Apple trees in pots

[southlondongardener]

I have 2 M27 (Ashmead's kernel and Pixie).
I planted them in March no fruit yet.

They did not look that healthy so I put them in a bigger pot.

Anyway has anyone ever done this ? Any advice ?

[bluemoon]

I've been growing these trees for a few years now. The crops aren't huge and they seem to have a greater tendency to fruit in alternate years. Because they are so small it's also easy to give them a 'light prune' which, in effect, can remove all, or most, of the coming year's fruiting spurs. So be very careful with the pruning and remember that they'll need watering every day during hot dry spells. I also give them an occasional drink of weak comfrey tea in summer, but I tend to think of them more as large bonsais than as small fruit trees and just do the bare minimum needed to keep them alive, as too much sappy green growth or root growth can lead to rots and fungal infections.

If your trees didn't fruit last year then they probably will this, there won't be masses of apples, but what there is will be delicious.

[Jenny Halliday]

Hi this is my first post and I'm trying to grow fruits and veg in pots as I have a very small garden. My apple tree is in the ground, had it for 8 years and it's semi dwarf stock. We get loads of blossom and fruit but only ever had about 4 apples gone full time they all drop off by july/august. I am using a fruit/veg feeder and water regularly. What am I doing wrong?????

[Sinta]

On another note on apple trees, do you need to have two trees for fruit? Someone mentioned this to me in passing and I wasn't sure if it was true or not. I was looking at some cheap apple trees in Wilkos and am quite tempted!

[bluemoon]

Yes, you do need two trees to produce fruit and they need to be of two different varieties (unless you've got a Bramley then you need 3) Often though there are neighbours who have trees of their own which will pollinate yours. You also need to buy 2 trees of the same or similar pollination group, this means that they produce blossom at the same time starting with group 1 (or sometimes called group a) which is early and ending with group 5 (group e) which is late. A group 2 and 3 will probably be OK together, for example, as their flowering times will overlap, but a 1 and a 5 will miss each other. These flowering times though often have little to do with the time of year that the tree actually produces ripe fruit which is dependent upon variety. Does that make sense?

PS, the flowering group information is usually to be found on the plant's label.

[Sinta]

Hi bluemoon, thanks for your reply. And yes that actually makes perfect sense! Unfortunately I don't think any of my neighbours have apple trees (new development area). I think I will have to plan this carefully, because I don't have much space. Thanks again for your help!

[southlondongardener]

Sinta,

Do you know what a ballerina tree is ? They take up very little space.

[Sinta]

Sinta,

Do you know what a ballerina tree is ? They take up very little space.

I have never heard of them before. Are they like the columnar trees? I even googled "ballerina tree" and it brought up some interesting pics of a tree that looked like a woman dancing, but I doubt that's what you meant

[bluemoon]

Hi this is my first post and I'm trying to grow fruits and veg in pots as I have a very small garden. My apple tree is in the ground, had it for 8 years and it's semi dwarf stock. We get loads of blossom and fruit but only ever had about 4 apples gone full time they all drop off by july/august. I am using a fruit/veg feeder and water regularly. What am I doing wrong?????

I'd try thinning the fruits until there are just one or two per spur. Fruit trees naturally drop some of their fruit in late June/early July, but you still need to remove more. This is awful the first time you do it as it feels as if you are throwing away the best part of your crop, but it means the tree can put its reserves into growing and ripening what's left.

Ballerina trees are available from Ken Muir - I don't know the web address, but you could probably Google it. Yes, they are the ones which produce fruiting spurs from a single, central stem. (trunk?)

[Sinta]

Thanks bluemoon! I found the site (.: Ken Muir :.) and yes, those minarette trees are quite impressive. I'm quite interested in them, especially because it seems they don't need much space at all!

...they can be planted as close as 60-90cm (2-3ft) apart as well as being ideal for growing in tubs on patios or balconies. When mature, Minarettes are 1.8-2.4m (6-8ft) tall and crop prolifically.

I might wait a few months and put some money aside for two lovely minarette apple trees

[southlondongardener]

You should plant the tree in either autumn or spring if I remember correctly.

You could plant a cordon from blackmoor (similar to Ken Muir but 2 year not one year so could be better)
Cordon Fruit Trees Mail Order


Large Plant Variety Uk, Plant Store Online Uk, Plant Nursery Uk, new breed apples, rare apple breed

But one thing now all apple trees can fertilise all apple trees what do you have ?

[Sinta]

You could plant a cordon from blackmoor (similar to Ken Muir but 2 year not one year so could be better)
Cordon Fruit Trees Mail Order

They are cheaper as well. I'll add this website to my list and check it out when I go shopping. If I miss this spring planting I might try for autumn I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to put everything I want in my garden. At the moment I have no fruit tree at all.

[southlondongardener]

Ideally try the following a) to have apples which will be ripe at different times b) will pollinate each other.

I am not expert and have had only one apple yet (I do have trees planted but less than a year ago).

They say you will get better results from native apples eg cox, fiesta etc than foreign ones eg Granny Smith, Golden delicious.

[Snadger]

If you only want a few apples it sometimes pays to go for varieties that are self fertile. I have a lovely self fertile Cox derivative called Sunset which I bought as a bare rooted maiden last spring for £3.99 and it gave me twelve apples last September, growing in an 18" pot!

[southlondongardener]

Where did you get it from ?