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Mithril
Joined: 22 Jul 2011 Posts: 1755 Location: wessex
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Marches
Joined: 13 Dec 2011 Posts: 171 Location: Nr Peak District, England
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Mithril
Joined: 22 Jul 2011 Posts: 1755 Location: wessex
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yummersetter
Joined: 26 Jan 2008 Posts: 3241 Location: Somerset
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tahir
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 45421 Location: Essex
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Mithril
Joined: 22 Jul 2011 Posts: 1755 Location: wessex
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Marches
Joined: 13 Dec 2011 Posts: 171 Location: Nr Peak District, England
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tahir
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 45421 Location: Essex
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Nick
Joined: 02 Nov 2004 Posts: 34535 Location: Hereford
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tahir
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 45421 Location: Essex
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yummersetter
Joined: 26 Jan 2008 Posts: 3241 Location: Somerset
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Marches
Joined: 13 Dec 2011 Posts: 171 Location: Nr Peak District, England
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Posted: Tue Feb 12, 13 10:11 pm Post subject: |
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yummersetter wrote: |
Marches wrote: |
yummersetter wrote: |
Sorry, not keen on cheap supermarket trees, I've wasted time and space on them. And I like to support committed growers who grow special varieties - the £15 difference when looked at over the 50 year life of a good tree is ridiculously trivial. |
You can think what you want, but we're not all rolling around in money. The trees at Aldi looked very healthy and I got what appeared to be the best one. Take into account that with mail order plants you can't actually see what you're getting. |
We're not all rich in time, either - I don't want to look at a tree when I'm 70 years old and wish I'd bought something better. I'm running a bit too low on future to scrap and replant. No objection to what others do, of course ( and my knowledge of rubbish, mislabelled trees comes from also not being able to resist a bargain. And I must confess I've looked up the distance and opening hours of every Aldi in Somerset ) |
Of my supermarket trees (apple, cherry, plum, pear and peach), only the apple has had any problems. It picked up some sort of disease a few months after I bought it, I should have done more research into varieties really since its considered disease prone. The "fruit expert" considered it a good variety, didn't mention anything about disease - just biennial bearing if fruits aren't thinned. That book is about 10 years out of date and needs updating. |
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yummersetter
Joined: 26 Jan 2008 Posts: 3241 Location: Somerset
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Marches
Joined: 13 Dec 2011 Posts: 171 Location: Nr Peak District, England
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Posted: Wed Feb 13, 13 12:11 am Post subject: |
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yummersetter wrote: |
Rather than 'The Fruit Expert', have a look at the Orange Pippin website.
The majority of the apples sold in non-specialist shops are difficult varieties. Bramleys are enormous growing sterile triploids, and need a diploid variety to pollinate them. Cox will pollinate Bramley but is self-sterile so will need another diploid to pollinate itself. And its extremely disease and fungus prone. A lot of our apple tree varieties are bred from Cox and won't work as pollinators for it.
Braeburn will pollinate Cox, but needs a warmer climate and a longer season than most of us have, to ripen its apples. It is also vulnerable to scab, mildew and woolly aphid. Bramley has a lot of disease problems too, so to produce fruit with the damage-free appearance of commercially produced apples all three of them would need spraying.
The rootstock the tree is grafted on is important too, it should be selected for your climate, the final size and disease resistance.
And all of those varieties are among the handful of apple types that can easily be bought in supermarkets. |
I learnt a lot more about them after I'd planted it, it's an Elstar - it tastes something like Cox's and has it in its ancestry (a Cox's granparent).
I think I should have gone for Fiesta instead, that's supposed to be a good Cox's replacement. I'll see how it does this year, I may have to spray it. If it does badly again then I may just remove it and not grow apples. |
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yummersetter
Joined: 26 Jan 2008 Posts: 3241 Location: Somerset
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