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.
