My apple tree arrived broken in half!

[FloorCandy]

I really hope it works.

I’m not really expecting success, I guess I’m not quite ready to give up tho.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I would also recommend leaving a review on a site such as Dave’s garden so others don’t buy from them. The way they shipped it is absolutely ridiculous.

x2, I don't buy from any online garden retailer without checking there first.

 

[FloorCandy]

x2, I don't buy from any online garden retailer without checking there first.

I found that site afterward, but it’s fantastic. A family friend, like honorary mother in law, recommended a place she had bought from. She had a booklet, and I ordered roses. I was so sure they would die.

First off, they came bare roots, I bent them into fitting in a large sized cinderblock and filled it with potting soil (I’m no expert and they looked dead anyway so I was lazy). 2 days later I find my dog running around the yard with one. He had chewed it and removed the thorns, he broke all branches, crunching on them. They were bare dry sticks to begin with, no leaves. I replanted it, and hoped for the best. They were flowering by august, not a lot but they had like 2 roses each and had started up the trellis. This year they’re continuing up the trellis nicely. I was so happy, I decided to order from them again when I got the booklet.

Turns out it was a different place altogether. I just got on a mailing list. I never would have spent $50 on a tree online if I didn’t think it was the place I ordered from. I should have checked first. I started to worry when I got like 10 more booklets from different places. They all look pretty much the same. I checked my email and verified. Hahaha so dumb right?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Turns out it was a different place altogether. I just got on a mailing list. I never would have spent $50 on a tree online if I didn’t think it was the place I ordered from. I should have checked first. I started to worry when I got like 10 more booklets from different places. They all look pretty much the same. I checked my email and verified. Hahaha so dumb right?

Not at all - they prey on people not realizing that 1 company is dba under different names, to sucker you in. I almost placed an order out of a catalogue for some plants, because the photos looked so appealing and it seemed like a good deal, then remembered I should check first, and found out the company had something like a 70% negative rating.

I hope you can salvage something out of your apple tree, doesn't hurt to try planting it and crossing your fingers.

 

[Sally PB]

@FloorCandy, I don't know of anyone who has one of those 5-in1 kinds of trees. They might be kind of a gimmick? I remember seeing them in catalogs long ago.

Here's how fruit trees are grown these days. They are grafted onto a vigorous root stock that might not be the same fruit. Dwarf fruit trees, especially, are done this way, to keep the tree small.

If you want an apple tree, I would advise buying one at a garden center, or even better, a nursery. You'll spend the same amount, or even more, but you'll have a better quality tree. One caveat: You have to be able to move it, as it will probably be potted. So you may need help to get it home.

One more thing about apples: They need another variety to help them pollinate. But even a crabapple will do.

 

[Rangergord]

Floorcandy, when it comes to fruit trees if anything can go wrong it often does. I have a backyard orchard and nursery and lots of experience grafting multi cultivar trees. It is quite possible for you to salvage your tree and get it to produce mor than one type of apple. Plant the tree. If the one remaining graft lives great but if not let the rootstock sprout new branches. When those branches are pencil size you can use a very simple whip grafting technique to graft new branches from any good apple tree. This process takes a year or two but the potential rewards are great. It’s possible to turn that one broken tree into an entire orchard with the right care. Feel free to ask me any questions but don’t give up!

 

[Rangergord]

That’s looking great. I would put it in the ground, when you can. The larger and more vigorous the roots, the more quickly a grafted scion will grow and bear fruit. I grow apples in containers and the ground. Trees in the ground always do better even though the soil is dense clay.

 

[FloorCandy]

I swear since I took a photo earlier today, it has at least 3 new buds, I hope this means it is starting roots.

 

[Rangergord]

Oh that’s the top. Unfortunately the top is very unlikely to sprout roots. That’s why grafting is done instead. A dormant branch cut from a good apple tree is spliced onto a rootstock the bottom half of your tree. Hang on to that. Baby it until it sprouts new buds. Plant it in the ground when you can. The top is what we paid for, hope to see flowers and fruit on but in this case it’s as good as dead. The bottom is the future. Let it send up suckers from the roots and new buds from the trunk. Each sucker, each new branch is a potential place to graft the best apple scions to create a new multi variety tree or more ithan one tree if you wish. Planting a new fruit tree is like getting married. Half of all marriages end in divorce so I had to do it twice to be successful. Same with growing fruit trees. Bad things happen. Learning to graft is something anyone can do but until we try, we think that it will never work for us. Then to our amazement we graft our first branch and it grows. Grafting fruit trees puts you in the drivers seat and you can bring back trees from the dead!

 

[Justicedog]

I had gotten one of the dwarf 5 in 1 apple trees from Home Depot about 3 years ago. I planted it, the first year, I got one apple. The second year, I didn't get any, if I recall correctly. The third year, my husband chopped down a tree growing in a hedge near my apple tree and it landed on my tree, breaking a bunch of branches. I then "artificially inseminated" the flowers (touching all the flowers, from one to the other) and that year, I had a lot more apples. This year, I didn't get around to doing my artificial pollinating trick (and I was going to bring it back to the single apple tree in the back yard and try to get those flowers pollinated). It looks like I have the most developing apples on my 5 in 1 tree, I'm excited about the prospects.

I bought another 5 in 1 apple tree and put it next to the single apple tree, so hopefully next year I'll get apples on that one. That single apple tree has grown large, but doesn't fruit. It has a buddy apple tree that was planted at the same time, but it never really grew or thrived. I'm planning on seeing if I can dig it up and move it closer to the other tree.

Anyway, the point is that the 5 in 1 trees can work. You may want to shop from a nursery or a local store.

Hope yours recovers.