Introduction

Experimental Orchards & Cultivar Evaluations

Orchand Adaptability

Cultivars

Pest Problems

Literature Cited

Table 1 - Promising Mayhaw Cultivars . . .

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Departmental Fact Sheet #H-00-053
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Experiments and Observations on Growing Mayhaws
as a Crop in South Georgia and North Florida

Cooperative Extension Service
The University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

by Gerard Krewer, Professor and Extension Horticulturist,
University of Georgia and Tim Crocker, Professor and
Extension Horticulturist, University of Florida

1. Introduction

Since antebellum times, mayhaw [Crataegus aestivalis (Walter) Torrey & Gray, C. opaca Hook. & Arn., and C. rufula Sarg.] fruit has been treasured for culinary uses in the U.S. Deep South. They are highly esteemed for the making of jelly, sauces, and wine. Mayhaws merit attention not only for their delightful aromatic fruit, but also because they are one of the few ornamental flowering trees adapted for use in lakeshore and wet area landscaping. Mayhaws are members of the family Rosaceae, subfamily Maloideae, tribe Crataegeae. This round-topped small tree (25-30 feet high) has attractive foliage, showy white blossoms (0.6-1.1 inches in diameter), clusters of brilliantly colored fruits, and an upright or pendulous tree form. Mayhaws are locally abundant in low wet areas in limesinks, bays, sloughs, river bottoms and along streams and in swamps from North Carolina to Florida and west to Arkansas and Texas (Payne and Krewer, 1990, Payne, Krewer and Eitenmiller, 1990).

In earlier times there was sufficient wild fruit available to satisfy most local needs. However, recently many of the native stands of mayhaws have been destroyed by land clearing for forestry and agriculture. Many of the remaining groves of mayhaws have been posted, limiting public access for fruit collection. In addition, there are now many small commercial manufacturers of mayhaw jelly and syrup. Demand for pick-your-own and direct sales to consumers has also increased. Picked mayhaw fruit currently wholesales for about $5 to $8 per gallon and retails for about $8 to $12 per gallon. Pick-your-own fruit currently sells for $6-8 per gallon. Mayhaw fruit is very light and weights only 4 to 5 pounds per gallon.

Demand for mayhaw fruit and their ability to grow on land too wet for most crops has created significant interest in commercial mayhaw production. The objective of our research has been to 1.) determine if mayhaws are adapted to commercial orchard production, 2.) identify cultivars with excellent cropping ability and quality, and 3.) identify potential problems in their commercial production such as insects and diseases. Only limited information is available on the commercial production of mayhaws (Craft, Melcher and Langston, 1996; Puls,1991).

Figure 1.1: Mayhaws in a flooded limesink in South Georgia.	Figure 1.2Mayhaws in bloom.	Figure 1.3: A mayhaw branch with ripening fruit.
Since they are sensitive to fire, most of the wild trees are in wet areas.	The trees are extremely attractive in bloom and usually swarming with pollinating insects such as honey bees.	The source of the world's finest jelly.

Figure 1.4: A cultivated orchard in fruit.		Figure 1.5:
The trees are extremely beautiful when heavily loaded with fruit.	.	Mature trees in an orchard
Figure1.6: Mayhaw sauce made from different selections growing at UGA Attapulgus Research Farm.		Figure 1.7:
Mayhaws with dark or bright red skin generally make the most attractive mayhaw products.		Mayhaw jelly made from assorted selections growing at UGA Attapulgus Research Farm.

2. Experimental Orchards and Cultivar Evaluations

In 1985, a small planting of four named mayhaw cultivars selected from wild groves in Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas were planted at test orchard near Tifton, Georgia. Native seedlings from Georgia were also included in the planting. From 1988-1996, this was expanded to include an additional 20 named cultivars and many seedlings. From one to four trees of each cultivar were planted. Most trees in the orchard were grafted on Crataegus aestivalis or C. opaca rootstock and a few were on their own roots. Some trees were grafted on Washington hawthorn (C. phaenopyrum) rootstock. The trees were planted on a moderately wet Alapaha loamy sand without irrigation or a moderately dry Tifton loamy sand with and without drip irrigation. Soil pH was adjusted to 6.0 - 6.5. Young trees were fertilized with premium grade 10-10-10 at the rate of one-half to one pound of 10-10-10 per inch of trunk diameter in the early spring and early summer. Older trees were fertilized twice a year with a balanced fertilizer at about the same rate as the adjacent peach orchards. Generally an early spring and summer application of balanced fertilizer was applied. Several applications of insecticides and fungicides were applied post bloom each year on bearing trees and winter dormant oil sprays used to control scale if needed.

In 1987, an orchard was established at the UGA Attapulgus Research Farm near Bainbridge, Ga.. One hundred trees of mostly Crataegus aestivalis collected from 33 diverse sites in North Florida and South Georgia by Mr. Burl Turnage were planted on a moderately dry Norfolk loamy sand with drip irrigation. In 1992 this planting was expanded to include 21 cultivars of Crataegus opaca from Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas grafted on Crataegus opaca rootstock. Soil pH was adjusted to 6.0-6.5. Young trees were fertilized with premium grade 10-10-10 at the rate of one-half to one pound of 10-10-10 per inch of trunk diameter in the early spring and early summer. Older trees were fertilized twice a year with a balanced fertilizer at about the same rate as the adjacent peach orchard. Several applications of peach insecticides and fungicides were applied post bloom each year on the bearing trees.

Cultivars and seedlings were evaluated on the basis of bloom date, crop load, fruit size, fruit shape, fruit firmness, fruit appearance, fruit color, fruit retention on the tree, and tree form. Typical full bloom dates varied from mid February to mid March depending on the cultivar. Crop loads varied from no production to heavy production depending on cropping ability and date of the last spring freeze. Severe freezes occurred at Tifton and Attapulgus on March 13-15, 1993 [low temperature about 22 degrees F]; March 9, 1996 [low temperature about 20 degrees F]; and March 13, 1998 [low temperature about 24 degrees F]. Fruit size measured in width varied from 0.43 inches to more than 0.83 inches. Fruit shape varied from oblong to oblate. Fruit appearance was rated on a 1-10 scale with 10 considered the best possible. Cherry red fruit with a glossy red finish and a pink flesh are considered by many buyers as most desirable. Fruit appearance ranged from 4 to 8. Fruit firmness was rated on a 1-10 scale with 10 considered the best possible. Fruit firmness ranged from 4 to 8 with 8 being a fairly uniform cherry red color. Fruit retention on the tree was rated on a 1-10 scale with 5 dropping (shattering) more easily than desired, 7 considered commercially ideal, 8 slightly too well retained and 10 very excessive. Fruit retention varied from 3 to 9 depending on the cultivar. Trees which retain their fruit well under normal weather conditions, but can be shaken off by vigorous hand shaking of the scaffold limbs are considered desirable. Tree form was characterized. Several insect and diseases were noted during the study and identified by university entomologists and plant pathologists.

	2.1 Seedling mayhaw orchard on an upland site with drip irrigation at UGA Attapulgus Research Farm.
	Tree shape and growth habit varies greatly because these are seedlings.

Results

3. Orchard Adaptability

Mayhaws appear to be well adapted to commercial orchard production in the southeast. A spacing of 15 to 20 feet in the row and 20 feet between rows has been adequate to prevent excessive orchard crowding during the first twelve years on upright spreading cultivars. Mayhaw fruit, however, is very susceptible to sun scald once it falls off the tree. Until a canopy is formed, sun scald can be a serious problem where the fruit are not harvested immediately. For this reason, a closer spacing of perhaps 12 feet in the row by 18 feet between rows should be considered in situations where the fruit may lay on the ground for several days before harvest.

Only minimal detailed pruning has been conducted on the trees after the initial training phase in years one through four to a modified central leader form or vase form. Annual removal of basal suckers and root sprouts is required. Undoubtably mayhaws would benefit from more detailed pruning to increase light penetration into the interior of the tree, but this is very time consuming, because prunings must be carried out of the orchard. The presence of numerous thorns does not allow mowing of prunings with rubber tire tractors. Some trees have required staking after severe wind storms and hurricanes. Trees grafted on mayhaw rootstock (Crataegus aestivalis and Crataegus opaca) or growing on their own roots have performed well. Trees grafted on Washington hawthorn have grown very slowly, with trunk diameters of only 2 inches after four years and poor anchorage.

Mayhaws have grown well on upland sites with irrigation. During extreme droughts, trees on upland sites without irrigation can show marginal leaf burn. Mayhaws appear to be a potential crop for low areas too wet for most crops. On these sites they can be grown without irrigation.

Mayhaw trees can be slow to come into good production. Six-year-old trees of the better cultivars have produced 10-20 pounds of fruit per tree and nine-year-old trees 25 to 40 pounds of fruit per tree in some years at an orchard spacing of 15 feet in the row by 20 feet between rows.

Harvest of mayhaw fruit is a time consuming process. Since the fruit on most cultivars ripen over a period of a week or more, multiple harvests are necessary. Many growers allow the fruit to ripen and naturally fall to the ground. If the area under the trees is completely clean and free of weeds, it is easy for the workers or pick-your-own customers to harvest the fruit from the ground. A very low stool is used to keep the worker or customer off the damp ground. Pick-your-own customers also harvest fruit directly from the lower limbs of the trees. Some growers spread plastic tarps or seine netting under the trees to keep falling fruit off the ground. This, however, also catches bird droppings. Fruit hand- picked off the ground requires only minimal cleaning (to remove sand and a few bad berries) to be ready for sell.

A shake and catch system can also be used. Tarps are spread under the tree or catch frames placed under the tree. The scaffold limbs are shaken by hand and remaining ripe fruit in the upper part of the tree jarred with bamboo pole or shake pole (Figure 3.5). Care must be taken to not break off too many spurs which will produce next year's crop. After harvest, the fruit is run across a blower and grading belt to remove leaves and green berries. Another option is to pour the fruit on a screen table and pick out the leaves and green berries.

Some cultivars such as 'Mason's Superberry' and 'T.O. Superberry' hold so tightly on the tree that fruit sometimes sunburn before dropping. Other cultivars such as 'Superspur' and 'Big V' shatter so easily that windstorms can knock off a lot fruit between shakings. For pick-your-own purposes, fruit that hold well on the tree allow for harvest directly off the tree when the trees are young and on lower limbs on older trees. Information on fruit retention is presented in Table 1. However, cultivars with fruit that release fairly easily from the tree make harvesting onto catch frames much easier.

Fruit harvested from the water can be cleaned by using a vibrating, sloped board. A jig saw with the blade removed and placed on a metal plate provides the vibration. The wet leaves stick to the board and the fruit roll down the slope (Figure 4.2).

Fruit size has a large influence on speed of hand harvest and cleaning. Cultivars with large size fruit can be much more rapidly hand harvested and graded. This is major consideration for both pick-you-own and commercial harvest operations.

Fruit firmness should also be considered. Very soft cultivars are prone to bruising that greatly detracts from the appearance of the fresh fruit. Soft cultivars must be harvested more frequently, rapidly handled, and frozen. The shelf life of many cultivars of fresh mayhaws is very short. Many cultivars can only be held at room temperature for one or two days since the fruit is usually bruised during harvested. Since most customers use frozen mayhaws to make jelly, this is a good method of storing the crop. Gallon freezer bags are typically used.

Figure 3.1 Young mayhaw being trained to a modified central leader similar to an apple tree.		Figure 3.2: Five year old mayhaw trained to a vase shape similar to a peach tree.
Many cultivars of mayhaws natural lend themselves to this growth form with a modest amount of initial training.		In situations where you desire to keep the trees low to the ground for spraying with a hand wand or picking fruit off the tree this training form has advantages.

Figure 3.3: Mature wild tree brought into cultivation showing the natural rounded form of the mayhaw tree.		Figure 3.4: A small commercial mayhaw orchard with plastic laid under the tree to keep fruit off ground.
Note the tree has been limbed up for harvest.		The trees are probably planted too close together.

 

Figure 3.5: A shake pole for jarring limbs in the upper part of the tree.		Figure 3.6: Tarp spread under a tree to catch ripe fruit.
		After shaking the tree the fruit, will be gathered up in the tarp and cleaned on a screen table.

Figure 3.7: Mayhaw fruit harvested on a circular catch frame made of wooden ribs with canvas between		Figure 3.8: Mayhaw harvest onto a catch frame made of PVC plastic. Photo courtesy of Mr. Byron Rhodes, CEA, Thomas County, Ga.

Figure 3.9: Mayhaw harvest onto sheets of heavy-weight row cover used for ornamental plant freeze protection. Photo courtesy of Mr. Byron Rhodes, CEA, Thomas County, Ga.		Figure 4.0: A screen table for cleaning mayhaw fruit. The top is hinged on one side so the fruit can be poured into a bucket after cleaning. This fruit was shaken from a tree and has an excessive number of green berries.

Figure 4.1: Good quality mayhaw fruit that needs only a few green berries removed.		Figure 4.2: A vibrating, sloping board for cleaning wet mayhaw fruit.
		A jig saw with the blade removed provides the vibration.

4. Cultivars

Thirty-five different named mayhaw cultivars and 100 selections (designated Turnage 1-100) were evaluated during the course of the study. The most promising mayhaw cultivars and selections in this study are listed below and in Table 1 in approximate order of ripening.

'T.O. Superberry' is an upright spreading tree that blooms in mid to late February and ripens fruit in late April. The fruit is large and dark red with pink flesh. Fruit firmness is excellent and retention on the tree nearly ideal. Its early bloom time resulted in very light crops in 1993, 1996, and 1998.

'Mason's Superberry' (AKA 'Texas Superberry') is an upright spreading tree that blooms in mid to late February and ripens fruit in late April. The fruit is large, very dark red with pink flesh. Fruit firmness is excellent and retention on the tree can be excessive. Its early bloom time resulted in very light crops in 1993 and 1998.

'Superspur' is an upright tree that blooms in late February and early March and ripens fruit in late April and early May. The fruit is large with a light red/yellow skin and yellow flesh. Fruit firmness and fruit retention are poor. It's early bloom time resulted in light crops following the 1993 and 1996 freezes. Superspur is very productive in years without late spring freezes.

'Saline' is an upright, spreading tree that blooms in early to mid March and ripens fruit in late April and early May. The fruit is large with mostly red skin and light pink/orange flesh. Fruit firmness and retention are excellent. It produced a 60 percent crop following the 1996 freeze.

'Big Red' is an upright, spreading tree that blooms in early March and ripens fruit in late April and early May. The fruit is large with red skin and pink flesh. Fruit have good firmness and retention is good. It produced a very light crop following the 1996 freeze.

'Crimson' is an upright, spreading tree that blooms in mid March and ripens fruit in late April and early May. The fruit is large with mostly red skin and light pink? flesh. Fruit firmness and fruit retention are only fair. It produced a 30 percent crop following the 1996 freeze and an 80 percent crop the 1998 freeze.

'G-5' is a new cultivar from the mid-Gulf under test at Tifton. It is reported to be performing well in Louisiana and Texas. Fruit ripen in late April and early May. The fruit are soft, but very large with red skin. The calyx opening is large.

'Big V' is an upright tree that blooms in early to mid March and ripens fruit in late April and early May. The fruit is large with light red skin and pinkish flesh. Fruit firmness and fruit retention are poor to fair. It produced a 40 percent crop following the 1993 freeze, a 50percent crop following the 1996 freeze, and a 50 percent crop following the 1998 freeze.

'Texas Star' is a upright tree that blooms in mid March and ripens in early to mid May. The test trees are only a few years old at this time (1999) so information is limited. It is reported to be performing well in Texas and Louisiana following spring freezes. The fruit are large to very large with red/orange skin and yellow flesh. Fruit firmness appears to be fair and fruit retention might be somewhat excessive.

'Turnage 57' is an upright tree that blooms in early to mid March and ripens fruit in early to mid May. The fruit is medium in size with light red skin and yellow flesh. Fruit firmness and fruit retention are poor to fair. It produced an 80 percent crop following the 1993 freeze, an 85 percent crop following the 1996 freeze, and an 80 percent crop following the 1998 freeze. Flowers appear to be pollen sterile, but it is very precocious and sets heavy crops in both test orchards.

'Turnage 88' selection is an upright, vigorous tree that blooms in early to mid March and ripens its fruit in mid May. The fruit is medium in size with light red skin and yellow flesh. Fruit firmness and retention are poor to fair. Turnage 88 was slow to come into heavy bearing, but since 1994 it has shown outstanding cropping ability. It was the highest yielding selection in the orchard at Attapulgus following the 1996 freeze, producing 41.2 lbs. per tree.

Figure 4.3: Left to right. 'T.O. Superberry', 'Superspur', and 'Mason's Superberry'		Figure 4.4: 'T.O. Superberry' has excellent quality fruit, but blooms early and often holds too tightly on the tree.

Figure 4.5: 'Superspur' is very productive in years without late spring freezes, but is soft and bruises easily.		Figure 4.6: 'Mason's Superberry' has a low chilling requirement, blooms very early in South Georgia, and is sometimes subject to freeze injury. However, because of it low chilling requirement, it can be grown in Central Florida.

Figure 4.7: 'Saline' has performed well at UGA Attapulgus. It usually blooms late enough to avoid spring freezes.		Figure 4.8: 'Big Red' is a mid-season blooming cultivar with good quality.

Figure 4.9: 'Crimson' is a late blooming cultivar that has performed well in South Georgia.		Figure 5.0: 'Royal Star' (a.k.a. G-5) a new cultivar with very large, soft fruit
Figure 5.1: 'Big V' is a mid-season bloom cultivar that has performed fairly well in South Georgia.		Figure 5.2: 'Texas Star' a new late blooming cultivar from Texas with large size fruit.
Figure 5.3: Mr. Burl Turnage of Albany, Georgia, with his cultivar 'Turnage 57'. It has been a consistent producer of medium size, later season fruit.		Figure 5.4: A limb of 'Turnage 57'

5. Pest Problems

A number of bird, insect, and disease problems were noted during the study. Bird feeding from native song birds and cedar wax wings has been a problem on some sites in some years. New shoots may be broken and ripe fruit eaten and pecked. Deer feeding can also be a serious problem on young trees in some orchards. Since the orchards received pesticide applications during the post bloom period, plum curculio [Conotrachelus nenuphar (Herbst)] and apple maggot [Rhagoletis pomonella (Walsh)] were not a significant problem. Several scale insects have required treatment with dormant oil. Quince rust (Gymnosporangium clavipes Cke. & Pk.) has been a major problem in some commercial orchards, especially where cedar trees are located nearby. However, it has only been a minor problem in the two test orchards in this study. The fungicide myclobutanil (Nova) is now labeled for use on mayhaws to control rust.

In 1997, a spring foliage and blossom blight was noted in two Thomas County orchards by Byron Rhodes, County Extension Agent, and Dr. Warren Copes, University of Georgia plant pathologist. Two distinct species of Monilinia have subsequently been isolated from blighted tissue samples collected in Georgia orchards (Dr. Harald Sherm, University of Georgia). This disease is potentially very serious and reduced the crop at Attapulgus by approximately one-half in 1997. It caused a near 100 percent crop loss in Thomas County orchards that same year. The fungicides Flint and Nova are labeled for use on mayhaws and are potential controls for these diseases.

Leaf spots can partially defoliate mayhaw trees prematurely in September, but have not required treatment to date. Fire blight, caused by the bacterium Erwinia amylovora, occurs sporadically on mayhaws in the southeast (McCarter and Payne, 1993). Presently, little is known about the disease on mayhaw other than the crop is susceptible given proper environmental conditions during bloom. Glyphosate (Roundup) is labeled for use on mayhaws and can be used for weed control after the root suckers have been removed. Goal herbicide is labeled for winter applications as a postemergent and preemergent herbicide. Lack of chemicals registered for control of plum curculio and Monilinia blossom blight are currently major limiting factors in the commercial culture of mayhaws.

Figure 5.5: Bird damage on mayhaws to the new shoots. Fruit eating and pecking can be a problem on some sites in some years.		Figure 5.6: Where deer have been feeding on mayhaw tips. Deer can be problem on young trees.
Figure 5.7: Rust on mayhaw fruit. This disease can be a serious problem in areas with many cedar trees.		Figure 5.8: Monilinia blossom blight on mayhaw. These disease can greatly reduce yield by killing the developing blossoms in the spring. Photo courtesy of Dr. Harald Sherm.

 

Literature Cited

Craft, B.A., G. Melcher and E. Langston. 1996. Mayhaws, a guide to orchard production and propagation. Morris Publishing. Kearney, NE

McCarter, S.M., and J.A. Payne. 1993. Fire blight caused by Erwinia amylovora on mayhaw in Georgia. Plant Disease 77: 1262.

Payne, J.A. and G.W.Krewer. 1990. Mayhaw: a new crop for the South, pp. 317-321. In: J. Janick and J. E. Simon (eds.) Advances in New Crops. Proc. First Nat'l. Symp., New Crops: Research , Development, Economics. Timber Press, Portland, Oregon.

Payne, J.A., G.W. Krewer and R.R. Eitenmiller. 1990. Mayhaws: trees of pomological and ornamental interest. HortScience, Vol. 25(3):cover, 246, 375.

Puls, E. 1991. Commercial mayhaw culture. La. Coop. Ext. Ser. Pub. 2429.

Table 1. Some Promising Mayhaw Cultivars Tested in South Georgia
in Approximate Order of Ripening.