Problems with g890 apple trees

I have had a few trees damage by voles in my nursery quite a few years ago in soil that was soft because of high well rotted manure contant, And there was a lot of damage some you could see and a lot of damage below ground but it was easy to tell something was wrong once very vigorous trees enterprise m111 stop growing. My g890 trees are all making excellant growth in manure enrich soil and heavy wood chip mulch

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Rick; seeing you planted Sundance in '15, I hasten to ask how that cv. has done for you. My limited positive experience with PRI apples prompted purchase of a whip of Sundance.

Am very curious to see if it blooms just before or just after GoldRush. The PRI report on Sundance indicated bloom just after GoldRush. At least one other website places its bloom as a few days before. I have a spot to fill in the yard near the two triploid apples in ground: Claygate & yet-to-be-confirmed Orléans Reinette. GoldRush also stands near, but another pollen source for the bees to distribute would be a boon.
As for free standing Gen890, my yard is largely protected by a split level house to the SW, which is the prevailing wind direction, and my enormous two-story house. My house actually stands on one property line, so there is little wind tunnel action between houses. Everything stands alone here: on Gen30, 890, EMLA26 or Bud118. The only leaning graftling leans into the wind & is growing at a snail’s pace. Time will tell.

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Any updates on this? I want to order some semi rootstock for growing apples in ND, 4a, and prefer something that can stand freely, if not immediately, eventually. ND tends to be a little windy
 Any suggestions?

I have 43 trees (16 varieties) on G.890 in Z4b (previously Z4a). I found them to graft easily, and they’ve held up well to my climate. I stake trees only when they require it, and I have not found a large percentage to require it, but my trees aren’t fruiting yet. It is my intent to remove the stakes as the trees become capable of supporting themselves.

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So I bit the bullet and ordered some rootstock
 fingers crossed that it works for my area


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I have about 30 trees on G890. Most are about 4 years old. I keep them about 8 feet tall. I have not staked any of them and they are doing really well.
I pruned them to delayed open center following Stephen Edholms methods.

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My galarina on 890 has almost every branch coming out at right angles and it branches heavily along the central stem. I get a lot of water sprouts on the scaffolds, but it has otherwise been very easy to train. It is also very sturdy and has not needed staking, though it is next to a fence and a hedge so the wind is reduced significantly.

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I planted two apple trees on G890 last year. I am concerned now with issues with leaning. I have a few M7 apple trees and each of those are leaning even after I staked them for the first four years. I probably should have kept them staked.
So, in light of seeing all this information about the G890 I will keep the G890’s staked. I hate the fact the M7’s are leaning and one I had to pick up off the ground a few times. It completely fell over. I hate to have the G890 rootstock do the same thing- fall over or lean badly.

Are they trained to central leaders?

There is no harm in staking however as stated above, I have about 30 trees on G890 that are around 4 years old. I have never staked them. They are about 8 feet tall and don’t lean.
The user here that seems to have had the most problems let his trees get to 16 feet and prematurely. a young 16 foot tree catches a lot of wind.

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Im still hoping g890 doesn’t end up being shit. I need roots that can deal with shit soil and m111 seems like they will be to big for my space. Hopefully proper pruning and staking will be enough.

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My soil is poor also. No problem

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Kandil Sinap and Shackleford were grafted to Gen890 some years back. Neither is doing well. I have checked and they stop growing in high summer. Heat and light are so severe in my locale I have noted this same response with others, such as MM106, Wynoochee Early and Windham Russet. Too bad, as G890 has so many other attributes.
May it serve all of you well.

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Are you planning on keeping the G890’s at the 8 feet height?

Yes, I’m planning to keep them at about 8 feet. They seem to be easy to control at that height to me although I’m not great at pruning. I’m very happy so far going from mm111 which is not easy to keep under control at all.

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So whats everyones favored stock if you have poor soil(acidic sand), WAA, and cant fit 60’ trees since those are my reasons for leaning into g890?

I have g890 in some poor soil conditions on my property. About 20 of them are in an area where there is only a few inches of top soil above very hard subsoil. Most are doing well.

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So I ordered 100 rootstock and Im considering planting them this year and grafting them next spring, to give them a year to develop some roots etc. Is there any reason NOT to do this? Benefits to doing it this way?

Would you walk me through your reasoning? Would you plant them in their final locations and graft them next year without disrupting the roots?

Or, if you’d plant in a nursery area then dig and graft next year to then plant again sounds like a lot of unnecessary work. Rootstocks are usually grouped and sold by caliper, so you’d make for tougher grafting next year too.

I would plant them in their permanent location and allow them to develop a root system this year and graft next year. I was thinking then they would be better anchored and have more energy to put towards healing and graft growth. Might end up with better results in the long run that way. curious what others think about that