Novamac Apple Trees?

[TNHunter]

@Jujube … I will be starting over in a new location in the next year or two… so this will be for my new location.

I have a early McIntosh now… which I really like… a cross of mc and yellow transparent… it ripens very early June and early July.

Like you the disease resistance ov Nova Mc has my interest… and the possibility of similar flavor to my early mc… which is awesome.

The guy at Miracle farms grows another Nova that is very popular in his area and very disease resistent… Nova Spy.

In his grafting vid that I watched … he had some varieties that had not done well and he was grafting over them with his best varieties… and Nova Mc and Nova Spy were being grafted on.

Good luck with yours.

Thanks for pointing me to a NovaMc source.
Appreciate it.

Ps… I already own my new house location… and will get a Nova Mc started there this spring.

[Jujube]

@TNHunter exciting times for you then. Looking forward to comparing notes on novamac. I’ve seen a few sources saying nova spy is susceptible to a couple things so I have overlooked this variety.

In spring I’ll plant a 2nd enterprise tree, Sundance, and novamac but I’m most excited about novamac. I’m also going to try grafting winter banana on my kieffer pear tree to have for future grafting use.

Looking forward to comparing notes as our scapes mature. Unfortunately I’ll probably move in 3 years or so but that won’t stop me from adding things I may never get to see fruit like American persimmon, paw paw, hardy kiwi, etc. I currently have 74 different perennial edible species/varieties growing on my 0.2 acres and am only getting started.

Good luck with the new place!

[Jujube]

Update on first spring with Novamac. Planted in very early spring 2022 this tree is growing slowly but consistently (likely focused on root growth). So far no disease pressure has been seen on this tree despite seeing powdery mildew on it’s neighboring Enterprise and low levels of rust on it’s other neighbor Sundance.

I have not sprayed/treated any of these trees

[TNHunter]

Hey @Jujube … my Novamac on b9… is currently growing in a large container in my back/side yard… and is about 15 ft from a 30 ft tall eastern red cedar.

That tree trunk you can see shining in the top right of the pic is it…

It is showing a few CAR spots… not bad but has some. It is supposed to be very resistent and I am testing that out (not on purpose)… I can’t really escape them here.

[Jujube]

Hard to escape the cedars around me too but doesn’t look too bad currently. Thanks for the update!

[WildApple23]

I’ve been growing Novamac for about 20 years now. Purchased at a local nursery and the tag is long gone, so I’m not sure what rootstock it’s on, but I suspect M9 given tree size.

I have an ongoing project where I’m trying as many seedling trees as I can find (as there are hundreds here in each town, extremely common) and I’ve had just about every cultivated variety I can get my hands on, and Novamac is hands down my favourite apple.

VERY scab resistant. The biggest disease pressure here is apple scab by far and I have NEVER seen it on Novamac, and my tree is planted about 15 feet from a very scabby Cortland. Also a very prolific and non-biennial cultivar in my experience. My single tree produces about 800 apples annually of a moderate size, even when I thin 1/3 buds/fruits.

The apple is fantastic for fresh eating. Very sharp, sweet flavour with a good hint of tartiness, and a wonderful (and in my experience totally unique) white wine flavour on the back end of each bite. Within 2-3 months of picking the apples retain a good crunch and, and they are very juicy (eating them can be a bit messy in fact haha). They have a deep red skin with sun exposure and a bright white flesh with a slight red hint near the peel.

I am not much of one for apple pies, but my father swears by them for pies/tarts, etc. I have not yet tried them as a cider apple, but a friend of mine owns a cidery and is eager to try them for cider (we’re doing that with part of next year’s crop. I will say, the apples start to get a little soft by Jan-Feb if stored in the fridge, but mine usually don’t last that long haha.

Overall, I would recommend Novamac to anyone. I really wish they were more popular trees, as they are probably the best apple to have come out of Kentville (and I’ve tried the three named ones, Novamac, Novaspy, and Nova Easygro, as well as a half a dozen unnamed ones that a friend of mine who has a relative who use to work there has in his garden).

I hope that helps. Going to go to the fridge and get a Novamac now, down to the last bag for the season unfortunately.

[Jujube]

Thank you so much for sharing. I cannot wait for mine to come into fruiting. Honestly I believe this is the most information you can find on this tree in one place. I’ve looked long and hard for this one for years and finally got one in ground last spring

[TNHunter]

@WildApple23 … yes… thank you for sharing about your novamac. I have one on b9 and another i grafted to m7.

Looking forward to trying the fruit… even more now after your report.

.

[WildApple23]

No problem at all, happy to help. Let me know if you have any questions, I might be able to help.

[WildApple23]

I’m always preaching the good word of Novamac haha. Glad to hear I’ve made a convert of you.

[TNHunter]

@WildApple23 … in the past year or two there was a post on no spray apples… or disease resistent apples… and someone included data from Perdue univ… that listed lots of apple varieties and they rated them on scab, car, fire blight, powdery mildew … best i remember.

NovaMac was the only apple that scored VR (very resistent) on all 4.

That got my attention… that plus I love my early mcintosh apple.

Novamac should ripen about a month later than my Early McIntosh… which is ideal to extend my apple season.

I have some other late apples… including gold rush.

[WildApple23]

Well that’s good to hear as well. Like I said, all I could speak to was scab, as I’ve never seen fireblight or powdery mildew on apples here (thank God). Let me know when you have your first novamac, I always get good reviews from friends I gift them to, curious to hear your opinion.

[Jujube]

I had read that report too which is what got my attention as well.

@WildApple23 do you spray these trees or bag fruit at all?

[WildApple23]

The only disease pressure here is scab (no fireblight or cedar apple rust or anything else) and the only pest pressure is aphids (no coddling moth or apple maggot either thankfully). I have only ever sprayed my apple trees with insecticidal soap for the aphids, and honestly that was more out of annoyance with the aphids than any real need, I don’t think it was ever bad enough to hurt the trees. While this is good for me, this means I unfortunately can’t speak to anything other than scab resistance, which it is totally immune to in my experience.

[TNHunter]

My Early McIntosh has never had any scab… it makes absolutely beautiful apples and is very early to ripen. Perhaps scab affects later apples more ? not sure. My Gold Rush ripens very late and I have not seen scab on it either.

But I have had Fire Blight take out several young apple tree starts over the years… I tried a Red Delicious, and Fuji, … those are two I can remember that made it until about year 3 or 4 and died of FB. Several pear tree starts had the same fate.

So FB is my big concern… and I hope NovaMac gets past that.

If we have scab… I have never seen it on many years of very pretty apple production from my Early Mc. We do have Eastern Red Cedars and my apple trees get some CAR but on most of them it is just a few tiny red flakes on the leaves, and not really a problem. One exception is Gold Rush… it gets nasty looking with CAR… but the tree is still growing, making progress, putting on some fruit. It may be slowing it down some, but I have heard others here say that is not a bad thing.

Below is my Early Mcintosh…

Based on the pictures I have seen of NovaMac looks like they are going to have similar look

[WildApple23]

@TNHunter Novamac turns totally red where sun-exposed, remains green where no sun reaches, and has no striping or speckles, that’s the major difference. Overall shape is the same though, they’re a round, somewhat flattened apple.

[TNHunter]

My Novamac on b9 has finally come out a little.

I summer pruned it last year… hoping it would develop some fruit spurs. Found this on it today.

[WildApple23]

@TNHunter I’m excited for you. Keep us posted on how it does/whether you get any apples to maturity at the end of the season!

[TNHunter]

@WildApple23 … i wll do that.

Thanks

[TNHunter]

@WildApple23 … checked it again just now…

See a little pink in that first one to open now and on one of the bottom branches a couple there are looking like they may have blossoms… that classic whirl of leaves that surrounds blossoms is there.