I don’t think any quince is resistant to the rust, but I now spray for it so have no problem there.
I had severe fireblight problems on quince so ripped all of them out. A few years later I added some potentially fireblight resistant seedlings from the USDA and at least one of them is producing nice fruits now so I am back in the quince business!
Poms have never reliably fruited, some thing or other does them in every year… I am about to rip them out too.
@scottfsmith According to their studies, they say that 15% fire blight is considered fire blight resistant for quince. Somehow I still want one. I asked you years ago about poms and you were right. Mine are 6-8 feet tall and are nothing but freeloaders. If I needed the space they would be gone. But, I give it all a try just to see what it does.
@randyks aka Randy recently posted this for those in the Scranton PA area looking for a $5000 32x32 greenhouse Anybody need a greenhouse?
I’m from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia zone 6b. I could write a book about my adventures in my little orchard. If I did, it would be a comedy.
Like when I was trying to stave off a late spring frost. I drove around my Cushman all night for several nights with a dual burner propane heater aimed at the trees. The trees were wrapped in burlap and my accelerator got stuck. I ran right into an apple tree and set it on fire. Luckily we both survived the ordeal.
The year before I ran into my Golden Delicious tree when I first drove our zero turn mower. C’mon they can be tricky on wet grass. 
. That tree still leans to this day.
Disease pressure here is pretty horrendous and I’ve seen all matter of fireblight, scab, CAR, aphids and the like.
I LOVE grafting and have done over 100 every year since I started three years ago.
Im all about fruit and also journaling my progress or lack thereof.
I’m ALWAYS down in the trees. My family knows to look for me there each day,. I walk them pretty much every single day. My favorite pastime has been to gather a variety of apples off the trees, sit down in my chair beside the orchard and compare them. For the past 12 years my faithful lab Katie has been by my side, chasing after spent apple cores that I toss towards the creek. She passed away right before Christmas and I’m heart broken. I will have to adjust my joyous tasting process in new ways.
This is a row from my orchard on a good day. Cheers if you got this far. Sorry for the long diatribe.
Pretty orchard and amusing diatribe 
… How do you keep the squares around the trees clear of grass?
This is the best it’s ever looked but it doesn’t last. I did it largely for mowing thus the straight lines. Unfortunately after a couple months the weeds reemerge. At that point I touch them up with a weed eater but generally let them go their way. By then the comfrey underneath has grown so much that the base is barely visible.
By the way, I used Spectracide to kill the grass. I read later that roundup does a more complete job of killing the grass down to the roots. I only use it once per season. More than that I think it would be too hard on the trees and me. I always wait for a calm day and wear protection. I also have to be careful to keep the spray from drifting up to the trees. I did that once and the leaves on that tree were misshapen and stunted the entire season.
Wow! That is a good looking orchard. Mower incidents or not your work certainly appears to have paid off.
Thanks! I really appreciate it.
Yes, congrats it looks great! I envy all that big flat space you have. My trees are all on a hill. Well I guess I do get some exercise going up and down…
Straight lines for mowing… now, why didn’t I think of that sooner? (Head slap) I will be making a change this year in the shape of the mulched area around my trees, making mowing go much quicker. Thanks!
I too have an orchard in the Shenandoah Valley. My account would also be a comedy. Organic does not work in our part of VA (the extension service advises this as well) and that gives you an idea of how many pesticides (plus calcium and boron) it takes to grow a decent crop. Plus, we have heavy clay, it is too hot, too wet, we have so many different kinds of fungus diseases, strong fireblight, and every bug you can imagine, plus white tail hopping rats. Most of us growers consult as we can with the Alson Smith Center scientists in Winchester and they help, but every year it is something new, whether it is a BMSB infestation, Plum Curculio getting in before I can put the Imidan down, Fireblight, Collar rot, yellow bellied sapsuckers, crows, etc. I have a reason behind each of the 27 different cultivars I grow and want more, it is just that sometimes my reasons are deficient. Now our corn/beans and hay field are a consistent success, but just one year I would not like to discover something new in our orchard.
@Vortom , i got into the orchard as a hobby during my retirement, but it has been somewhat of an uphill battle. Still, I delight in the time spent no matter the outcome. I worked as a pharmacist for 40 years, and this kind of work is more physical bit infinitely more relaxing.
I just got some dormant oil/copper on the trees yesterday. The buds are starting to swelll and I foolishly did other things during earlier calm weather. Yesterday I had to pause between bursts of wind. I ran into aphids in my trees at the close of the growing season last fall and I need to try and eliminate with oil if I can. I know they are just hiding in every crack and crevice and inch of ground so they can pounce soon.
Like you if I don’t get imidan on before the last petal falls PC will be swinging from the tree limbs and virtually leaping from tree to tree.
My next challenge here will be late spring frosts. I have had years of no fruit when late cold wiped out everything. Even in may. This year we are 2 or 3 weeks ahead so it will be even more challenging.
My best to you and your endeavors. I am a wanna be farmer but definitely not the real deal. I live in a very rural area surrounded by farmland. In the fall I woke up to cows in the orchard after a fence broke. That’s a whole’'nuther story.
This is going to be a high-risk year. We have not had a meaningful winter here in the Shenandoah Valley and all kinds of things are coming out of the ground earlier. I was sitting next to a major grower at the Fruit School at the Alson Smith Center in Winchester on Monday the 20th and he is very concerned that any kind of a meaningful frost in late March or early April will cause lots of damage. There is stuff you can spray to cover blossoms, but it is not cheap and if you get a few 24 degree frosts you are in trouble anyway. Will be worse for pears, which blossom earlier. Dr. Sherif is advocating root stock that is a bit more resistant to frost, but that is long term. Like I always say, if you want to gamble don’t go to Vegas, become a farmer.
Pretty exciting, my majestic peach is near it’s bloom time out here on the south jersey coast. Unfortunately being the first tree to bloom in my group it leaves itself open to frosts which are almost certain to happen given the timing.
In Hunterdon County everything (except hazels) is still dormant.
Half of my apricots are in bloom, there is a very good chance of them not making it. Too much early warmth here!
My tomcot apricots are showing pink but haven’t opened yet. Orange red looks to be a day or two behind. I got no apricots last year with that late.cold blast despite applying Christmas lights and a tarp which worked on the plums but not the apricots. We have a 26 degree night coming up, hope it holds up until after that and then hope for the best.
My cots are almost done, but there are some late buds still not open yet so I’ll hope those may have a chance. I don’t see any pollinators around, so I’m hoping that the wind might get some pollinated. Is that possible with apricots?
I bet you have pollinators. I saw some over the weekend on my apricots.
I’m watching next Tuesday-Thursday carefully at this point. So far the forecasted lows for me have gone from 30, to 29, to 28 and now 26. I’ve seen this a lot in the past where a front is coming through and suddenly the forecast gets lower and lower as it approaches.
