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VM
Joined: 23 Nov 2007 Posts: 1748 Location: Lincolnshire
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Luath
Joined: 03 Dec 2009 Posts: 761
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Treacodactyl Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 25795 Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism
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tahir
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 45432 Location: Essex
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vegplot
Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 21301 Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd
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VM
Joined: 23 Nov 2007 Posts: 1748 Location: Lincolnshire
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Posted: Thu Jan 23, 14 10:12 am Post subject: |
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Thank you everyone for answers on this and the question about cordons. Am tending towards pears as trees and apples as cordons since apples, more than pears, come in so many interesting/tasty looking varieties.
I was going to check cross pollination when narrowed down the field a bit. I've just read that Greensleeves, the apple already here, is a very good pollinator and I am planning to plant two crab apples in the non-kitchen bit of the garden - so am assuming all of these will help.
Ashmead's Kernel seems a clear choice. Will look again at the others people suggest.
I do like the idea of having at least one Lincolnshire heritage variety - have bought a Lincolnshire-bred gage from the East of England Apples & Orchards Project - https://www.applesandorchards.org.uk/.
Lateness and storage are key issues for us. We always found with our Manchester allotments that there was so much fruit to eat and process - soft fruit, plums etc - during July to September that we had little capacity to eat apples and pears until October and later. There are only two of us!
My mother has some astonishingly long-keeping and tasty apples which we have loads of still - but she can't remember the variety -
Also, we found this year, having moved to a rural area, that as well as hedgerow fruit, there were loads of spare apples and plums around from late summer and right through to Xmas. |
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yummersetter
Joined: 26 Jan 2008 Posts: 3241 Location: Somerset
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Posted: Sat Jan 25, 14 4:11 pm Post subject: |
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My Ashmeads Kernel tree has just been stripped by starlings of the last of its apples, and there are plenty in store. Its the latest dual purpose apple we grow, Cornish Aromatic still has a few fruit on the tree but is not a cooker. Ashmeads is good, but I far prefer Orleans Reinette for flavour, both as a dessert and cooking apple. The few left in store have rotted by now, though, its an Oct-Dec fruit.
Blenheim Orange is similar tasting, and late, but takes a long time to come into bearing- I waited ten years for my first apple, but now its a large tree with hundreds of fruits a season. It might be quicker as a cordon.
I've found that several of the winter storing varieties are earlier here than the books / internet says . . Ribston Pippin flings itself off the trees around October 20th, and Claygate Pearmain has fallen by mid November, no chance of picking it off the tree on Christmas Day as Mr Bunyard suggests.
Most of these late apples are triploids so you have to pay attention to pollination. |
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VM
Joined: 23 Nov 2007 Posts: 1748 Location: Lincolnshire
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yummersetter
Joined: 26 Jan 2008 Posts: 3241 Location: Somerset
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Posted: Sat Jan 25, 14 9:29 pm Post subject: |
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It's a bit more complicated . . triploids have three sets of chromosomes, diploids, 'normal' apples, have one set from each parent, Greensleeves is a diploid. The genetic oddity means that triploids have a lot of abnormal seeds and pollen, therefore have low fertility.
That means that triploids won't pollinate each other or a diploid, and with some diploid apples, another diploid, flowering at around the same time, will be needed to pollinate each other. Greensleeves, however, is partially self-fertile, so as long as the flowering period is right, all will be well, but better with another fertile apple. The Orange Pippin site gives a lot of information about the varieties of apples and their genetic characteristcs.
A lot of older apple varieties have been identified as triploids since genetic testing that were previously thought to be diploid - they tend to have extra vitality and often more intense flavour, and despite the low fertility bear good crops. Bramley, Blenheim, Ribston, Ashmeads Kernel and Orleans Reinette are all triploids.
Bees will collect pollen over a wide area, so you should be fine with other apples nearby. |
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VM
Joined: 23 Nov 2007 Posts: 1748 Location: Lincolnshire
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VM
Joined: 23 Nov 2007 Posts: 1748 Location: Lincolnshire
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yummersetter
Joined: 26 Jan 2008 Posts: 3241 Location: Somerset
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VM
Joined: 23 Nov 2007 Posts: 1748 Location: Lincolnshire
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tai haku
Joined: 17 Apr 2011 Posts: 472
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yummersetter
Joined: 26 Jan 2008 Posts: 3241 Location: Somerset
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Posted: Mon Jan 27, 14 6:01 pm Post subject: |
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You taken the scion cutting for grafting in the next month, before the buds start to move, last year's wood from a healthy branch, about 6 inches long and keep it in a cold place before use . . . however, I'm only theoretical, gray_b, OP, Treac. and probably lots of others here have experience. See if there's an apple group nearby with a grafting enthusiast ( I know, the hardest search on google is anything involving the word Apple!).
I'm afraid I don't recognise the apples, have a look on https://www.gardenappleid.co.uk/ |
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