Apple Trees?

This time of year is APPLE time!!! It's wonderful to be able to grow our own food - veggies - herbs fruits and such. Prior to the tornado of 06, I had 16 fruit trees - pears - apples  & sour cherries lining the driveway. After the tornado only a few stumps were found, dang it. Of course they were just old enough to start bearing fruit, and I was patiently waiting to eat that first apple.   =(
I had 8 full grown trees moved to Earthworks field a few years back, 3 died right away, 2 last year and the remaining are struggling. They were simply to large and likely too many roots were cut in the move........Joe - get a bigger spade please! Have you ever considered apple trees and wondered how much care they need? Here are some tips.

• buy trees in the spring of the year (they may have dried out too many times at the nursery over the summer) locally I suggest my friends at Drummer's Nursery in Mankato.
• install in full sun with good air flow, not next to a building or fence
• buy 2 or more, they need to assist in pollination of each other, and can be no more than 100 feet apart
• a crab apple can act as a pollinator and can be even better as their flowers are open over a longer period of time.
• plant them only as deep as they are in the pot, do not bury the trunk
• water 1-2 times per week ONLY, if no adequate rainfall. (1-2 " per week)
• remove all of blossoms, or if you forget....all the apples on young trees, allow the tree to establish before having it produce fruit.
• if you need to prop up branches, pick off the excess fruit instead - don't be greedy at the expense of the tree branches breaking off.

Quality vs. Quantity

• when tree is of fruiting age, it will produce a cluster of blossoms. In the cluster remove all but the center bloom, which opens first - the potential KING apple. It will be the biggest and best in that cluster.
• leave only 1 blossom per every 6" of branch
• your horizontal branches are better producers than your vertical, so work those first if you can't do them all
• it takes 60 leaves on the tree to produce one quality apple, remember through photosynthesis the leaves make the food for the tree

Harvesting

• different varieties ripen at different time
• some store better than others - pick the kind you need
• usually a gentle tug will remove the ripe apples
• pick one and try it to taste if it is ripe before you pick a bushel
• the easy way to harvest apples to to drive up to my friends at Jim's Apple Barn in Jordan on hwy 169, the BIG yellow barn

Biennial bearing; do you have a tree that bears fruit every other year and you think it is that 'type?'
Not so. It is a cultural issue called 'biennial bearing,' and can be corrected. Normally when this condition occurrs, the tree will produce tons of fruit one year, barely anything the next and the cycle is repeated.The next year that is a bearing year, remove 50% or more of the blooms. By doing this, the trees energy will not be depleated as much going into the following year.

Pruning, Insects and disease........yes there are issues, more than I have time for today. Keep in  mind your homegrown apples will never resemble the polished waxed apples of visual perfection you buy in the produce aisle, but they don't have to be perfect to be delicious!