There
are many varieties of apples you can choose to grow and my best advice
is to choose a variety that is suitable to your climate and taste. You
can even choose some that are immune or quite resistant to apple scab or
some that are resistant to fireblight, and if you choose a
non-disease-resistant apple you will have a very wide range of choice,
but these will require more effort in controlling pests and diseases.
Propagation of apple trees is usually done by grafting a known variety
on to a root stock. When this is done it allows the grower to get the
particular type of fruit they want bestow other advantages such as
disease resistance or tree dwarfing. While it is possible to grow trees
from seeds, the results can be varied at best and at worst
disappointing. Now I am not saying you can not get a fine tasting apple
from a seed, but most gardeners will choose a known variety and
purchase stock for their gardens.
Apples
can grow hardy in any open, sunny area, as long as they are not exposed
to strong winds. They will tolerate a wide range of soils but flourish
in a clay loam. They prefer a neutral to slightly alkaline soil which is
rich and free draining but moisture retentive. With every newly planted
tree, treat it with a general purpose fertilizer like fish,blood and
bone and mulch with well-rotted organic matter to help the soil retain
moisture. you will need to mulch at regular intervals, as old
mulch gradually breaks down. Keep them well watered in dry areas and
feed each tree with a general-purpose fertilizer every spring. There are
some varieties that only bear well every second year, with light crops
every other year, you can prevent this by thinning excess fruit in the
good years to give the tree strength for the following year. If
you have an excess of fruit that are dropping this may be sign of
magnesium or boron deficiency or not enough moisture.
You
will notice flower buds and fruit developing on the tips of the branches
or on short two year old spurs along the branches. You will need to
train apples early in their life to achieve the desired framework. When
the tree matures, pruning mainly involves removing crowed branches, and
annual pruning encourages new growth shoots and continual fruit spur
development. All apple varieties, need pollination with another apple
variety. To do this plant two trees near to each other, and a good way
to make sure that most varieties will be pollinated is to use a crab
apple tree that has a long flowering period. There are many of these and
two of the best varieties are the Malus- John Downie, and the Malusx
zumi var. calocarpa- Golden Hornet.
Harvest
the fruit when they are fully matured and well colored to the variety
that you are growing. When you are planting trees for the first time,
you may want to consider planting disease-resistant cultivars, this will
go a long way to solving disease problems before they start. Use common
sense to avoid some disease problems like prune trees for good air
circulation, which will reduce fungal problems and clean up fallen
apples.