Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Apple Trees?

For a change of pace care to talk about fruit trees? This is one of the apple trees a few days back.

Nice. I planted a dozen pear, apple, peach and plum trees, mostly apple about seven years ago. They’re in west central KS. They bloom like crazy, but almost zero fruit. One year, a five gallon bucket of plums. But thats it. Very disappointed.

I had luck with tree fertilizer spikes. Seems to help.

This is my crab apple. About 2-3 weeks ago.

It’s useless, attracts bees and wasps.

Fertilizer? We have some corn fertilizer in a bucket, I've wondered about dressing that around the young trees?

I have 9 planted and one wild apple tree on my lake shore property. I have 2 empire, 2 mackintosh, and 5 honey crisp. We had many bushels of apples last year. Wabbi you are ahead of us here because my trees aren't flowered yet. I am right on the lake so that cold post winter water keeps us delayed in the spring but I am still cutting green grass and picking raspberries until November because the lake keeps us warm in the fall. In addition to the apple trees I have 2 pear, 2 sour cherry, one mulberry for the grandkids and one peach tree.

I just now went out and checked on mine. The blossoms are just barely beginning to open. I have red delicious, golden delicious, sweet 16's, red prarie spy's and cortlands.

Try planting a crab apple with those other apple trees for better pollination.

How long does it take for an Apple tree to reach enjoyable size? I’m considering planting some smaller ones in the front yard

I'd think about five years, and you should get some apples.

I need to look at the Nanking cherry hedge to see if they are in full bloom.

In the past three years we have planted about 25 apple, peach, plum and pear trees. Hoping to have some fruit next year.

Frost kills my peach blossoms
Squirrels eat my apple buds
blue jays peck my baby pears


FUGGITALL

Needs pruning to get some air and sunshine to the inner part of the tree.

i get apples but they don't look too good. knobby with chancres and kinda small. (ya, go ahead, make the joke). they taste good though. especially the old one out back. not sure what kind it is but it has delicious, knobby, chancre covered little apples every year.

Timely spraying keeps the worms out. Back in 1972 I bought some apple tree spray that was arsenate of lead, legal then, it worked.

Four mystery apple species and a (damm) pear fenced within the garden. One apple looks old-growth and struggling. Each fall is a race as to who gets the apples. Me, or the bears. Can’t eat’em all so no biggie.

I can not get a picture of the Charlie Brown apple tree. A lot of the tree died off, it's pruned, and in bloom.

Pruning is key. I do it every March as the snow melts. I had an empire blow over last year in a big wind event after 2 days of rain when it saturated the dirt. I hooked on it with my wheeler winch and staked it upright. Must have been 1000 apples on it but had to shake them all off to get the tree back. Looks OK this year though. Was worried the root had broken.

Apple trees need phosphate, nitrogen not so much. What work for me is those drive in fertilizer stakes for fruit trees that Menard;s and many others sell. Actually a little late to prune after dormancy breaks.

We have apple fly maggot so it's malathion every week from blossom set to harvest. Would tank mix a fungicide if I was worried about looks but most years it's too dry to be a problem.

You guys are way ahead of us, haven't even gone out to check buds yet.

Peaches and plums are usually self pollinating. Some pears are self pollinating, others are not. He has several apple trees. If none of them produce, I'd have to ask if there's a bee shortage problem.