Aldi fruit trees - let's all contact Aldi

[starloc]

Apples on M9 are supposed to give fruit earlier , good quantity of fruit and larger size fruit

[Thelma Sanders]

just prefer m26 bit taller and a bit stronger if you have the room, the smaller the tree the more looking after it needs because it has a smaller root system

Ah - ok!

[starloc]

The long cane raspberries , strangely sold as a fruit tree....
I got them last year, planted after a few weeks into pots, then into the ground in April
They had loads of fruit on them at the end of June, and new canes from them, they were fine, I will be getting more this year as I am short of summer fruiting raspberries, I hate waiting a year for the fruit so plant autumn fruiting ones mainly

[Jay-ell]

Oooh summer fruiting raspberry. I think the one that they had last week (and still in my local store) were autumn fruit so I may have to buy a couple of these.


I wonder what my councils view is on guerilla gardening with fruit trees?

[starloc]

I wonder what my councils view is on guerilla gardening with fruit trees?

Knowing councils they would probably.......
Pay someone 10 thousand pound per plant to make good your damage.....
Then chop every tree down is a 4 mile circle , blame you for contaminating the area.....
Sell land cheap as contaminated to one of there own family members companies.....
Who would build houses on the area that had trees and take you to court for a life sentence for terrorism in a secret court hearing you didnt know about.... and impound your house as criminal gains.....
It would all be your fault......

[Jay-ell]

All that for a little triangle of weeds and dead grass - I think I'll give it a miss then. I'll have to look for somewhere else to put all the trees or even just not buy them (shudder)

[Jay-ell]

Just been going through the flowering groups for the apples and it seems that they are compatible pollinators for each other HOWEVER it looks like Bramley and Jonagold are triploid and require two different varieties to be pollinated. Im not having any of that malarkey on my plot, it is behind a church after all. Some of them are also able to fertilise themselves (have these apples no shame) but do better with others.


Jonagold, Bramley & James Grieve (partley self fertile) are group 3
Gala (partley self fertile) and Braeburn (self fertile) group 4

[Noosner]

Thanks for this v interesting thread. I don't think I can fit any more trees onto my lottie, unfortunately. A co allotmenteer told me the other day that I have broken the regulations big-stye already But it is too late now I did do a bit of guerilla gardening last year Jay-ell, and planted an Aldi Jonagold on the deserted plot next to mine. It has done well and I keep looking at it with longing and scheming about digging it up and moving it to my plot!

Norfolkgrey, I went on a tree grafting course this last Saturday morning. It was brilliant. And FREE. I am sure you are doing it right, but they (a local nursery near Bradford) offered a few interesting tips. For example, they showed us this very handy stretchy clear tape (they called it 'buddy' tape) for wrapping round the grafting area. And they advised us to paint the whole thing with PVA glue, diluted 50/50 with water, to keep the moisture in.

[Guest]

And they advised us to paint the whole thing with PVA glue, diluted 50/50 with water, to keep the moisture in.

Oo-er thats a new one. Thanks for that Noos. Even better to hear you got to do the course and it was FREE.

The apple trees are dwarf Noos, you could have lots of cordons or trained trees. Side of the shed perhaps?

As for the allotmenteer are they stirring?

[Jay-ell]

Being two year old apple trees would they be too old to train into candelabras, espalier etc. I suppose that the rootstock isn't vigorous enough for that.

[Guest]

Being two year old apple trees would they be too old to train into candelabras, espalier etc. I suppose that the rootstock isn't vigorous enough for that.

M9 Very Dwarfing It will grow under average soil conditions but needs good soil to thrive, It is popular for dwarf bushes, pyramids, cordons and small espaliers. (taken from The fruit expert book)

2 year old. Partly trained. You will have to continue training to produce a satisfactory framework (taken from The fruit expert book)

Yes sorry for the quotes, but I am only now taking more interest in trees so am learning.
I know a couple of examples where older trees have been reworked and trained so don't see 2 years as being an issue. Just remember winter prune to encourage growth summer prune to restrict growth.

[Kristen]

summer fruiting raspberry .... I may have to buy a couple of these.

My recommendation is you get enough plants so that you can harvest "a meal" - I reckon that's around 10 canes otherwise you'll just have a pick-snack whilst in the plot, which is nice but not the same, for me, as sharing good tasting fresh produce with family and friends

it looks like Bramley and Jonagold are triploid and require two different varieties to be pollinated.

Not quite right (if I have understood your interpretation of the process, apologies if you already know this).

It is said that Triploid requires two different pollinators in order that if you have T=Triploid and other varieties A and B then EITHER A or B can pollinate T, but it needs A & B to pollinate each other, as T won't be providing any useful pollen. Hence three varieties requried.

However, if you just have T and A it might be that A is self fertile (albeit better with a different pollinator) or A is of a pollination group one-different to T and that itself is the same [or one-different even] as some other pollinator you have on site / nearby

[Jay-ell]

Thanks Kirsten,

I didn't know that. I was wondering how the "needs two other compatible varieties to pollinate" bit worked.

So if you got the two triploids you would still need one self fertile or two others which aren't self fertile in compatible pollination groups to get fruit on all trees (assuming that there are no other apple trees in compatible pollination groups near by). I've heard thay crab apples are self fertile and able to pollinate all groups so if there's a crab apple in the vicinity you'll be able to have any tree pollinated, is this correct? The apple gets more complex by the minute - no wonder it was the first beauty contests prize.

What about the pears, plums and cherries? Do they also have the need for pollination partners an are the pollination groups in bands similar to apples?

Thanks

Jason

[goosander]

Have bought various fruit trees from Aldi over the years and all doing well. Best to get plants as soon as they arrive as they are were we are not well looked after.
Bob

[Kristen]

I've heard thay crab apples are self fertile and able to pollinate all groups so if there's a crab apple in the vicinity you'll be able to have any tree pollinated, is this correct?

Yes, crab apple is fine as a pollinator. It produces lots of pollen, and flowers over a long-ish period, which makes it a reliable pollinator.

Crab Apples are often planted in commercial orchards to assist pollination - one reason not to plant a pip from an Apple hoping for a free, amazing-tasting!!, apple tree - chances are it was crossed with a Crab apple

What about the pears, plums and cherries? Do they also have the need for pollination partners an are the pollination groups in bands similar to apples?

Pears, plums and cherries have the same issue. Plums(for example) are mostly self-fertile, but have better pollination if varieties are mixed. They are also mostly flowering group 3, and all? the rest are either 2 or 4, so mixing them is much more likely to be successful. So for the unwitting gardener they will "just work".

Very few Pears are Triploid, so again unlikely that an unwitting gardener would stumble over that.

But if these things are not made clear on the packaging then sadly some buyers are going to plant something that they are going to lovingly grow for several years for it to be old enough to bear fruit, and then have poor harvests due to lack of proper pollination