Are you planning to or already pursuing Rubaiyat x Goldrush crosses? Or are your best grenadine x goldrush offspring enough of an improvement from grenadine’s flaws that circling back for the rubaiyat cross isnt necessary as you breed the next generation?
Yes, I’ve done that already. I’m more interested now though in taking the best rubaiyat x King David and puttin them on gold rush. I think the rub x g. rush crosses will be overall better than the gren x g. rush There should be plent of rub.x grush out there already growing, so we’ll see.
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Has he ever released anything of his Best RedFlesh Apple Ever or whatever it’s called? I used to see mention of it but don’t see much on the website about it now. Maybe trialing this one to patent it or something?
It’s still unreleased. He has sold some seeds crossed with it, though.
It’s almost the time of year where he auctions off scion wood, but to my knowledge there hasn’t been any indication yet of anything new he might release this year.
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Yes it seems like he stuck to propagating scionwood and continue with analysis of ongoing seedlings. Anyone here doing a scions order?
Nice to see some fresh description updates after more years fruiting
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Skillcult store has opened for scion purchases & the figbid auction is live until tomorrow. Happy Bidding & happy grafting!
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For the second year in a row, Pinker Lady has been easy to successfully graft, and is already growing vigorously. (Sadly the trees I grafted last year were all-star growers, but rabbits ate through two layers of fence and girdled both, hence why I am grafting pinker lady again this year.)
And, although Skillcult has mentioned that Jellybean Cider can show some stunting traits over time, my grafts of this variety also seemed happy to take quickly.
I will protect my grafts better this year so I can (hopefully) provide updates on how these varieties do in zone 5a in the Midwest.
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Pinker lady seems interested in fruiting, despite me having to regraft her this spring (rabbits girdled her rootstock last winter, ugh).
This year we’ve had strong winds, hail, and this morning, frost. Here’s poor jellybean. Given everything these little grafts have been through, I’ll be impressed if they make it to next year!
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My graft threw blooms too. Good to see but its not ready at all.
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Definitely not ready. I plucked them off after taking this picture. Hope she didn’t mind the frost this morning.
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@GrumpyPantsPlants I think the more the saplings go through & they continue to grow despite all of the challenge, that’s a good sign they will thrive in it’s forever spot.
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Im short on space so i potted up one of the smallest in the cross most likely to suit my needs. A year or two here will do it no harm. For now herbs tower over it.
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This is one of the crosses I’m really hopeful for as well. Hope we both get something awesome from these seeds! 
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I’m working off of the assumption that inherited disease resistance can be judged in the years of growth leading up to fruiting. Especially scab, rust, and leaf spot. I dont have the space to spare on specimens that succumb easily in my area. So far Chestnut has been great on everything but rust, which is awful for the fruit but does little to the tree. I also have high hopes for kerr & clarks crab along with black oxford. Arkansas black seems pretty hearty too but I don’t care for the fruit.
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Anyone growing cherub and finding it very slow to wake up? I grafted it last year and it grew well but this year it still hasn’t leafed out. It still feels alive, but everything else has leafed out now. Historically I should have about 800 chill hours a year, but I don’t know what I had last winter. I wonder if I just don’t have enough for this variety.
I grafted one this spring, graft took and grew about 9”, now it looks like fire blight will kill it. Anyone else have any experience with fire blight resistance in Cherub?
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My trees with cherub grafted onto them both died this season so it will remain a mystery for now. But i will comment that seedlings with cherub as a parent have been less vigorous than others. Take from that what you will.
I need to get some air circulation on this thing. You can see the mildew starting up after only a few days with stagnant semi humid air. Give it another couple of weeks when the humidity spikes, its been an oddly cool & dry may, and this cross will be a gonner.
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I couldn’t remember how Cherub was growing for me, so checked this morning. It looks good on the Honeycrisp and Bud9. Pinker Lady has been the most vigorous for me, both on Bud9 and an established tree. All of these were grafted last spring. My Cherub x Trailman seedlings are growing fine, nothing extraordinary - I’m excited for that one!
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