Any advice for caring for an apple tree? My grandpa owns an orchard but he won't give any advice.
do you want a healthy tree or do you want a lot of apples?
>>1991647
Apples.
>My grandpa owns an orchard but he won't give any advice
What a prick.
Sorry I don't have any advice for you... I remember having an apple tree in our front yard as a kid but I don't know what--if anything--my parents did in specific to take care of it. I think it was pretty self-sufficient if I remember correctly.
>>1991648
treat it like shit then.
>>1991654
not OP, I know you can speed up ripening by stressing the plant out but does that do anything for quality of the fruit?
>>1991673
the quality isn't going to drop if that's what you're thinking.
Not OP.
Guyana-fag here, what would I need to grow an apple tree in my country?
Would they seeds I get from apples we import work?
What soul do i need?
Would the intense heat of the tropics fug it up?
How long would it take to mature?
>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculture_in_Guyana
>>1991635
Hey Op, a little more info will get you better answers.
What variety is the tree?
How old is it?
Where are you located?
Where is the tree located?
Has it been pruned before?
Do you have insect damage to the fruit or tree?
Does the tree produce apples every year?
>>1991647
>do you want a healthy tree or do you want a lot of apples?
There is no reason to decide for one or the other; healthy trees produce lots of apples. Producing lots of apples does not harm the tree.
>>1991711
>Guyana-fag here, what would I need to grow an apple tree in my country?
What is the garden zone for where you live?
>Would they seeds I get from apples we import work?
They would sprout and grow into trees, but the fruit quality is a complete gamble. You would most likely get small bitter apples.
>What soul do i need?
What soil do you have? Clay, loam, sand?
>Would the intense heat of the tropics fug it up?
Probably. Apple trees need a certain amount of cold weather to produce apples.
>How long would it take to mature?
From a seed- about 10-15 years.
Dwarf grafted apple trees can produce in 2-5 years.
>>1991718
>What is the garden zone for where you live?
Have no idea what that is(just a wanderer from /lit/ browsing who saw this thread)
I live in Demerara Georgetown is that help.
>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgetown,_Guyana#Geography
>They would sprout and grow into trees, but the fruit quality is a complete gamble. You would most likely get small bitter apples.
I can make cider from that? or Apple juice?
>What soil do you have? Clay, loam, sand?
Maybe loamy-clay?( i know loam is a mixture of clay and sand)
>Probably. Apple trees need a certain amount of cold weather to produce apples.
Well they gonna have to get it in night/early morning hours.
>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgetown,_Guyana#Climate
Its a lot hotter than this nowadays, A LOT HOTTER!
>From a seed- about 10-15 years.
Fug. Don't want to spend 15 years to find out it's a male(what we call trees that can't bear/sterile).
>Dwarf grafted apple trees can produce in 2-5 years.
Sounds gud.
I'm sure somebody probably tried to do this before me. I heard up in the highway(hilly region of Guyana), somebody has strawberries and grapes growing. Can you imagine strawberries and grapes, that you guys produce in Klapistan growing in my climate?
>>1991744
I seriously want an answer euth/an/ize
>>1991715
>healthy trees produce lots of apples
false, a healthy tree produces a stable amount of apples every year, but it isn't going to be a lot.
>Producing lots of apples does not harm the tree.
having fruit is the most stressfull thing there is for a tree.
it's also caused by stress, no stress means no fruit.
>>1992316
Remember the talk you had with an anon about only knowing Scandinavian plants?
This is outside your rely of knowledge. So take your pickled 12 year old brain elsewhere and shit up someone else's thread.
Op producing apples is not overly stressful to the tree. There are apple trees that exist today that are hundreds of years old (not graphs of the tree, the actual tree). It's not uncommon for an apple tree to reach a hundred years old.
>>1992424
no, that talk never happened, I'm familiar with most winter hardy plants and their relatives, which includes Rosales.
but then again, your reading comprehension is lower than that of my dog with cataract.
>producing apples is not overly stressful to the tree
fruiting is the most stressful thing that can happen to a tree.
>It's not uncommon for an apple tree to reach a hundred years old.
it is.
your average domestic apple tree lives about 15 to 35 years.
>>1992436
also since you seem to have the idea 100 years is old for a tree let me just remind you that it's the LOWEST ageclass for trees.
most fruit trees have a lifespan that's not even 50% of the average lowest ageclass, that's how inbred they are.
>>1992439
You think fruit trees are inbred!?!?
You're dumber than I thought.
>>1992442
you think they aren't?
you're dumber than I thought.
OP, some general tips for taking care of apple trees: keep the canopy open and airy with pruning to minimize pests and diseases, specifically rusts and mildews which tend to plague species in the Rosaceae family. And on that note, never prune in the fall, as that is when most fungi are reproducing (producing spores), and the chances of your pruning cuts becoming infected increases (especially bad for serious diseases like fireblight.) If you have the chance to plant the tree, plant it somewhere it will recieve full sun and good air flow, with well-drained sandy soils. Contrary to other information posted in this thread, yes apple trees may produce heavier crops of fruit biennially, and that is completely normal and healthy. Let me know if you have any specific questions!
>>1992443
Please explain to me how you think Apples, pears and stone fruit get 'inbred'.
>inbred
who the fuck breeds apples? haven't they been all clones for like a hundred years?
>>1991711
>What should do I need?
The soul of Johnny Appleseed should suffice
>>1992911
Yes, people are still breeding new apple varieties.
>>1993032
also most commercial grafts are bad, and most grafts don't actually work.
some fruit trees don't even make it to 15.
>>1991744
Bumping with my unanswered answers.
>>1993857
Sorry Op. I abandoned thread when you-know-who showed up.
Ignore his posts, they are uninformed and just plain wrong.
First you need to find out what your garden zone is (google it).
Then google basic apple tree care. That will give you info on chilling hours (which need to be consecutive, not a few hours of cold each night).
>I can make cider from that?
Yes, but the apples will probably be small.
>or Apple juice?
No. You need sweet apples for drinking juice.
>Don't want to spend 15 years to find out it's a male(what we call trees that can't bear/sterile).
Apple trees are male and female. The blossoms are self pollinating, but they will accept pollen from other apple trees.
>>1991744
Most strawberry and grape species are extremely prolific and tolerant of a variety of soil conditions, (except very wet) so this doesn't surprise me! Not very familiar with your climatic conditions but from what I read in the Wiki you posted, because of the high humidity, you may experience higher incidences of disease, especially mildews, on both the apple tree and any grape species you want to plant. Be on the lookout for early signs of downy or powdery mildews which are easily treated with spraying and are not extremely harmful to plants but will eventually defoliate them and reduce fruit set. Also, if you live adjacent to a natural area, please be careful about the species you choose to plant, as all of these plant seeds can be dispersed by animals and may reproduce (though this depends on the cultivar, so do some research!) Also, even if you just get wild apples from your seed, you can always make jams! And any fruit jams taste good with enough sugar! :)
>>1992436
Producing fruit is not stressful, just energy intensive, and trees usually have the necessary energy in reserve, unless they have experienced actual stressors.
An example of stress on a tree would be, say, vegetative shoots produced in response to heavy browse or pruning in an effort to produce leaves and photosynthesize. These shoots often are weak, herbaceous and with poor attachment points, but grow anyways as a stress response, especially if the tree cannot become dormant, to maintain energy production (i.e. photosynthesis) and transpiration.
I like that you clearly like plants, bugguy, but I dislike the misinformation you post.
>>1993871
Bitter apples do not make good jam (or juice, or jelly, or apple sauce). Ice actually tried. There is a wild (or from seed) apple tree not far from my house. It is near the location of an old orchard, but not where the trees were located. This wild Apple puts off small yellow-green apples every year. The apples are inedible. I have tried feeding and watering the tree, thinning the fruit, pruning, giving the tree supplements- nothing has helped improve the fruit. Even the deer won't eat them.
But you may get lucky. This year I discovered another wild Apple that sprouted up from under its parent tree. The parent is a Dolgo crab, the seedling puts out medium sized green fruit with russeting. The fruit are dry and mealy, but I have only had one apple off of it. I plan on taking some grafts of it next spring. The fruit may be better if the tree is babied and has more sun.
But that's starting with an ok Apple.
You can't turn a bitter apple into a sweet one.
>>1993885
I don't personally make any preserves, so I only have information from literature and talking to others, so I find your post interesting because people make jam from currants and hawthorns which are generally bitter, so I wonder why bitter apples don't work as preserves with enough sugar added? And I wonder what kind of apple you have that even deer won't eat them, because I've seen them browse on Malus pumila (Common Apple), Malus domestica (and various varieties) and tons of crab apple varieties...
>>1993910
>I don't personally make any preserves
I do. I make jam, jelly, preserves, marmalade, conserves, chutneys, and pie filling. I sell it locally for a nice profit. I have a premium line made with local, wild foraged fruit.
>people make jam from currants and hawthorns which are generally bitter
currants (which grow wild here) a a different kind of bitter. I do make jelly with those. Bitter apples are mouth puckering bitter. It's intolerable.
Hawthorn berries (or thorn apples) aren't bitter when they are ripe. But they have little flesh and less juice, so I don't gather them anymore; just not worth my time.
Rowan berries are incredibly bitter, is that what you are thinking of?
>I wonder why bitter apples don't work as preserves with enough sugar added?
they just don't. Add a ton of sugar and you just get sweet, bitter apples.
>I wonder what kind of apple you have that even deer won't eat them
I think this particular Apple is just too bitter. Mule deer, elk, moose, pronghorn; they all ignore the fruit.
>>1993859
>they are uninformed and just plain wrong.
email any orchard if you'd like.
they'll probably ignore your mail though.
you have zero understanding of botany.
>>1993915
No, I do mean hawthorn berries, as when I've eaten them while out conducting field work, they haven't tasted very sweet at all. Maybe cultivated varieties and properly cared for ones taste differently? I suspect many wild species have different (less pleasant) tastes too. Ugh, I've never tried Rowan berries if you're referring to Sorbus spp., but that's good to know so I don't try them in the future. Birds seem to love them though!
How did you get into making all these fruit products? It sounds really rewarding! Plant identification and cultivation isn't an issue for me, but the preparation process seems intense!
>>1993930
You probably ate them when they were underripe. Ripe thorn apples taste kind of like a cross between rose hips and apple butter. I don't know of any cultivars, I only eat the wild ones.
I started making jam and such in part because of my love for fruit trees. I volunteered at an antique apple orchard for two seasons, and worked there for one. As you can imagine, I had a lot of apples sitting around my kitchen. I am also very interested in edible landscaping, so my yard was slowly overtaken with fruit bearing plants of all kinds. I had a few dwarf trees in large pots too (Apple, plum, cherry). So I needed something to do with the fruit. I was already interested in canning, so it was a natural progression.
>>1991635
Whatever you do, keep them the fuck away from pine trees.
Look up apple rot.
Bump for Guyana anon
>>1993959
be careful, some "Thorn apples" are deadly.
>>1994529
Hawthorn berries are not toxic. There are no plants where I live that could be confused with hawthorn.
>>1994163
I thought it was cedar trees.
>>1991635
Fellow man with an apple tree here.
Do you enjoy the fruits that come from the tree?
You don't need to do a whole bunch of much. The tree was there before me, will probably be there after me. If you care about it, or want some more fruit from the tree, then feed your tree, hose it off every now and then. Give some fruit unto the birds, and keep some for yourself. If your tree gets a mold try to fix it, and if it gets something like termites or something destructive then take the time to get rid of the infestation.
Don't mind the ants, and don't mind the bees. Wait a little bit before taking the fruit from the tree. Give it a good shake, don't pick directly from the stem. Any apples that fall, let them stay. Scav's, birds will eat the fallen fruit, convert it over to compost that will help feed your tree.
Want more apples though? I'd recommend trying to plant another tree about 20 feet away. Get your apples from both, and wait a couple of years for cross pollination to happen. Ain't nescessarily an instant thing. Its about paitence son.
Remember, if you get a low yield from a harvest, be thankful for the free fruit, instead of lamenting how little you have.
Treat a tree good, it'll treat you good essentially.
It's perfectly fine to pick apples directly off the tree. It does no damage to the fruiting spurs, as long as you aren't violently ripping unripe apples off of the tree.
>>1993959
Thanks for the reply, working at an orchard sounds lovely!
I likely did eat them while still slightly unripe, they were very much like rose hips, and it was still early in the summer for hawthorn berries.
There are hundreds upon hundreds of cultivated hawthorn varieties, most though have been cultivated as ornamental plants for the horticultural industry.
Also, if you don't already cultivate serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.) and they are tolerant of your climate, I highly reccomend their berries, especially as they tend to be low maintenance and tolerant of a variety of growing conditions.
>>1994612
Service berries are EVERYWHERE here. They make up the bulk of my foraging in the summer.
I am currently renting a home ehile I save up for a small ranch. I know that there are several cultivated varieties, a good source for them is Raintree Orchard out of Washington state.
>>1994567
most conifers are shit to keep around fruit trees.
>>1994567
Sort of... Cedar-apple rust is a fungus which requires a Juniperus species (also called red cedar) to complete its life cyle.
>>1994623
You're very lucky! Around here serviceberries are more occasional while foraging... though when I worked in a nursey, I loved eating the berries from all the rows of huge wirebasket serviceberry shrubs (if I got there before the birds did!)
>>1994821
There are so many service berry bushes that much of the fruit doesn't get eaten. It just mummifies on the branch and fall off in the spring.
Guyana bump
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXBA3ovBjfk
>>1995729
Your post has nothing to do with our discussion.
Also, don't respond to buggtroll.
I like trees.
That is all.
>>1995729
the average sums down to what I already said.
>>1996878
fuck you get out I hate you jesus fuck
>>1996881
DO NOT RESPOND TO BUGGTROLL POSTS
REPORT ALL BUGGTROLL POSTS
>>1994593
>>1994568
The trick is not to pull, grab the fruit with the back of your hand facing towards you, then gently but firmly twist it until your palm is facing you. (or if the fruit is large enough, the bare surface of the apple is facing you, while the back of your hand is facing the tree)
This should make the ripe apple come right off.
>>1997032
Twisting the Apple can damage the fruiting spur. Older, larger spurs tend to be more brittle.
>>1997036
My god, my grandparents have been lying to me for my entire life.
>>1997039
My grandmother swore up and die that hens wouldn't lay without a rooster. You can't believe everything you here from old people.
*up and down
