Redlove Apple

[chris]

I've just done some searching and all I could find where references to Redlove being an example of what can be achieved without going down the GM route. Eg. Views and Opinions

My Redlove Era tree is so different from my other fruit trees not only because of the very distinctive fruit, but also because of the maroon coloured foliage and bark and the deep pink blossom.
I think it is such a good looking tree that I am transferring my M9 Era to an M116 rootstock along with Circe to make a standard or half standard centre piece for my front lawn. My intention is to collect the other Redlove varieties as they become available and graft them all onto the one tree.
I had thought about grafting other red apples as well but the Redlove foliage and blossom is so distinctive that I dismissed the idea as it would look odd.

The only problems I've had to date is greenfly a couple of weeks ago. Strangely I only found them on the Redlove and not on the neighbouring the trees. I put it down to the fact that the greenfly stand out like a sore thumb against the maroon foliage whereas I probably couldn't find them camouflaged against the green leaves of the other trees.

Did those grafts take from that possible discovery seedling I sent up, btw?

[FB.]

I think it is such a good looking tree that I am transferring my M9 Era to an M116 rootstock along with Circe to make a standard or half standard centre piece for my front lawn.

I'd suggest that M116 is borderline capable of producing a half-standard with a medium-vigour variety - being dependent on good growing conditions to achieve a half-standard size in any reasonable time.
To produce a standard tree with M116 would probably only be possible with vigorous triploids in the best soils and climates.
For a half-standard, I'd suggest MM111 or M25 rootstock.

[digon]

Did those grafts take from that possible discovery seedling I sent up, btw?

Sorry Chris not one of the 12 or so bud grafts made it. I was really disappointed as my grafting success rate is usually over 90%

[FB.]

Oh dear! They are all on M106 except Cornish Aromatic (currently the only one in blossom, all planted 2yrs ago) which is on M26. I have no idea what rootstock Redlove is on.

With the wet weather in the last couple of years, the MM106's might have got a foothold sufficient to behave fairly normally - my MM106's kept pace with my MM111's in 2012, although in the previous few years the MM106's barely grew at all while the MM111's were able to grow normally.

But under the normal dry conditions here it can be difficult to establish MM106 trees, unless they are of particularly vigorous varieties (usually triploids) or unless they have their roots in a cool, damp, shady spot which doesn't dry-out so quickly (but not waterlogged!).

I mostly plant on MM111 or M25 nowadays (pears on seedling rootstock), and I only expect them to reach about 2.5-3m (8-10ft) in size at maturity due to needing vast root systems to support even a small canopy in the drought-prone soil here. In my soil, trees are about three-quarters roots and one-quarter above ground because they have to put so much energy into big roots in order to find enough water in the dry summers and in a shallow, fast-draining sandy-gravelly-chalky soil.

MM106 reaches about half that size for me at maturity unless in a favourable moisture-retentive (not waterlogged) location where it is then an equal of MM111's vigour.

The variety grafted to the rootstock makes a big difference; triploids in particular (but not all triploids!) tend to make a rootstock behave as if it's one or two size classes more vigorous. So in normal conditions, a Bramley on "medium vigour" rootstock such as M7, M116 or MM106 would be an equal (maybe bigger) in size to a Discovery on "very vigorous" M25 rootstock.
Further: not all varieties grow as well in all soils or climates. Some like dry climates (e.g. Tydeman's Late Orange) while some like wet climates (e.g. Grenadier). Some like cool climates (e.g. Worcester Pearmain) while others like warm climates (e.g. Golden Delicious). Some like lots of sunshine (e.g. D'Arcy Spice).

[FB.]

Sorry Chris not one of the 12 or so bud grafts made it. I was really disappointed as my grafting success rate is usually over 90%

I expect the unusually cool, dull weather won't have helped with graft viability.

[digon]

I'd suggest that M116 is borderline capable of producing a half-standard with a medium-vigour variety - being dependent on good growing conditions to achieve a half-standard size in any reasonable time.
To produce a standard tree with M116 would probably only be possible with vigorous triploids in the best soils and climates.
For a half-standard, I'd suggest MM111 or M25 rootstock.

I'm blessed with good growing conditions and think if my M26 tree hadn't been grown as bush form it would have been vigorous enough to make a half standard hence my expectations for M116.
Strange though that lord lamborne and Era are my two most vigorous varieties from 20 yet neither are noted as
being particularly vigorous.

[FB.]

Strange though that lord lamborne and Era are my two most vigorous varieties from 20 yet neither are noted as
being particularly vigorous.

Some varieties prefer certain soils or climates. I find the supposedly-weak-growing Fiesta to be frighteningly vigorous in my soil; I think it grows strongly in mild climates and alkaline soils, but grows poorly in cool climates or acidic soils. I think Laxton's Epicure is the same.
I also find Edward VII to be slow-growing in cool years, but fast-growing in mild years.

Sometimes a variety grows quickly in its early years but subsequently starts to crop heavily and growth virtually stops. Other varieties may be slower-growing but also slower to begin cropping; reaching quite a large size before cropping begins. Some varieties - such as Bramley, Blenheim, Gascoyne, Gravenstein and Hambledon - are fast-growing, not demanding about soil nutrient levels, slow-to-start cropping, and tip-bearers - a combination which tends to make trees of large proportions when mature, and which never really stop growing.