BYC gardening thread!!

[BantamFan4Life]

I wish I could grow apples that produced apples.

We had a horrible apple season here this year. Don't know why.

 

[dan26552]

We had a horrible apple season here this year. Don't know why.

It happens

 

[BantamFan4Life]

It happens

Yeah :/ We had tons of apples last year, so that might be why.

 

[dan26552]

Yeah :/ We had tons of apples last year, so that might be why.

Probably

Fruit Thinning

There are several reasons to thin fruit:

• To reduce limb breakage
• Increase fruit size
• Improve fruit color and quality
• Stimulate floral initiation for next year’s crop

Home gardeners are able to effectively thin apple trees by hand. During May and June in most areas, many apple trees will start to drop or abort underripe fruit. This is a natural process that allows the tree to mature the remaining crop load. If not corrected through thinning, apple trees may bear biennially (fruits only every other year) or bear heavily one year, then bear a comparatively light crop the next year. Thinning may seem counterproductive in theory, but it really is a benefit to your apple harvest in the end.

Taken from http://www.starkbros.com/growing-guide/how-to-grow/fruit-trees/apple-trees/pruning

 

[1cock2hens]

I don't have a fertilizing problem (Got plenty of aged chicken manure) What I have is pollination and chill hours problems. Not the easiest thing to grow in zone 8a.

the seed savers exchange puts out a book called the fruit, berry, and nut inventory, it is a book that lists all the trees available from different nurseries across the country. they have 3037( yes three thousand) different apple trees I bet you could find something perfect for your area with a little research. most of the plant descriptions include the zone and frost hours

seed savers also does custom apple tree grafting , i thinks its super neat.

 

[Peep_Show]

Good to know.... and may explain why our Cortland apple produced not a single flower this year after last year's bonanza.

 

[1cock2hens]

Good to know.... and may explain why our Cortland apple produced not a single flower this year after last year's bonanza.

everybody knows to check the usda zones but people often forget to check the chill hours.. you can find a chill hours map on google with a quick search// most fruit trees have a minimum number of chill hours before they bud some just a hundred or so frost hours and some need several thousand frost hours.. you have to do your research and plan for your region or you might plant something that never gets all its requirements and never fruits

my book says cortland apple needs at least 800 chill hours and is good for zones 3-8

 

[Peep_Show]

Don't know how many chill hours we had in Albuquerque last year, but it was darn cold and snowy!

The tree is 25 years old or so. We're zone 7a. Bought the property in 2013, so don't know the tree's fruiting habit.

 

[Peep_Show]

Just went out to WunderMap. We were well over 1000 chill hours. Tree just was overtaxed the year before, I think.

 

[dan26552]

the seed savers exchange puts out a book called the fruit, berry, and nut inventory, it is a book that lists all the trees available from different nurseries across the country. they have 3037( yes three thousand) different apple trees I bet you could find something perfect for your area with a little research. most of the plant descriptions include the zone and frost hours

seed savers also does custom apple tree grafting , i thinks its super neat.

Oh nice! I do watch the chill hours on 95 percent of the plants I buy, and I have found several apples that "Should" do well in my zone but finding a place that sales them near me? Forget about it. And paying 100 dollars to ship dirt is out of the question.