Apples aren't common in Hawaii, at least those being locally grown. But there are low chill varieties that will grow here. I can't say that they're great fresh eating apples, but they are passable. And any apple you can grow on your own land is something special, enough to overlook the downsides.
My main problem with growing apples are frequent attacks by the Chinese rose beetle. Those beetles can devastate a tree, setting it back. The trees recover, but the loss of leaves takes it toll. And for the first time this year, pollination was way down. Next year I'll try hand pollination.
Right now my trees have young apples on them. They're not ready to harvest yet even though they look red. Adam made the mistake of picking them last year way too early, just because they looked red. According to prior experience, the apples should be ready sometime in September.
I'm trying soooooo hard to grow apples on Molokai, if you don't mind me asking, what varieties do you have? And what do you do for the beetles, I tried 7, but it didn't seem to make a dent in them...
ReplyDeleteThe variety in the photo is called Anna. I have another variety but I cannot recall the name, but it began with an "E". I got my two trees from Home Depot.
DeleteThose Chinese rose beetles are tough to control. But luckily they seem to come in waves for me. I'll have a devastating attack, then I won't see them again for months. The last time I had them I used "bug juice". It was far more successful than anything else I've used. I went out in the early night and collected a handful of beetles. They tend to be on the undersides of the leaves and will drop when you disturb them. So I use a pie plate with a little soapy water in it to catch the beetles when they drop. I then use a blender to thoroughly liquefy the beetles. I strain the liquid into a hand sprayer. I then use this bug juice to spray the undersides if the Ieaves. The more beetles you can gather to make the bug juice, the better. I suspect that the reason the bug juice often works is that at least one of those beetles is sick with some insect ailment, and the juice passes the ailment along to the beetles that eat the sprayed leaves. Just my guess.
It is hints like this that keep me coming back! Bug juice...genius!
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