Poorly Apple

[Green bean]

Braeburn apple container grown for two years first fruit last year, transplanted to garden late Feb all fine. After flowering this year and fruit had set the leaves began to curl and brown I put it down to one of the following and treated accordingly:

Lack of Water - it looked exactly like this! Watered and fed lots of tlc.
Insect attack - found an odd caterpillar so removed and sprayed
Wind rock - tightened up as strap had become a bit loose

Set fruit still on the tree but going dry and crispy and leaves now getting crispy! New leaves on new shoots appear OK. Wood all OK and looking healthy. We have had terrible winds since just before Easter, any ideas? It just looks as though it hasn't been watered for weeks. My cooker is really healthy but no fruit!

[FB.]

Can you do a picture?

It is possible that your Braeburn has powdery mildew, to which it is quite prone.
Warm dry weather (but with high air humidity) makes mildew worse, as does erratic watering.
You don't mentione where you live or soil type (put your location in your profile ), but my area is particularly prone to mildew, so I only grow varieties with high levels of natural resistance.

Another possible problem is that there is impariment of sapflow between roots and shoots.
This could be due to some kind of canker or root/crown rot.

It is also possible that the Braeburns roots simply aren't strong enough. This is especially so for apples bought as "patio" types. Do you know which rootstock?

Insect attack is unlikely to cause the damage you mention.

You sound unhappy with your "cooker", but a young tree should be growing and not fruiting until the age of 3-4 years. Fruit draws energy away from the formation of a strong root and branch system. Without a strong root system, the tree will never thrive unless you keep it on constant "liquid feed" life support.
Without a strong branch system, you will find that your tree becomes very droopy and breaks branches when older.

If your other apple is growing much too strongly, you can prune the new growth quite hard in July (leaving 2-4 new buds), which will dwarf the tree and redirect energy to fruit production for the next couple of years.

[Green bean]

Thank you FB

Sorry fairly new to this food growing, onto veg this year as well.
Pictures below, information invaluable thank you so much. I will definitely try the pruning on both trees as they have long thin branches. Purchased as mini orchard I just wasn't sure where to plant them so sited in tubs for a couple of years.

Bramley fruited last year but in new site this year, but no fruit will be handy for the big prune.

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/568/s1050335.jpg
http://img802.imageshack.us/img802/2937/s1050333.jpg
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/1985/s1050334e.jpg

[FB.]

Neither Bramley or Braeburn are ideal for "organic" growing in the UK.
They are popular because that's what everyone buys in the shops and people feel comfortable with what they know. Unfortunately, shop-bought varieties are usually troublesome for one reason or another.

Looking at your tree, I think that the tree is dead.
I notice in the first picture that the bark appears wrinkled (shrivelled).

That suggests a problem with either:
Lack of water (we've had a severe drought in my area this year).
Roots too weak to power the tree (a common problem with dwarf rootstocks).
Roots or lower trunk killed by a canker (is there a large sunken/discoloured area on the lower trunk with flaky/papery bark?).

It is also possible that the Braeburn had an overwhelming mildew infection (to which it is prone) that has now killed all the shoots and the tree. Did you notice a white, powdery coating on the leaves a few weeks before the leaves dried and died?

I notice that your dead tree shows a typical feature of long, straggly branches.
This suggests to me that it grew well at the nursery, but the roots lack power to cause secondary branching of further growth since you've had it. The growth shape of your dead tree is common with dwarf rootstocks.
Ideally, those long branches should have been shortened by two-thirds during winter, to encourage secondary branching and a better "bushy" tree shape. However, lack of pruning is nothing to do with why the tree died.

..........

Onto the Bramley....
Bramley is very vigorous, so more likely to tolerate difficult growing conditions. It is also very slow to start fruiting and generally dislikes being grown in a restricted form. Bramley is at its best when grown on a very vigorous rootstock (e.g. MM111, M25), as a full-size "heavy standard" tree, with grass all around to calm vigour and improve cropping.

You haven't mentioned your location, but it might help, since different parts of the UK have very different climates and soils.
In any case, I think that you'll be better off without the Braeburn because it is not particularly disease resistant (probably why yours died) and it needs a very long and warm summer to ripen properly in the UK.

I can highly recommend the old rare apple varieties, which , in addition to a better range of flavours, seem to tolerate neglect, poor soils and diseases a lot better than the modern varieties which are bred for looks ("shelf appeal") and a full spray routine.
The really old varieties had no chemicals to protect them, hundreds of years ago. Natural selection weeded out those without much tolerance of problems. Nowadays, commercial spraying routines perpetuate weak and sickly varieties that stand little hope of survival when left to fend for themselves.

[FB.]

One more thing.....

Given the Braeburn's fate, I would not prune the Bramley until winter.
It may look vigorous (due to the strength of the Bramley bit) but if you cut it hard now, that energy will not get transferred to the weak rootstock and the tree may never recover from the shock.
Wait until all the leaves have fallen before pruning some time between November-February. Ideally, don't prune when freezing weather is imminent as it can kill the uppermost buds below the pruning cuts. If in doubt, wait until February.
Winter pruning will probably mean no fruit next year, but it is far better to prune and train the tree in its early years, which saves much more difficult corrective pruning of poorly-shaped and over-vigorous trees in later years.
The sacrifice of a small amount of fruit now will be worth the superior tree shape in later years.
Young trees usually produce small fruit of poor quality, much of which drops or is damaged by pests.
Only later, once the tree is strong enough to crop heavily, will there be enough fruit for the pests to take their share and still leave plenty for you.

Winter prune only, until the tree is up to size and well branched. Only after that, should you contemplate summer pruning.

[Green bean]

Thank you,

I will wait until Sept/Oct now when I will replace the poor Braeburn with an older variety. The pruning information will stop me killing my Bramley off as well.

I have found my profile and have completed the details, I live on the Devon/ Cornwall border and we too have had very dry conditions and constant winds. It rained well last night enough to completely fill the rain butts the first real rain since Easter.

[FB.]

Adam's Apple Trees is based in Devon.
I would recommend them. Quality is above-average and prices are very reasonable.
They may be able to advise on suitable varieties for your needs and should carry a stock of the older varieties that are well suited to your climate.
You may be close enough to collect in person.

> Link here <

[Green bean]

Thank you again FB

I have bookmarked the link they look ideal, I will certainly be ordering