Apple Trees

[wannab]

I bought an apple tree he other day to plant in the garden but my friend said she heard you need to have two apple tree as one won't grow on its own. Is this right?

[TimH]

I think it depends on the type, I have a type of Cooker Apple tree that bares a lot of fruit in my garden for the past 10 years and it's all alone :-(
Self fertile??
You're also alright if there are Apple trees in other gardens.

[burnie]

It gets worse than that,there are different times when the trees are in flower,so you need to get the right groups,or you'll get lovely trees and no fruit.As has been said,if you have neighbours with apple trees you may get away with.

[Mcbee]

Do you know what type of apple it is?

[FB.]

To summarise:
A few apple varieties can pollinate their own flowers.
Most apple trees need to receive pollen from a different variety. Most have "self-incompatibility" genes, which means that pollen from (say) a Golden Delicious is not very good for pollinating itself (it's flowers recognise and reject it's own pollen to prevent in-breeding) nor will Golden Delicious pollinate any other Golden Delicious tree. Likewise, Discovery can't pollinate itself, nor another Discovery....and so on.
There are also some apple varieties (called triploids) that don't produce fertile pollen (e.g. Bramley); they have flowers and can receive pollen from other apple trees, but can't pollinate any other apple trees.

With a self-fertile apple, it will produce fruit all by itself.
A self-sterile apple needs at least one pollination partner.
A triploid needs at least two pollination partners (to pollinate the triploid and each other), or one pollination partner will do, if the partner is self-fertile - I gave a friend of mine a Bramley (tripoid) and a Spartan (self-fertile). The self-fertile Spartan pollinates both itself and the Bramley and the Bramley doesn't contribute anything.
Pollination between different varieties is complicated by the fact that there are several flowering periods. An apple that flowers early (e.g. Egremont Russet - early May) will not pollinate one that flowers late (e.g. Crawley beauty - early June) because the two sets of flowers are not open at the same time.

In reality, most places have nearby apple trees that can act as pollination partners. Where I live, there are many crab apples (good pollinators) lining the grass verges.

[wannab]

Thanks for the replies.
It is a Granny Smith apple tree that I picked up in Aldi for about 5euro
Haven't a clue just thought it would b nice for the kids.

Also one silly question???
Are all the fruit from the trees and seed etc that Aldi and the garden centre do edible (if any of them produce fruit)

[BilboWaggins]

To summarise:
A few apple varieties can pollinate their own flowers.
Most apple trees need to receive pollen from a different variety.

Great information and perfect timing, thank you!

This week, Management has decided he wants to create a small orchard at the top of the garden. It is not an area which receives full sun all day but does receive direct sun in the morning and dappled in the afternoon. Would that be OK or do I need to persuade him to relocate the current Grand Plan?

Thanks

[FB.]

BilboWaggins

I seem to recall that "full sun" is defined as 6-8 hours of direct sun per day, so you may have enough sun to ripen the fruit.

In a partially shaded area, you have a few options:

1
Cooking apples. They are often OK in less than perfect conditions.

2
Scottish apples. They are tolerant of cooler, duller and shorter summers.

3
Earlier-ripening apples (Aug-Sept). They should still get enough sun to ripen - although they'll be a few weeks later than their normal season.

4
Less-vigorous rootstocks. Rootstock M9 is a commercial favourite because it is claimed to cause larger fruit, more coloured fruit and earlier fruit ripening than the same variety on other rootstocks. Unfortunately, M9 has roots that easily break under stress. Therefore, a bush/tree/cordon will need strong and permanet support. Growing M9 as an upright column (minarette) won't need extra support. M9 is also extremely susceptible to woolly apple aphid, although it may be too damp and cool for WAA to be a major problem up in Cumbria.

.

[Paulottie]

Woolly apple aphid?,,,just plant 4 trees on M9 at the lottie ...going to train on double wires...the guy from one of the houses there reminded me that the deer often wander through...now they really can do some damage.

[FB.]

Yes, Woolly aphid.
It looks like "mould" growing on the branches, but what you're seeing is white "wool" that the aphids hide under, for protection. The aphids underneath are greyish-blue, but leave a red stain when squashed.
They are a major problem in the warmer and drier areas of the UK - such as the Southeast.
They attack roots and stems (but not leaves). They especially like to hide under the bark at the site of old pruning cuts. Due to both the woolly coating and the underground colonisation, it can be very hard to treat with sprays and therefore nearly impossible to eradicate.
Stem damage causes large swellings that sometimes split and allow canker spores to enter, which can then compromise the trees health. Root damage causes swellings and stunting of the root system, severley reducing vigour.
I have a Grenadier apple on M9 rootstock that is purely kept as a decoy - to attract the WAA away from my other apples.......and it seems to work.
The Grenadier is highly resistant to canker, so the WAA attacks, although still causing unsightly knobbliness of the branches, don't generally result in canker attacks getting established in the split bark. Any cankers that manage to establish are usually small and easily removed.

Your best defence is to squash them as soon as seen and search out any others. It'll at least keep their numbers reduced until the trees have established.
The WAA will initially colonise pruning wounds - so look carefully at old pruning sites. Later, they will spread all over the branches in numerous "mould-like" colonies. Finally, they will move underground and attack the roots.

[Paulottie]

Thanks for the heads-up...have only really encountered woolly aphid on vines and ornamentals inside before; My Dad has a persistent problem in his conservatory We have scrubbed them off with meths and toothbrush before but there are many places to hide under the flaky bark....little blighters.

I wasn't aware that this might cause a canker prob on apple trees...I will be vigilant!

Wasn't a tar wash used before? or was that for something else?...probably been banned years ago anyway.