Tuesday, September 23, 2008

B.118 apple rootstock -- B.9 on steroids?

I am late on this one, but last week I picked 9 Honeycrisp trees on B.118 rootstock planted in 2006 as part of a mini- orchard systems trial at the UMass Cold Spring Orchard in Belchertown. To make a long story short, I was very impressed by the yield, fruit size, and fruit quality of these Honeycrisp trees on B.118. One tree had a yield of 60 lbs. of fruit, which if I extrapolate to a per acre yield (10 X 15 ft. spacing, 290 trees/acre), that's 400 bushels/acre in the 3rd leaf! (In reality, the rest of the trees had less fruit, but 200-300 bushels/acre could be expected.) So I have to wonder -- considering B.9 is very precocious and high-yielding -- if B.118 has these traits in a semi-dwarf stock? I would consider it closely, particularly vs. planting M.7. Willow Drive Nursery was the source of these trees. And check out NC-140 for more rootstock information.

4 comments:

Quickie Flyer said...

Hi John,
I was wondering why you used rootstock from Washington state when you're using them in Mass. I need to buy rootstock for a place in Kentucky and wondered if there were not to few places to buy rootstock and that's why you went to the other coast?

SilverSalmon said...

Jim:

Sorry for the late comment/question on this one. I am planting an new area next year or two and based on yours and other recommendations I'm going with B118 RS. 10x15 seems close (will be training to a CL), but I guess it depends on the variety. I will have S16, Williams Pride, Crimson Crisp, Sundance and GoldRush when I'm all done (Scab resistant). What would you recommend for spacing? How is the HC doing this year on B118?

Thanks!

SilverSalmon said...

Jim:

based on your recs I'm getting a bunch of trees on B118 for 2012. Williams pride, crimson crisp, sundance and Goldrush. How close can i space b118? Can i go 15 between rows and 12-15 between trees?
What are the minimum distances for the above trees?

supermegalos said...

Any update on this rootstock John?