Grow Apples in the south,or anywhere?
 

So, does anybody here grow apples?
I live here in fl but I grow quite a few kinds.
What are you experiences with them?
Anyone trade sicon wood?

Anna
Dorsett Golden
Ar Black
Liberty
Yellow Deliious
Gala
Honey Crisp
Granny smith
BraeBurn
Gold Rush
Fuji
Red vein
Pink pearl
Niedzwetzkyana

Re: Grow Apples in the south,or anywhere?
 

I have Ein Shemer and it has not done much of anything so far. My dad has Anna and Dorsett Golden, His Anna has a few apples on it right now and the Dorsett Golden has 1 apple on it so far this year. I am in Central FL and can only grow plants with 400 Chill hours or less.

Re: Grow Apples in the south,or anywhere?
 

Is it possible to grow them in Miami?

Re: Grow Apples in the south,or anywhere?
 

So far I am having very good results with the Joy heirloom apple cultivar sold by just fruits and exotics. The tropic sweet and the Joy bloom about the same time, with the Joy being a tad earlier. They were blooming in January so might work in zone 9. The tropic sweet is not as resistant to disease.

Re: Grow Apples in the south,or anywhere?
 

Chill hours have little to no bearing on the apples I listed.
Anna and dorsett actually have 0 chill requirement.
This has been a warm winter, with just 102 chill hours in my yard. All of my trees are flowering very nicely for me still.....

The high chill hours stated for apples has been greatly overestimated.
Just take honey crisp, it was bred for the coldest winters up north.
It does very well here in the Florida heat, and produces fruit incomparable to the garbage in the store..

Red vein, Pink pearl, Niedzwetzkyana Are trees I have just recently acquired.
The first and last are from western Europe/Eurasia, but I have still got a few Flowers this year...

Ein Shemer Is a crappy apple, Its why I don't grow it anymore.
The fruit is horrible, grainy, not very tasty. It also needs a pollinator, but It flowers to late to get pollinated by the early apples, to early for the late apples, so fruit set is always off. Its very problematic.

Re: Grow Apples in the south,or anywhere?
 

There are really apples with 0 chill requirement? Does that mean they'd fruit year-round in a suitably controlled greenhouse environment?

Re: Grow Apples in the south,or anywhere?
 

Some nurseries are offering low chill apples for growing in So Fla. Don't know the names. Don't care to grow them since I found out about Fuji at the grocery store. Nothing can beat the tast of a Fuji. And great shelf life.

Same for Ranier type cherries - best tasting cherry ever. Those trees I have.

Re: Grow Apples in the south,or anywhere?
 

I will have to try the Fuji. I do have a pear (Olton Broussard) that looks like a green to green yellowish apple that also quite good and taste like my chinese pears. None of my Anas or Dorsets have yielded very much and I would like to graft over to something else. So far the Joy apple is my only success.

Re: Grow Apples in the south,or anywhere?
 

Yep, most of the Israeli cultivors are very low chill, to none....
Dorsett golden being the best apple for S.FL and would probably do well in a green house setting. If it had the room. It needs no chill hours at all, and produces OK sized apples with no pollination(better and nicer with pollination), AND will flower most of the summer into fall.
Mine has a second wave of blossoms now.

Re: Grow Apples in the south,or anywhere?
 

You need to make sure you get good pollination, as that's most likely your problem.

Re: Grow Apples in the south,or anywhere?
 

Could be true. The Joy apple is self fertile.

Re: Grow Apples in the south,or anywhere?
 

Re: Grow Apples in the south,or anywhere?
 

I have some Supercolumn trees that take up hardly any space at all. and they fruit well.

(A) CHRISTMAS PEARMAIN, Selection: 1 Supercolumn
(B) SCRUMPTIOUS
(B) LIMELIGH


(B) FALSTAFF

(B) JAMES GRIEVE


HEREFORD RUSSET planted

Re: Grow Apples in the south,or anywhere?
 

I'd never heard of Supercolumn trees before. Thanks for the tip.

Re: Grow Apples in the south,or anywhere?
 

They're similar to the older Ballerinas or Maypoles. You only allow them to grow about two feet wide. Chris Bowers also exports to the USA. I have cherries, gages, plums and pears too as Supercolumns. Ctrl click on the names and it should take you to the site. If not, try the link below. I have 23 fruit trees as well as half a dozen blueberry bushes and two peaches in my tiny 10 x 10 yard garden lol - oh, and gooseberries, blackberries, kiwis, rhubarb, horseradish and raspberries too! I can hardly move in the summer LOL. forgot my Brown Turkey fig.

:woohoonaner:

Fruit Bushes, Trees, Plants, Nursery | Grow Your Own | Soft Fruit | Blurberry Bushes

Re: Grow Apples in the south,or anywhere?
 

Here are a couple of pics to let you see what they are like. They line both sides of the path and are fairly hard to see sometimes lol.

Re: Grow Apples in the south,or anywhere?
 

These are young trees so they are not as fully developed as they will be in a couple of years. I'll post more pics later in the season.

Re: Grow Apples in the south,or anywhere?
 

I am intrigued by these "supercolumn" trees.

Is this a pruning technique or????

Re: Grow Apples in the south,or anywhere?
 

Basically, yes, they are rooted on to different stock to limit their growth. the beauty of them is that you can have tons of trees in a small area by planting them two feet or so apart. I'm all out of space or I would plant another dozen.

Re: Grow Apples in the south,or anywhere?
 

This is the description on the site itself.

Supercolumns - Chris Bowers and Sons.

Re: Grow Apples in the south,or anywhere?
 

I have tried groiwng my trees a supercolumns. It works if your not looking for much fruit.
I think its overstated a bit on that site, because trees on super dwarf roots have never given me more than 10 or so apples. I don't see them supporting near 30. In a commercial setting that may work, with the trees being pumped to the max with everything.

Being in the south, all of my trees are now put on M111. They can be kept at any size, but because the rootstock is more vigorous, the trees can support many more apples.

They're not conducive of a column though. The trunks still grow in diameter, and fruit spurs don't form well in close proximity to it for some reason..

Re: Grow Apples in the south,or anywhere?
 

I have a feeling that you are correct. I was working with mine today and there are tons of flowers, five to each developing bud. How many of these survive to develop into fruit time will tell. Last year I had around six apples per tree but that was their first crop. They lasted well into the autumn but a SW gale cam along and took all but three apples. One of my cherries and two of my plums have thickened their trunks three fold in the three years they've been in the ground. I'm anxious to see what they'll do this season.

Re: Grow Apples in the south,or anywhere?
 

Keep us updated on the fruit development. Id like to know how many they set, and how big they get.

With the special circumstances my trees are grown under, they grow in a completely different manner than trees where they're supposed to be grown. So not everything compares.

Re: Grow Apples in the south,or anywhere?
 

OK, will do! ;)

Re: Grow Apples in the south,or anywhere?
 

My growing season (frost free) is March 15 through about November 15. Are there apples that can hold their bloom off till March and ripen fruit by November?

Re: Grow Apples in the south,or anywhere?
 

I have an apple (Joy) that blooms prior to mid January and it has yielded apples in the past. I am most likely a little colder than you if you actually do live in pensacola, FL since pace is a little further north and inland. Now there may be some cultivars that are more sensitive than others relative to cold. Killing frosts after February are rare where we live. Killing frosts are usually lower than 30 F. Go ahead and plant what you want. I strongly recommend the just fruits and exotics Joy apple.

Re: Grow Apples in the south,or anywhere?
 

Barnettmill,

Yes I'm inside the city limits and should be 5-8 degrees warmer than you on weak to normal cold fronts. Do you know what rootstock yours is on? I looked at the M111 and it seems to be a good one for here.

Re: Grow Apples in the south,or anywhere?
 

I was at a gas station in Bristol, FL on an insect collecting mission and there were apples on a tree there, lots of apples actually. Would have been August of 2007 or 2008.

Re: Grow Apples in the south,or anywhere?
 

I do not know which root stock(s) they use. I suggest that you email Brandy Cowley or even try to phone. She is the owner and would know the rootstock. Many of the other people there do not have her knowledge.

Re: Grow Apples in the south,or anywhere?
 

If you are growing indoor than i do not think that the weather or any conditions make any different. But yah if growing out side than the conditions in Miami need to be analised and than one can proceed.