Howdy,

I'm looking for folks who live in Zone 9 and have successfully grown Granny Smith apples. I'm in the process of planting the DunHagan fruit trees and am now looking at decidious fruits like apples. The Florida Cooperative Extension service and several other Florida sources of agricultural advice have all said that Granny Smiths are a waste of time here yet I keep seeing them listed as growing all the way into Zone 9 in several catalogs (Stark and Guerney's come to mind). Is there ANYONE who lives in Zone 9 who has successfully gotten a Granny Smith to fruit for them? If so, did you do it in Florida or are you in another state?

I'm in Zone 8b but the southern end of it so if anyone has managed to get a Granny to fruit down in Zone 9 I'll give one a try just on spec. Found some nice looking trees last weekend and am trying to decide if they really would be a waste of time and planting space for little hope of return.

Thanks.

.........Alan.

-- Alan (athagan@atlantic.net), January 04, 2002

Answers

Find out how many "frozen hours" per year are required for the trees, compare that to your area.

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), January 04, 2002.

I never grew them that far south, but I do know in zone 6 they won't ripen, the season isn't long enough.

-- Paul (treewizard@buffalo.com), January 05, 2002.

In my 15 years of living in Florida, I never had a good Florida apple. It just does not not get cold enough to set a good apple.

-- Karen (db0421@yahoo.com), January 05, 2002.

I wouldn't recommend that you spend your money on those apples. The zones are based on average minimum winter temperature, and don't take into consideration factors such as heat and humidity. A Zone 9 in California might produce Granny Smiths, but in Florida, it's another set of circumstances. You might try getting a stick or two of scionwood and grafting it onto an existing crabapple (for your pollenizer), but unless you have an exceptional microclimate,save your money. Have you checked out the North American Fruit Explorers website at www.nafex.org ?

?

-- Harriet (horticultrix@hotmail.com), January 05, 2002.

Hello mr. allan,

i too am in zone 8 climate.

The tree will grow for you but it will have a shortened life span, the on-again off-again winters really take a toll on spring blooming fruit trees. it will also fruit now and again for you but the fruit has what orchardists call a 'grainy' texture[consumers say 'yuck, a mushy, tasteless apple'], low aroma and shortened storage life.

may i suggest for you to try some of the israeli bred low chill varieties; anna, etc.? and for the best crops you really need more than one type that blooms at the same time. fruit set, size & quality are dramatically improved that way.

i'm on a new farm so i my apple trees should start fruiting next year, persimmon,cherries & plums last year,yum! gala,anna,mutsu are the varieties of apples i have growing now.

I'm looking for scionwood or trees of hogsweet, and other alabama,georgia,louisiana, heirloom varieties.

[i've got a list some where in the mess that is my files! :O]

-- bj pepper in C. MS. (pepper.pepper@excite.com), January 05, 2002.

Are you in north fla? If so, there are currently 3 varieties recommended:Anna, Dorsett Golden, and Tropicsweet. There used to be an Israeli variety, Ein Shemer,that was recommended, but it apparently did so poorly that it is no longer recommended. You have to plant 2 varieties to get fruit. These are all low chilling varieties that only requre 300 to 400 hours below 45 degrees to break bud. The more northern apple trees will grow, from what I've heard, but they are short lived, stunted, prone to disease, and you will not get apples because we don't get enough chilling hours. You can probably find out more about trials done with different varieties if you check out the UF websiteo.

So far I have dwarf Anna and Doresett Golden and full size Anna. After I planted I found out the dwarf versions are not recommended for north Fla as the dwarfing rootstock used does not do well in our climate. Only a year in ground for the full size and 3 for the dwarf so no fruit yet, but I DID get apple blossoms last spring on the dwarf Anna.

-- Connie in no. Fla (Ragamuffintears@aol.com), January 05, 2002.

Sorry. i forgot to put in the web addy for the UF IFAS site: http;//edis.ifas.ufl.edu

IIRC,there are numerous documents relating to growing apples. The one I have used alot is document HS764 - Lowchill Apple cultivators for North and North Central Florida. It has a list of cultivators, the requiring chilling hours for each, etc.

-- Connie in north fl (Ragamuffintears@aol.com), January 05, 2002.

I probably should have been somewhat clearer in stating my question. I'm already aware of the apple varieties that are recommended for North Florida thanks to the cooperative extension service and Granny Smith isn't one of them. Apparently just too few chill hours. I've got Anna and Golden Dorsett already and would give an Ein Sheimer space if I could find one even if it's not as good as they first thought. The Tropic Sweet sounds too sweet for my taste but if I can find one I'll probably try it.

What I want to know is has anyone actually planted a Granny Smith in Zone 9, Florida in particular, with anything other than disappointing results? I've got at least two national catalogs that list this variety as growing all they way to Zone 9 and just today while at our local SuperWalMart found that they had containerized Granny Smith trees and the tag on them plainly states they'll grow all the way to Zone 10! If I can find anyone who has successfully managed to get one of these things to fruit for them in Zone 9 in Florida I'll give one a try out of pure speculation. If nothing happens then all I'm out is the space I gave it.

Apparently no one has so I'll just let them go and put in another Dorsett. Even in North Florida apples are only a so-so proposition but I'm trying as wide a variety of different fruits as I can find. As the years go by I'll eliminate the failures in favor of the more successful attempts. I just found a good variety of fruiting hawthorn and have a lead on some chinqapins (a relative of the chestnut). Anyone know where I can find some Chinese Jujubes?

.........Alan.

-- Alan (athagan@atlantic.net), January 06, 2002.

Granny Smith and Beverly Hills do well in San Diego. We don't get the humidity, and certanily don't get veyr cold for very long, but when I was little, we had the GS in our backyard. I would get sick eating them, they were so delicious. It is the only apple I'll eat fromthe store.

The BH variety also does wonderful. It is the only red apple I will eat at all, and that is straight from the tree. We are zone 9/10.

-- Wendy A (phillips-anteswe@pendleton.usmc.mil), January 07, 2002.

i've done biz. with raintree.com,[washington] they have reliable info, healthy plants. the shipping cost to us is steep tho.

there is also eat-it.com (east coast) & exoticfruit.com [orgeon] as jujube tree sellers.

let a neutral party hold your credit card while brosing the exotic fruit catalogue it is too tempting!

the first two send out free printed catalogues, don't know about the third.

hmm, wal mart conspiracy, hmm, you see they sell potted citrus up here w/ tags that say hardy from zone 7-11 and you know that's not gonna work!

-- bj pepper in C. MS. (pepper.pepper@excite.com), January 07, 2002.

Just Fruits & Exotics in Crawfordville, Fl carries jujubes. Its's 1 mile east of Wakulla High. Per last years catelog, they were carrying Sherwood, Tigertoth & So. Address is 30 St. Frances St, Crawfordville, FL 32327. Phone is 1-888-926-7441. I haven't planted any jujube yet, but I've been very satisfied with all the trees & plants I've purchased there and Brandy (one of the owners) is very knowledgeable about what grows in this area.

-- Connie (Ragamuffintears@aol.com), January 13, 2002.

Hello again!

finally found my list of southern heirloom apples & the states they originated in, here goes:

blacktwig-tn

carolina red june-duh!

cortland-ny

crabapple- south east

golden pearmain -n.carolina

golden russet-??

grimes golden -w.viginia

hog sweet-georgia

horse-n carolina

kimrome-georgia

kinnairds choice- tn

limbertwig-n.carolina

magnum bonum-n.carolina

summer champion-gerogia

virginia beauty-duh!

here's a great listing of nurseries that carry these & other old time fruits,they also have seed companies & general info links.

http://www.permacultureactivist.net/nurseries/PlntNursrys.htm

& here is a nursery out of georgia that gives accurate zone hardiness info!

http://www.johnsonnursery.com/FRUIT%20PAGES/APPLES.htm

it is estimated that out of the 2,000 + original sothern apples only 200 are still being grown, if you know of an old apple tree contact mr. lee or ms. edith calhoun of calhoun's nursery 295 blacktwig rd. pittsboro, n.carolina,27312, they have saved several apples from extinction.

-- bj pepper in C. MS. (pepper.pepper@excite.com), March 25, 2002.

My grandfather has a nice orchard full of grannysmith apples in the San Joaquin valley in California. He is zone nine. I think the problem with Florida maybe the humidity more than the zone. Still his trees fruit well every year. He also grows oranges in the same area.

Little Bit Farm

-- Little bit Farm (littlebit@farm.com), March 25, 2002.