We have had good success with M26, M9 and NIC29. Bud9 has not done as well....our M26 Honeycrisp are nearly 3' taller than our Bud9 Honeycrisp on those trees planted the same spring. The fireblight and borer (DWB and GPTB seem to like the burr knot area for egg laying) issues with M26 have been easily controlled with Copper, Strep and Apogee sprays for fireblight and trunk sprays of Lorsban for borers. We have since stuck with M26 for most new plantings and when M26 is not available, M9 or NIC29. We have been looking at some of the recommended new Geneva rootstocks as well, but place a higher priority on good feathered trees over specific rootstock. Our tree height has maxed out at 9' which is where we place our top trellis wire. We would go with tighter row spacing, but our sprayer needs about 7' of clearance so we have settled on 12' with our latest plantings instead of our original 14' row spacing. We have adjusted our tall spindle pruning and training to the recommendations in Dr. Robinson's video. Now, if we can just stop our guys from heading off that leader!!!
Dennis Norton IPM Specialist/Certified Nurseryman Royal Oak Farm Orchard 15908 Hebron Rd. Harvard, IL 60033-9357 Office (815) 648-4467 Mobile (815) 228-2174 Fax (609) 228-2174 http://www.royaloakfarmorchard.com http://www.royaloakfarmorchard.blogspot.com ----- Original Message ----- From: Matt Pellerin To: Apple-crop discussion list Sent: Thursday, July 03, 2014 10:21 AM Subject: Re: [apple-crop] Narrow Tall Spindle Layout Thanks for the responses. I was thinking of going to a 10 x 3 orchard growing Honeycrisp on M26 and Macoun on Bud 9. I think the 10 x 3 spacing puts the tree height at 8.5' which will work pretty well for pick-your-own. On this kind of spacing, will I still be within the Tall Spindle category? Will I have to make adjustments in my pruning methodology or will the typical tall spindle pruning and training recommendations work? Thanks, Matt On Thu, Jul 3, 2014 at 8:26 AM, <[email protected]> wrote: I concur with Dennis' evaluation of Dr. Robinson's videos; this system has forced even stubborn high-chill varieties to transition from vegetative mode to fruiting mode in hot climates and the tropics. I wanted to address Matthew's desire to keep the trees around 6' tall. This sounds like it would take a very dwarfing rootstock like M27; do any of our growers have experience training these as tall spindle? Kevin Hauser Kuffel Creek Apple Nursery Riverside, California Nakifuma, Uganda On Thu, 3 Jul 2014 00:23:19 -0500, <[email protected]> wrote: > matthew, > > We have been growing tall spindle in northern Illinois in a pick-your-own > orchard for around 5 or 6 years now. The system has been improving over > the years and currently the newer spacing being recommended by Dr. Terence > Robinson > from Cornell is around 12' x 3'. I highly recommend watching the videos > at YouTube he did at the Winter Apple School in Henderson County, NC found > at http://youtu.be/gJF4wLgXnK8 > > After viewing this video and others on the BRCC TV - The Educational > Channel on YouTube covering the Tall Spindle System, we will be making the > recommended changes to our current system of 14' x 4'. > > Hope this helps. > > Dennis Norton > IPM Specialist/Certified Nurseryman > Royal Oak Farm Orchard > 15908 Hebron Rd. > Harvard, IL 60033-9357 > Office (815) 648-4467 > Mobile (815) 228-2174 > Fax (609) 228-2174 > http://www.royaloakfarmorchard.com > http://www.royaloakfarmorchard.blogspot.com > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Matt Pellerin > To: [email protected] > Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2014 2:55 PM > Subject: [apple-crop] Narrow Tall Spindle Layout > > > I am a grower in central Maine that operates a pick-your-own orchard. I > will be planting a tall spindle orchard next year. I would like to plant > the rows as narrow as possible in combination with shorter trees so the > customers can reach more of the fruit. My orchard tractor is 54" wide. > How narrow can I plant my tall spindle orchard with this equipment? > Also, what would be the appropriate tree height at the narrow row > spacing? > > > Thanks, > -- > > Matthew Pellerin > Agricultural Manager > Treworgy Family Orchards > 3876 Union St > Levant, ME 04456 > > www.treworgyorchards.com > > 207-884-8354 > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > _______________________________________________ > apple-crop mailing list > [email protected] > http://virtualorchard.net/mailman/listinfo/apple-crop _______________________________________________ apple-crop mailing list [email protected] http://virtualorchard.net/mailman/listinfo/apple-crop -- Matthew Pellerin Agricultural Manager Treworgy Family Orchards 3876 Union St Levant, ME 04456 www.treworgyorchards.com 207-884-8354 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ apple-crop mailing list [email protected] http://virtualorchard.net/mailman/listinfo/apple-crop
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