I read conflicting advice on the internet about needing a permanent support post for apple trees on M 7 rootstock. What do you think?
I don’t stake trees unless they start leaning. I have staked plenty of the true dwarfs like M9 etc and some M26, but my M7 have all been good on their own. So, in my conditions I would say no.
I was just researching this the other day but for Bud 9. Can I get away with not staking? Everything I read says staking is necessary.
Everything I read indicates that bud 9 must be staked. I’m using it as an interstem with M111 to attempt eliminating staking. Good luck, Bill
Scott- Thanks. Are you in an exposed windy area?
Lots of people have trouble with many varieties on M7 and commercial growers around here often support trees on M7 at planting with heavy 8 ft sections of electric conduit available at home improvement stores.
I find that trees often topple at windy sites or sites with poor drainage and even just regular sites around the time they begin heavy cropping on their 5th or six years. Most M7 trees on my property have come down- I have a fairly light extremely well drained sandy silt soil and very good protection from wind.
No harm done if you stake them up after they fall, though.
We get wind but not super exposed…
Thanks Alan. I get big storms coming across Chesapeake Bay and an occasional hurricane so think to be safe I better put in supports.
Alan- What is the heavy duty conduit made out of? Is it roughly one inch diameter? thanks.
It is made of steel and Home Depot carries it in its electric dept. I originally didn’t know what it was and paid a premium to have it shipped from Adam’s County Nursery. I use narrow diameter pieces to get my nursery trees to grow straight, I’m not sure the diameter needed to hold a 3’ diameter tree loaded with fruit but memory says an inch or more. You could call Adams County Nursery to see what they recommend.
M7 usually eventually anchors, even if it takes ten years. Then you can cut away the conduit with a hack saw if you want.
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Thanks Alan and Kevin. Will go conduit shopping. I shied away from buying M111 as I’m 70 years old but the more I learn about the rootstocks I chose instead (G30 and M7) the better M111 looks.
Oh well, this knowledge at least helps me to better advise twenty different younger friends who I’ve talked into growing apples (mainly southern disease resistant heirlooms) that I graft for them and help them train.
I have been using the 10 foot conduit Alan mention in the Home Depot electrical department for my dwarf trees, I think its around $9 a piece, I put one of those plastic end caps on the top of the conduit to keep water from getting inside to cut down on rust.
I’m looking at Lowes online and see “common” conduit but nothing that says or looks heavy duty. Will go to their store and ask about it. No Home Depot nearby.
Why not just use a T post? That’s always worked for me. I’ve used the conduit in sizes 3/4 to 1.5 inches to support several fruit tree shelters. Can’t see the advantages for conduit to support a tree. T posts don’t need the cap. My conduits have held water long after rains because the soil inside gets very compacted.
Great idea, thanks.
For a single post, conduit is what commercial growers seem to prefer- are they cheaper than Tposts?
At a commercial orchard where I prune the the conduit posts are still strong after 15 years with no cover from rain, failure was not an issue- all posts were still straight. The problem is when I nick them with my expensive pruning saw blade. Instant dullness and the loss of a $32 blade.
Seems to me that covering the top would not stop them from rusting- more than adequate moisture would come up from the ground and a cap would merely trap it.
I use t posts to support just about everything in my garden.
The heavy duty 7’ ones cost $8 at home depot
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I have been using T-posts but now I am finding them to be too short.
My skinny bud9s are getting much taller than the post and bending over.
I have been strapping additionally tall posts to the Strong T-post.
Hambone,
What’s wrong with G.30? Brittle graft unions? Otherwise it seems like a great option-- one I am seriously considering.