Try soaking the slices in pineapple juice for a few minutes, and then put into a ziplok baggie. Squeeze as much air out of the bag as possible. Oxygen in the air makes the apple slices oxidize (turn brown). Basically the iron in the apple rusts just like steel.

My best guess would be Cedar Apple rust. I don't know of any other orange fungus on apple. If I am correct, and only one limb is infected, removal of the limb would be best. Spores will be released this spring and will continue the cycle. This fungus lives one year on a juniper or cedar tree and the...

Not sure how Appledude does it, but I use similar fencing (I call it hog fence, squares are about 6"x6"). I make a larger circle than Appledude, about six to eight feet of fence. Because the circle is large, I can lift it up over the tree if I need access for the first few years. Usually o...

Far from a genius, but I do enjoy this forum...so I guess that gets me a little closer.
Keep up the good work Plumfan.

Apple chips are available thru Tastee http://www.tasteeapple.com/ We sell them in our farm market. However, I agree with Plumfan, not real tastee. The sweet potato chips aren't bad though. If you don't have a food dehydrator to dry your own apples, you can turn your electric oven just so the switch ...

Not sure why you want to replace the Honeycrisp. There really is no other apple I'm aware of with cells as large as the Honeycrisp. The cell size is what gives them the big crunch. If your search for a replacement is because you cannot find the Honeycrisp in the stores this time of year, you may nee...

I don't recommend mixing copper (Kocide) with oil. They may not play together in the tank very nice. I would recommend using copper in early March if you have a fire blight problem and saving the oil application as long as possible before buds break in order to have a longer insect control effect du...

I like a mixture of sweet and tart varieties, the more varieties the better. I usually use at least six or seven varieties when available. If you go to a local farm market they will probably mix some for you. But if I don't have that option, I like a mixture of Gala and McIntosh in Sept., Empire and...

If you are getting flowers but no fruit, I would agree that the most logical conclusion would be poor pollination. Be careful when adding fertilizer to fruit trees. If your trees don't need the extra food, you may send the trees into a vegetative state and they will just grow leaves and no blossoms ...

I have turned many Red Delicious fans on to Gala and Fuji. However it sounds like you may like something a little tarter. Try Braeburn, Crispin or Pink Lady. One of these should be avail. in your area. Honeycrisp may also be an option if you can still find them.

I would recommend a soil analysis to see what the nutritional balance is for the area you are planting. Your closest and probably most reliable testing site would be the U of Maine. http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/htmpubs/2286.htm Poultry manure (even several years old) can be "hot",...

For the beginning home gardener, I always recommend the following:
http://ssfruit.cas.psu.edu/
Click on Pome fruit (which is the botanical name for apples, pears and quince)
This will pretty much give you the ABC's of fruit growing.

If you cannot find them locally, we have apples dried for our market at Kauffman's Farm Market in Intercourse PA (Yeh, we've heard all the punch lines) Sweet dried apples (snitz) are made with Fuji and tart are made with Rome. All natural, excellent flavor. Very reasonably priced and shipping is ava...

I never tried this experiment with different varieties of apples. I'm theorizing that there may be a difference between apples with large cells like Honeycrisp and apples with small cells like McIntosh. There may also be a difference between softer apples like Red Delicious and a harder (denser) app...

Best quality in a small press I know of is at the following:
http://www.jaffreypress.com/
Still a few hundred, but will last for a lifetime.
I've used a small one for farm market demos for over ten years with no problems.