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Kuffel Creek Apple Nursery
Apple Trees for Hot Climates and the Tropics
"We Ship All Over the World"
Nov. 4, 2017 - Sorry, we're sold out for 2018
and are not accepting any more orders.
Yes, it's true; apples do grow in hot climates and the tropics, where
there are very few or zero chilling hours and hot days with warm nights.
And they have been growing there for years, producing colorful, crisp,
juicy, spicy apples. We have sought out these apple varieties from
all over the world and offer them along with the educational
materials needed to grow them.
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Our trees are growing from the blast-furnace
heat of inland Southern California to the tropics of Equatorial
Africa. We've shipped to Mumbai, India, Bangkok, Thailand,
Belize, the Caribbean, Phoenix, Arizona, the Middle East, and
the American Deep South. Our trees are growing in the
gardens of presidents and kings, as well as the gardens of tiny
remote African villages. This year we even opened a
branch in
Uganda to better serve the African Continent. With
such experience we are certainly able to service your hot
climate location. |
"Kevin
Hauser of Kuffel Creek Apple Nursery...is "the man" to
explore the possibilities of low chill with respect to apple
varieties..."
-Michael
Phillips, The Holistic Orchard
The Apple
Grower |
What We Sell We sell
exclusively benchgrafts, infant trees consisting of a rootstock
(the roots of the tree) with a scion (cutting) of the desired
variety grafted onto it. The benchgraft is bare-root and
dormant and can be economically shipped long distances and grows
vigorously when planted, often reaching six feet (2 meters) the
first season. Our shipping season runs February through
April, with no availability the rest of the year. |
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Benchgraft,
about 14" (35cm) long and 3/8" (7mm)
caliper, with a single bud grafted on the end. |
Rootstock
The rootstock we graft onto is M111 EMLA, a
virus-certified clonal rootstock that is very adaptable to heavy
clay or light sandy soils, worn-out soils, and drought
conditions. It is well-anchored and resistant to wooly
aphid, an underground pest. It naturally makes a fairly
large tree but can be pruned to remain any size.
Our
Varieties
We've tested over 100
apple varieties in the 113ºF (45ºC) heat of Southern
California where the lack of chill also tests the apple's
productivity. Top varieties from these trials are
forwarded on to equatorial Africa for further
testing in the
tropics. We've picked a list
of our favorites that are well-adapted to hot climates and
the tropics and also keep notes on the losers for reference.
On another note, almost all of our varieties do well in colder
climates, and we ship to northern locations all the time. |

600-tree apple orchard near Kampala, Uganda |
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