Rootstock for Goldrush to combat low vigor

Mention of a graft break on KOR struck a bell in the back of the mind, so I looked it up. Kidd’s Orange Red is pollen parent to Gala, which has issues in grafts to Gen30. Looks like it’s all in the family…

1 Like

Bud118 cannot overcome the genetics of a smaller vigor apple tree in order to make it nearly vigorous. I ordered D’Arcy Spice as a bench graft onto Bud118 from Greenmantle with that understanding. D’Arcy is reputed to have low vigor, and was nearly nine feet tall in eight years, with no crop load.

Every D’Arcy fruit dropped at 90F each summer over the course of four years. I top-worked it this season to Connell Red, which is vigorous. With D’Arcy acting as an interstem over Bud118, I expect it to to restrain the growth of Connell to something quite manageable - maybe 11 feet

I have Goldrush on Gen30 as of this spring and hope it may attain a height of 12 feet. If it were standing on Bud118 it may attain a height of 15 feet, but I am guessing, for your soil may be much better and growing season longer (likely!) allowing for a few more feet of growth.

1 Like

I’ve got two Goldrush on G16 and haven’t noticed any lack of vigor. I’d actually say that they’re a bit larger than some of the other varieties that I have on the same rootstock. I’m in a colder, shorter zone and don’t always get them to ripen as well as I’d like, but Goldrush has done well for me and I had a huge bumper crop ripen well on the trees last season. This season the crop will be down, but they certainly didn’t fall into biennial bearing after last year’s crop, in fact, I hand-thinned again.

2 Likes

I need to learn this now. I’ve got a total of eight newly grafted and 1-yr-old planted trees on dwarf rootstock. That tree looks great.

1 Like

I ended up getting my Gold Rush on G210. I also put it on the most fertile soil in my yard. (Most of my yard is just regular dirt, but a small portion has rich black topsoil).

Anyway, thus far it is growing well, it is a bit bigger than my Rubinette on G935. I didn’t want it to be huge–just didn’t want it to runt out. So far, its growth seems to be tracking well. From the reports here, I should probably not let it bear next year and then hopefully by the third year, it will be more or less where I want it.

3 Likes

There is a new variety that is supposed to be very similar to GR that ripens a month sooner. Unfortunately, Gurney’s currently has the exclusive on it. I am trialing a tree- cost a relative fortune for the little stick they sent me. Amazingly they had a tree in mid-June and it is only now starting to leaf out. They must keep them in cold storage.

The apple is called “Crunch a Bunch”. Like it? Me neither.

It’s supposed to have an even more appealing texture than Goldrush.

3 Likes

Yup, @BobVance and I have both Baker’s Delight and Crunch A Bunch. Mine are on dwarf rootstocks. Don’t like the name, either, and hope the taste of the fruit will make up to it.

4 Likes

I wanted a more vigorous tree which they didn’t have in stock or I would have risked the purchase of Baker’s Delight. You know you are hopelessly addicted (or a beginner) to growing fruit when you make purchases based on the description of the seller. I couldn’t resist the early ripening but supposedly similar storage ability. Maybe you will find out sooner than me because you bought dwarf trees- which they didn’t bother to specifically identify with info on-line. Did you find out. I think my “full sized” tree is on 111.

What made the descriptions slightly more credible to me was that I read about them in an article in Good Fruit- a commercial mag. However, the descriptions came from the company rep.

3 Likes

Video of the two. Nice looking apples
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqrHhZI-Y2E

This thread has more info on it:

Page 8 in the PDF linked from the first post is about the 2 trees being sold by Gurneys. In addition to Crunch a Bunch (MAIA 7), there is also Bakers Delight (MAIA 8), a Goldrush x Sweet Sixteen cross. Interestingly, the one that is compared to Goldrush doesn’t necessarily have any Goldrush in its genetics, as it comes from an open-pollinated Honeycrsip. Hopefully it was a Goldrush which pollinated the HC.

Did you get a Baker’s Delight as well? That’s the one I’m really looking forward to. They selected 6 of the 60 Goldrush x S16 crosses, each of which had a unique flavor, including sweet licorice, strawberry milkshake, and cherry pie. BD is described as rich and complex with hints of honey, cinnamon, anise, and vanilla. That sounds great, but I’d like to try the strawberry milkshake one…

Mine were both whips, but they were pretty thick. Even at the top, each was 1/2" thick. Maybe they sent out the larger ones first. Mine arrived on March 8th. Both stayed asleep for quite a while, but have put out good growth now.

Yeah, I wasn’t thrilled with the choice between M111 and M27. Too big or too small. I ended up going with too big and put it at a rental property, figuring that it could take care of itself. Later, I can bag a few and decide if they are worth the effort to protect. Or just replace them with more jujubes (which I also planted there).

3 Likes

I saw the write-up for Crunch a Bunch in the new Fruit Grower. I’ll have to get one of these.

1 Like

The Baker’s Delight was the one that I was curious about. Any fruit yet? Did you get it from Gurney’s as well or is someone else selling it?

1 Like

Gurney has the exclusive right so no one else can sell it. No scion exchange allowed.

Baker’s Delight has some leave wilting at times. Crunch A Bunch has grown well. Both of mine are on very dwarf rootstocks. I don’t even know if I would let them fruit next year. Crunch A bunch already flowered this year, a month after planting !!! It has grown more vigorously than BD. Both need staking.

@alan, I am not a beginner but can’t resist the advert!! Must be crazy.

4 Likes

M27 fruit quickly, but the issue I have is that they don’t put on enough growth to really support many apples. It’s also easy for animals to strip such a small tree. So by the time I finally get 1-5 apples, a normal dwarf tree would have given be 40. I think I probably need to irrigate them more- I bet I’d get better results if I watered them more.

I don’t think either of mine on M111 flowered, but they were looking pretty good when I last stopped by on June 8th:

Baker’s Delight:

Crunch a Bunch:

5 Likes

Although the Romance Cherries I received from Henry Field’s(Gurney’s by another name) were very nice plants, buying from Gurney’s still is a scary proposition to me, their pricing structure and subsequent 50% discounts have me questioning whether they thing their stock is only 50% good.
I guess I wouldn’t be a good marketing manager.

2 Likes

I am not too keen on buying from Gurney/Henry Field, either. Several years ago, I resisted buying a Flat Wonderful peach from them (they have an exclusive right) even though the tree interested me with beautiful red leaves and a donut shape fruit.

This time, it had 3 trees I wanted, a Juliet cherry and these two apples so I plunged in. So far, so good. Inflating price so high to turn around and give a 50% discount is definitely not a business approach I like.

2 Likes

I don’t see the new apples (or any tree fruit) on their website. I presume that they take them down until they’re close to shipping season, but I’m not sure why you can’t order in advance for spring of 2018. Am I missing something?

1 Like

Anyone have experience with GR on B9? I have one on B9 that I put in a Belgium fence this Fall. After reading this thread I’m afraid it will have less vigor than the other 7 varieties in the fence.

I have a bunch of GR on B9 planted 3 feet apart about 5 years old .

Not sure about the Belgium fence, but Goldrush are some of my taller trees and at 3 feet apart they have filled their space well and produce a lot of apples. Not as vigorous as Fuji, but more vigorous than most in my climate.

2 Likes

Thanks for the information. How tall did you allow them to get? I’m planning on a 6 ft high fence. Which means it has to grow higher then six feet because they grow on a 45 degree angle in a belgium fence.