Apple Tree: Developing a Second Fruit Tree [Gardening]

Enjoy a plethora of picture photos of my younger apple tree. This one was started in March of 2018 with a scion graft onto a bare rootstock.

I grow my fruit trees in wood bark mulch (not wood chips, this is a bagged nursery made variety that is very clean and dry), mixed with lots of sand and some soft coconut coir. This blend lets the water drain very quickly. A bark soil has lots of hidden air space hold humidity to promote strong healthy roots.

The plastic screen with the rock on top is provided to prevent rodents from digging out the tree and soil. The plastic cup can be filled with vinegar to trap and deter caterpillars, flies, and aphids. Wire is used to secure the branches onto the bamboo stakes. Eventually the wires and stakes will be removed when the tree thickens up and maintains the trained shape with its own strength.

Historical Information

ID: 0038
Nickname: Unnamed
Type: Apple (Scion: Gravenstein Red, rootstock M9)
Age: 1.5 years
Grown: bareroot grafted
Last repotting: Never
Wired: August 2019

The branches of this tree are a clone of the Gravenstein apple. I've tried these apples before and they have a yummy old style cider taste. Good for eating, pies, and juicing. The flesh can have a variety of colors with blends of reds and greens, and the flavor inside the apple will change based on how long the apple is kept and ripened. It has a shorter shelf life for this reason.

Some apples, like this variety, I believe develop the cidery flavor because the juices are actually fermenting as the flesh over-ripens with sugars and eventually rots. The natural yeasts in the air feed on the sugars, and eventually a sour alcohol forms. It's funny to watch the squirrels during cider season, because they become clumsy after they gorge on the fallen fruit. Watch out for squirrel apple jam on the roadways.

So far the tree has two branches. The top branch was bent over because I did not want it to continue to grow several feet higher. Now that the two branches are bent sideways, I am hoping this will disrupt the apical dominance enough to allow for new branches to grow lower on the trunk, such as on the upper arch. This area should be receiving a lot of sunlight in the winter, which I think will stimulate the sap inside the wood on sunny days.

The grafts has healed. I can still see the wood divisions quite clearly. In a few years, this will hopefully blend together more evenly when the wood thickens.

The cement block I grow the tree on prevents the roots from sinking into the earth below the pot.

Oddly, it is also promoting the growth of an enormous tree root growing in the soil beneath. The large sumac tree nearby has surface roots spreading across the front yard. If I chop that root out, it might cause suckers to appear all over the yard, and spread invasive roots even further.

I'll probably just stick some bark or rocks under the cement block so my apple tree pot isn't leaning so badly. I prefer to grow the two apple tree in these locations where they almost seem decorate in front of the house. In truth, this is the best place for them to get a good mix of both full sun and partial shade in every 24 hour cycle.

Sometimes I find these leafhoppers having a party on my apple tree leaves.

Any time I reach out or touch the leaves, they hop! Gone!

At the end of July I caught these photos below. Right after I pinched the excess length from the branches, new buds appeared very close to the break marks. I knew it was a safe time of the year to pinch because the tree was starting to form new leaves at the branch tips very quickly.

Pinching doesn't always promote backbudding, but it helps. Apple trees have the a super strong tendency to only grow buds from the highest branches because the hormonal response to promote apical dominance is so strong. Apple trees are genetically programmed to grow tall branches as quickly as possible to replace last year's branches, because they might be bent over and breaking down from the weight of the previous year's fruit.

Generally, I do not worry if I see speckles and spots on leaves. These leaves are already three months old. Even the crinkly, curled leaf isn't causing any problems, so long as a bug isn't building a nest underneath. As long as the leaves are fully green and strong looking, I can patiently wait for it to grow at it's own pace. When I find new buds like this emerging months later, I know I made the right decision to leave the tree alone.

The new buds and wood has a white fuzz, almost like the pussywillow. Keep the branches clean, because it can attract dust, pests, mildew, and mold. Lots of sunlight also helps keep the branches healthy and dry so it does not rot.

Here was the tree at the end of July, prior to training the top branch into the bent shape.

With the low branch already trained to grow towards one of the staked sides, I can choose either of the the other two stakes to train the top branch to grow towards. Eventually, I'm hoping to get a third branch to train to grow towards the third stake, and then the tree will have better balance on a windy day, able to resist falling over.

When apples form some day, all three branches will receive plenty of sunlight, and have plenty of space for the apples when the weight bears down on the branches.

#gardenjournal2019 #apple-tree #fruit #learning #fruit-tree