I have enterprise planted next to my Novamac and they bloomed alongside one another so I’d agree that it’s a group 4 bloomer
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in doing some more research on Novamac and disease susceptibility I found this database from Cornell university combining several sources. interestingly Colorado state lists Novamac as Moderately susceptible to Fireblight.. even more interesting, 2 publications from Purdue contradict each other with one stating that it is resistant to fireblight and another saying it it very resistant.
Nothing is immune to Erwinia, esp in your hot humid location. Resistance is relative.
There are some decent organics for Fireblight as well (blossom protect, Serenade, peroxide, lime sulfur, copper, Agriphage, some even use apple cider vinegar, etc) and you can use predictive weather (free) software to minimize and optimize preventive measures (Maryblyt, cougarblyt) if you think it is a big problem
I’m not suggesting any apple is immune, that’s why I was researching disease susceptibility and not immunity.
as the OP states: “I purchased this variety based on Purdue’s analysis listing this as the apple most resistant to a wide variety of diseases.”
People are mostly interested in this variety because Purdue released publication B-132-W stating that it is Very Resistant to 4 major disease types. Novamac is the only cultivar listed in this publication that is very resistant to all 4 categories researched. I thought that providing addition information regarding conflicting data from different reputable sources might be helpful to some looking to base their decision off the Purdue publication.
As far as preventative measures against fireblight, Purdue also states in publication BP-30-W:
“Unfortunately, reliable control methods have not been developed, and this disease responds poorly to the few available treatments. For these reasons, prevention through the use of resistant varieties, and resistant rootstocks are the best possible management practice.”
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Orange Pippin list of pollinators for Pristine which they do show as (fg4). Pretty sure that Novamac is fg4.
Of those listed… i have Akane (fg4) and Hudson Golden Gem (fg3).
The dude at Burnt Ridge has a nice vid on Akane.
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My Novamac on B9 espellar… got several hits of fireblight this spring… as did every apple that was blooming.
I had to remove most of the two bottom scaffold branches and several other fruitspurs and shoots. It finally quit showing up after several weeks… and I still had my two top wire scaffold branches and 8 apples left.
Over the past couple weeks… i have been finding apples that dropped and had a nice red blush to them. We ate them and they were very good… a little small… but very good flavor and a nice balance between sweet and tart.
The texture so far has been just a notch below crisp… firm with a little crunch… nice smooth texture.
Today I watered the tree (it is in a half whiskey barrel planter) and noticed all 3 of the last apples had dropped.
I had 4 coddling moth traps hung on this little tree and managed to get some nice clean apples from it.
Impressed with Novamac so far.
TNHunter
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Thanks for this update! I have been following your adventures with your Novamac and I’m glad to see that it is doing so well, considering the horrible fireblight year. I lost most of my apples to it this year, but the trees seem to be recovering.
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@WildApple23 … could not send you a picture in the chat thing… a couple post up you can see how my Novamac apples did this year.
TNHunter
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What rootstock is your Novemac apple tree on? It looks like a nice size tree.
@MikeC … I have a Novamac on Bud 9 growing in a half whiskey barrel containter. It is fruiting already. It is pictured above (somewhat expeller trained).
I have another on M7 rootstock growing out in my orchard… I just grafted it a few years back. It developed some scaffold branches this year… but it is not fruiting yet… may be another year or two.
TNHunter
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Thank you for that info. Nice looking tree!
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