Growing apple trees, grafting scions

[spud]

I was able to Whip Graft about 10 apple trees a few weeks ago. I am no pro at this for sure but I hope a few take. I was going to spray my apple trees with dormant oil a few weeks ago but did not have time. The other day when I did have time to spray my 4-wheeler died. It's in the shop and going to take a few weeks. I know that as soon as the buds swell I cannot spray dormant oil on them. I hope I get the 4- wheeler back in time. I will be planting 100 Cortland trees next weekend. I may also plant 125 Honey Crisp in early May if I can get the size and root stock I want.

Spud

[wiam]

I was able to Whip Graft about 10 apple trees a few weeks ago. I am no pro at this for sure but I hope a few take. I was going to spray my apple trees with dormant oil a few weeks ago but did not have time. The other day when I did have time to spray my 4-wheeler died. It's in the shop and going to take a few weeks. I know that as soon as the buds swell I cannot spray dormant oil on them. I hope I get the 4- wheeler back in time. I will be planting 100 Cortland trees next weekend. I may also plant 125 Honey Crisp in early May if I can get the size and root stock I want.

Spud

Please forgive my ignorance. What does dormant oil do?

[spud]

Dormant Oil is an insecticide. It works by coating insects hiding in the tree trunk and limb bark. It will suffocate them. Some say it is the most important spray of the year. It's cheap to buy.

Spud

[barnbc76]

How do you go about planting so many trees at once? I just planted hald my trees between today and yesterday (12) since my soil has heavy clay I had to add some stuff to it... managed to bang up my face pretty good taking the 120lb roll of fence out of my truck, 5 stitches in my lip and 2 chipped teeth, that set my planting back by a half a day. Not quite how I envisioned spending a perfect day but my brother stopped by today and gave me a hand. Also I had a honeycrisp tree given to me by my pastor, I saved some of it's scion wood to see if I can graft some more. I hear it is a weak growing tree, I have standard rootstock I could graft it too.

What rootstock are you using spud? Anyone else find it difficult to find accurate information on blooming/harvest times for various apple trees? It seems the major websites are no where near our zone and therefore their times are of by ar least a month.

[spud]

My trees are spaced 16 feet apart and 20 foot between rows. I measure out tree location and spray orange marker paint on the ground. We use a mini excavator and can dig four holes before moving to the next location. I try to spread the roots out and I add a mix of Gypsum and some 10-10-10 in the hole. We have done 150 trees in a day but it is a lot of work. When the trees arrive they are in a big box wrapped in a bag that is very moist. Those trees can stay in that box for two weeks as long as you dump water on their roots everyday. Just keep them in the dark. The only Root Stock I use is the B-118 and it is a self standing tree.

Spud

[calvertbrothers]

If your looking for good root development then use Gypsum on your apple trees. I fertilize my 1 year old trees with 10-10-10 and they double in size every year. I measure my calipers every year just above the screen ( 26 inches ). My trees grow 2 inches every year. The books say to stop fertilizing in early July but I continue until September 1st in most cases. If your getting more then 16 inches of new growth on your branches then stop fertilizing for the rest of the year.

Spud

How many times a year do you normally fertilize your apple trees?

[spud]

I fertilize once a month starting May 1st. New trees in the ground get about 1 pound of fertilizer over the corse of the summer ( Not 1 LB each month ).

Spud

[calvertbrothers]

What do you guys do for frost protection for your apples? In my neck of the woods apple are hard to grow around here do to frost. I have been thinking of a sprinkler system with a garden hose timer so I would only have to watch the hours it's going to freeze and program it for that day. But I read that they don't work so go. And using water has to be constant for it to work. Anyone else have a idea? I'm new at the hole apple and pair seen.

[barnbc76]

I am assuming you are talking about spring fost killing blossoms? I don't know what people do for established trees but I would probably choose apple varieties that bloom later and are in less danger of frost. This year could be a potentially bad because our trees are 2 weeks or so ahead of normal.

[spud]

I was able to get 100 more Cortland apple trees planted two weeks ago. They are very nice one inch caliper trees. I would not be surprised to see 1-2 apples on those trees this year. All my apple trees are about half leafed out now. I applied 10-10-10 two weeks ago. I was also able to get my peas planted two weeks ago. Right now I am feeding my bees but I hope that only will last for 1-2 more weeks. My Pear,Plum,Cherry and Apricot trees are all looking good and wintered well. I hope to see some pears and maybe some plums this year. I plan to spray the apple trees as soon as all this rain goes away. My 10 day forecast says rain everyday for the next ten days. I wish everyone well this summer with their fruit trees. Please keep us posted.

Spud