Early Fruit in a Greenhouse

[biggreenfingers]

Even if they don't I wouldn't imagine it is all that difficult to pollinate by hand, although I'm hoping I won't need to dress up as a bee and make buzzing noises whilst I'm at it.

Now there is a picture I would love to see

[Two_Sheds]

How come aphids can get in but others can't?

- they're much smaller
- they crawl through tiny gaps
- the eggs are often overwintering inside the gh, and hatch when the weather warms up

[Two_Sheds]

if they flowered before there was much insect activity. ... I am hopeful that the insects will be getting out and about reasonably early this year.

Bees are in need of "corridors" ~ they'll go from flower to flower to flower. If your tree is the only one for miles around (like mine is) then you're less likely to get the bees.
Try to provide food for them all year round. In early spring the dandelion is a very important food source

[Two_Sheds]

I remain moderately hopeful that this year I will be able to eat some of my own apples in early September.

"If the basic greenhouse cultural requirements are met, drought or heat stresses are avoided, and pollination is made, apple trees might grow in an indoor environment with considerable effort.

Shane Smith, author of "Greenhouse Gardener's Companion" still thinks growing apples under glass is "nearly impossible."

Read more: Apple Trees in Greenhouses | Garden Guides Apple Trees in Greenhouses | Garden Guides

[dod]

Thanks 2Sheds, and whilst I now realise that "moderately hopeful" might be a little optimistic, I am planning on maintining this (unchacteristic) optimism.

The tree in question is a very small family tree that is in a largeish pot, and will most likely need to go outside later in the year to make space in the greenhouse. When it does go outside it will be able to go in a more favourable spot than it was lifted from, and can stop outside to ensure it gets enough cold in the earlier part of the winter. The three varieties should ensure that pollination is possible. It has been pretty rubbish where it was for the past 2 years, so I don't see that I have much to lose.

I have a separate tree of one of the same varieties (James Grieve) outside, so I shall know how much earlier I have managed to harvest (if at all).

[Two_Sheds]

Good luck with your experiment, do pop back and tell us how you got on

[dod]

Update

A brief update on how things are progressing:
I saw my first bee of the year in the garden last weekend, and since then there have been quiet a few more (although I expect that will change with the weather). There was even one in the greenhouse earlier in the week, but it didn't find any flowers because there weren't any.
The first strawberry flower appeared a few days ago, and several of the plants are almost ready to put theirs out.
Strawberries outside have a few new leaves, but are not showing much activity aside from that.
The apple tree put it's leaves out a few days ago, and looks like it will have flowers before long.
Buds are just starting to burst on the outdoor apples, but it might be a while before they have proper leaves.
A few greenfly have indeed already made an appearance in the greenhouse.

[redser]

How did it go Dod?

[dod]

update

So, it's time for an update,

I had both strawberries and apples both inside and outside, although it's perhaps worth noting that up here the nice warm conditions inside the greenhouse are probably a bit less nice and warm than outside in several parts of the country.

Strawberries did pretty well inside the greenhouse in hanging baskets, although I also had some planted in growbags they were spectacularly rubbish - I'm inclined to think it must be a growbag thing as I've never had much luck with them. I did have to hand pollinate them as it wasn't warm enough to warrant opening the door when they flowered, and besides there wasn't really any insect activity about then. It was no great hardship, just a little tickle with a soft paint brush whenever there was a suitable moment. I reckon that I had harvested all the indoor ones well before there were any outside. Another advantage of having them inside was that they were protected from most things that might have wanted to eat them when they were ready. I recovered virtually nothing from the ones outside, which I put down to the combination of desperate weather and hungry creatures outside.

Apples similarly seem to have done well inside, and I think they were flowering around Easter time, certainly a good while before there were any flowers on the outdoor ones. The crop isn't going to be huge - I heard somewhere that the fruit should be thined to about a handspan between each, and the tree managed this fine on it's own with some additonal thinning help from me. I haven't eaten any yet, but they look like they will be good to eat very soon. The tree in question was doing very poorly outside, never really put on any growth and produced very few fruits. This year (inside) it has put out more growth than ever before, and probably also has a heavier crop.

I'm sure that I wasn't the only one to experience very little fruit setting this year. I expect to harvest more fruit from the tiny tree in the greenhouse than from 3 apple trees and a plum tree outdoors this year. What is usually my best apple tree seems to have set only a single fruit this year, although I think I might get 3 plums (it's a far cry from the pounds of fruit I got from the plum last year). I'm putting this down to the weather around flowering time, although aside from a single week in May, the whole summer until August was very poor. I had planned to move the apple outside when I needed the space in the greenhouse, but it has only been in the last couple of weeks that the weather has looked OK to do so, so I've decided to wait until I've harvested the apples before I move it.

Overall I'm considering this wee experiment to be a spectacular success and I will definately be doing the same again in future, even if it is only as a back-up incase of more rubbish weather. Even watering wasn't really an issue, as I found that once a week was adequate for most things in the greenhouse for most of the summer. Even when the weather has been better watering every day hasn't been necessary.

Cheers,

Dod

[BUFFS]

once pollinated i would still put the apple outside,makes room for other crops,i will be changing my g/house soil in the next few weeks(done every 2 years) and will space out some garlic,then,in the spring, the tomatoes and melons can be planted in between, and peppers and chillies stood in those long trays on the benches,that makes life easier,water into the trays,soaked up,feed onto the plants compost(on a sunday or i forget) and since planting some garlic in there we dont seem to be troubled by aphids or whitefly or they cant take a scots summer?,we can tell when summer is at its height,the rain gets warmer...