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hungryfrozencanuck

Apple rootstock for wet clay and -35 celcius

Yes I know this is not ideal orchard soil. There is no way to improve drainage with tile or ditching with my wifes rules on how bad I can tear up landscape (it's ok, you should see the number of trees and bushes she let me plant). Soil is clay with good organic content. There is standing water during spring thaw for 2-3 weeks. Summer water table is 3-4 feet deep but after heavy rains can be 1-2 feet below surface. I am doing some degree of raised mounds but can't do higher than 1 foot.

Winters are -35 Celsius (-31 F) for at least 2 weeks. Quite cold for other times. Occasional deadly warm spell in January/Feb before another deep freeze. Generally have good snowpack for insulation BUT there are times where it is that cold with bare ground.

I have no idea about fireblight prevelance here.

I'm pretty new to this. Researching like crazy, shoving stuff in the ground a bit at a time and seeing what takes. I'm greedy and would rather not wait 7-10 years for fruit. I also like variety so my ideal spacing is 8-10 feet between trees and try to keep them to 10-12 feet max in height.

I have been leaning towards Bud 9 due to size and proven cold tolerance in my region but am worried about the wet ground. Would EMLA 111 and pruning like crazy work to keep trees a manageable size but be better with the wet clay OR EMLA 111 with an interstem OR even Antonovka and really prune like CRAZY OR some other graft entirely?

The next batch I am playing with is: Enterprise, Celestia, Sundance and Swayzie Russet.

Already have Macfree, Liberty, Goldrush, Prinstine, Crimson crisp, Redfree and Egremont russet.

I'm just not sure what is best to try but I'm open to experimenting. Something dies I will pull it out and try something else.

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