peas planted!

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Thursday, July 17, 2008

apples on the tree

baby apple

I planted a nice little Fugi apple tree in my back yard about 3 or 4 years ago. It gets too much shade and I didn't think it was blooming at all. But today I noticed four small apples! I'd like these to ripen without bug or squirrel damage. Do they need a spray or net here in the NE US? Please leave me your advice!

Apples (Malus domestica)
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11 comments:

  1. Jim LemireJuly 17, 2008 10:37 PM

    I'm thinking of planting apples this fall. I had read that you need to plant at least two trees to get fruit (since apple trees are self-incompatible). Do you just have the one tree?

    (sorry to not answer your question, but ask my own)

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  2. kathyJuly 17, 2008 10:45 PM

    I didn't know that. I have only one apple tree. But I do have a crab apple about 40 feet away. And I know of other apple trees in the neighborhood (within a quarter mile).

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  3. kathyJuly 17, 2008 11:00 PM

    So, a with some research I find that "Apple trees require cross-pollination to produce fruit. It is important to choose compatible cultivars for maximum fruit production."

    And "Fruit trees that require two cultivars for pollination should
    be planted within 100-200 feet of each other. This will ensure that bees visit the trees often enough for adequate fruit set."

    And "Many crab apple cultivars are excellent sources of pollen provided the bloom times overlap..."

    I bet my crab apple pollinated my Fuji apples. Interesting...

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  4. kathyJuly 17, 2008 11:02 PM

    Here's the link for the above quotes http://www.hort.purdue.edu/ext/ho-174.pdf

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  5. AnonymousJuly 17, 2008 11:49 PM

    You could loosely put a clear plastic bag around each apple and that would likely keep insects and squirrels from damaging the beautiful apples.

    I live on the Canadian Prairies and have a Goodland apple tree which also gets too much shade. There were about 20 apples on it this year, doing very well but we had very strong winds over the weekend and half the apples blew off the tree! Maybe I should have taken my own advice and put a giant plastic bag over the entire tree!

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  6. Chiot's RunJuly 18, 2008 8:40 AM

    You would try these bags (they're like hosiery for apples, or mayby try making your own of old hosiery since you only have a few apples).
    http://www.grandpasorchard.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=trees.plantDetail&plant_id=163

    Then you wouldn't have to spray with chemicals.

    I'm planning on planting some Cox's Orange Pippin apples and training them on my garage for espalier trees. I've heard they're great home apples.

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  7. kathyJuly 18, 2008 9:20 AM

    Great! I'll pull out my old stockings right away. This looks easy.

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  8. kathyJuly 19, 2008 5:47 PM

    Well, my apple tree looks like a panty hose tree now. I hope the neighbors don't talk. I used L'Eggs nude knee highs. I found 5 apples and covered them up well.

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  9. Jim LemireJuly 20, 2008 11:36 PM

    no pics? how can you deprive us of the pantyhose tree?

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  10. kathyJuly 22, 2008 1:37 PM

    ...it seems like a private thing - but I'll post them later if they work.

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  11. AnonymousJuly 22, 2008 10:02 PM

    I would love to hear the progress, I've been considering putting knee hi's on my pears!

    Ali

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