter of the tube. Though this whole either a 1.6 mm aluminum wire was run or a 70 lb outdoor zip tie was run and looped around the trunk of the tree. This was done in two places and such that when I modestly bent the tree to test the system both locations would simultaneously bear some of the load.

The wind against the tree bent the 3/4" dia Goldrush tube to an angle in at which the trunk snapped; both zip tie connections are still intact. One can see that in the photos. The 1" tube supporting Harrison was also bent to the point where the trunk snapped. The trunk is still connected to the tup by the Al wire. In the case of Bramtot the tube was only slightly bent and both zip ties were cut, apparently at the location were the plastic tie passed through the little hole in the tube.

Clearly what I thought would be a sufficient wind support was not, having now examples of failures of the tube-tree connection and of the supporting tube itself. What do the good citizenry of forum who happen to live in windy spots do to support their trees?

If one were to have a wind break how high does it need to be to protect a tree of X feet in height? I ask this because my lovely hazel hedge noticed the same wind not at all. It is 8-ish feet tall.

I would like to replant in the same or similar spots. [That was my only Goldrush tree :frowning: ] Regarding root rot/ replant disease, how significant is the risk replanting in the same mounds? Does that risk change at all moving the planting spot by a few feet?

Much obliged for your consideration.

Goldrush:
IMG_3376

IMG_3380

IMG_3381

Harrison:
IMG_3375

IMG_3379

Bramtot:
IMG_3374

3 Likes
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I would suggest changing to a different support. I use 8 foot tall t- stakes which are used for fencing and are readily available. They won’t bend under wind loads. If you still want a 10 foot total length you could make extensions for the t-stakes. I use wood garden stakes to increase the length of my t-stake supports by about 2 feet. You could use the conduct you already have. I attach the extensions using steel wire.

A wind break would also help but I think stronger supports is where you want to start.

I don’t think you have a high risk of replant disease. I wouldn’t worry about it. It’s more of a problem for commercial orchards. The Geneva rootstocks also have resistance to replant disease.

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Thanks for the ideas. I think the steel wire/cable is certainly at top of the list. I am thinking that the aluminum fatigued and broke. The zip ties seemed to hold up better, but if I am re-doing this over again the the steel wire seems to make the most sense.

In big box stope land there seem to be 2 types of fencing t-stakes, with one of them being a lot heavier and sturdier than the other. If I can find a 10’ version of the sturdy variety that seems like a good choice. (I can’t imagine the less sturdy version, which I have around the perimeter of the veg garden, being able to hold up a tree in the wind.) Maybe I could extend the 8’ version with wood or something to provide some general support and just expect to perhaps lose the top of the tree in extreme wind events. It seems that even wider diameter conduit is available at 1.5X price. There is also a thing called ridged conduit, presumably used for long straight runs, that appears also more sturdy than what I had in place.

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The T-Post in your photo is a stamped steel version. What you need is a heavier T-Post as mroot has suggested. At Tractor Supply you’ll find them listed as “Studded T-Posts”. If you shop the local TS stores you should be able to find one that has 10 footers in stock. They’re listed @ $14.99 ea. I’m using the 8 footers at the orchard, and just bought 50 6 footers to start supporting my dwarfs.

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Yes, that green t-post in the picture was not supporting the tree. It was just there to help tie down a limb that thought it should be the central leader. There is a Tractor supply about. I will ask them about what you describe.

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Cummins recommends T posts 6” away from trunk, put in at time of planting, use three points to tie with stretchable material. I just don’t know how you are supposed to get them out again, without damaging the roots.

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I went down to the local Tractor Supply to have a look at the 10 ft steel “t” fence posts and tried to see how bendy they were vs 1 1/2" conduit. I ended up going with the rigid conduit. Quite expensive vs the t-posts. We’ll see whether or not I regret the decision.