Published on October 22, 2020
Adventures in Growing Apple Trees
Growing apple trees may seem easy, plant a tree, and watch it grow. It should be as easy as that, right? If you have the right climate and care for the the apple tree, you’ll be able to grow apple for years, even decades. Let’s discover seedlings, planting requirements, care tips, and habitats. Hopefully, you can grow apple trees that will thrive for years to come and provide you with delicious free apples.
Planting and Pruning Apple Trees
It’s planting day, you can start with a seedling, or you can start with a sapling. Starting with a seedling is tough yet rewarding work. You will need to make sure to protect these little growths from pesky critters. Give your seedling apple tree 3-4 years, then they’ll start passing the size of your pots and planters and grow to size. If you do choose to start with a larger tree, you’ll want to make sure you dig a big enough hole necessary to plant the tree. After planting, you’ll want to make sure to prune it to shape as well as cut off any unnecessary branches. This will help with shape as well as make sure you’re getting the precious energy to the apples to grow. A big hole will allow your apple tree to build a sturdy root system that provides plenty of space to grow, so plant the tree properly and cut it back as needed.
Where to Plant
Fertile soil is essential for the cultivation of apple trees. It’s a good idea to test the soil before planting because the trees may not survive. Apple trees will do their best when planted in well drained soil. You will want drained soil that does not get too wet, but you have to know what type of soil you have and how well suited it is for growing. Secondly, the cultivation of apple trees high on the ground protects the flowers from premature death and thus ensures a good apple harvest. Thirdly, an apple tree grown from seed is much more productive than a tree reproduced through grafting. Growing apple trees high up on the ground also protect the flowers from premature death and thus ensure the best apple harvest.
Apple Tree Pollinating
Pollination is an important, if not the most important part of growing successful apple trees. If you only have room for one apple tree you may have to buy apple pollen from a nursery and do it yourself. You will only need to do this if natural cross pollination is not possible. Keep in mind if you are buying pollen, you will want make sure the type of pollen is suitable to your type of tree. Make sure to select pollen that are compatible with your apple tree type for the best results. If you have more than one tree, I would suggest at least three, you should be fine and the trees will do what they need to do.
Determining when an Apple is Ripe
There is a little bit of wriggle room for when an apple is ripe. Fortunately they don’t immediately go bad, you will have time to harvest them. Getting them to ripen on the other hand is up to mother nature and making sure you have grown the right apple for your climate. An apple variety planted in Hattiesburg, MISS that needs 1,000 cold hours to break the dormant phase, will never grow. This is because this apple tree will not grow because it does not get enough coolness hours. Keep in mind, apple trees bloom in spring and take 100 to 200 days to be harvested. This will depend on the variety, and they will begin to grow their fruits in spring.
Bearing Fruit
Most apple growing guides will tell you that apple trees can take a long time to bear fruit. This is true. It is not uncommon for them to take up to five years to fruit. In addition, apple trees planted in the partial sun do not bear the same amount of fruit as apples planted in full sun. Keep that in mind when going through and deciding where to plant.
Why wait, plant a tree or start a seedling today! It’s a low effort activity at first if starting from a seedling, for the first couple of years. You can’t put a price on eating fresh, grown from your own backyard apples. I cannot stress enough that you will want to buy at least two trees if you decide to make this an endeavor, it will make your life easier. Whatever type of apple and however many trees you choose to plant, apple trees are beautiful and delicious!
