Distance for pollination?

[Catscratch]

How close do apple trees need to be for pollination? We have a large old apple tree that produces very little if any on most yrs. Never really thought about it other than it wasn't a good producer, now I'm looking for reasons and the possibility of fixing it.

 

[Bluecollaroutdoors]

50 feet seems to be the common answer.

 

[Catscratch]

50 feet seems to be the common answer.

Lol. The closest apple that we have is 1/4 mile from it (and there are only 3 total on the place). Probably no other apples for at least 10 miles...

 

[Bluecollaroutdoors]

I just googled it. I know when I planted at my place I tried to stick to that rule.

 

[Catscratch]

Ok. I need recommendations. I don't know off hand exactly when this thing blooms so matching that perfectly won't happen right now. Otherwise, what do I need to plant to help this thing? What's your guys' favorite pollinators?

 

[Bluecollaroutdoors]

Crabapples are a really safe bet for most apple tree cross pollination.

 

[Catscratch]

I sent Turkey a message to stick ANOTHER tree into the order.
Also did a search and found that I basically made a repeat thread. Sorry about that and thanks for the help.

 

[Catscratch]

It blooms great every yr. Late frosts are common. It desperately needs pruned!
No pics...

 

[j-bird]

I agree with the others. I would plant some crab apples if you can to help with the pollen issue. Pruning and getting it some daylight if needed would probably help as well. Getting a few crab apples with the thought of themselves producing some fruit would be ideal, they can create you another opportunity and help with your current apples. I wouldn't think you would need to be within 50 feet, but obviously the closer the better. If you are only interested in pollinating the trees you have you could look into ornamental crabs as they have a longer flowering time to help cover the needs of your existing apples. You can also use the crabs to graft to at some point as well.

 

[chummer]

Does the tree bloom every year? Could be late frosts are hitting it or it needs some new growth from a good pruning. Post some photos of your tree.

Welcome back NH. We missed you around here. How did your moose hunt end up. Not sure I ever saw how it ended.

 

[yoderjac]

An inexpensive solution is to simply graft a few crabapple scions to your stand-alone tree. I was chatting with the Master Grafter in a grafting class I took last year. He said that there was a commercial orchard that was having an issue with pollination. He took a crew in and grafted a crabapple scion to each tree. He said it worked beautifully the next year or two. Then the orchard had a crew come in to prune and they pruned all the crab apple scions. They ended up back where they started and had to graft again.

 

[Catscratch]

Open up the area to the east of this tree so it gets the earliest morning sun possible. It may help warm things up so some of the frosted blossoms may be saved

Cool idea, but it's already clear to the east sun. There is a large tree to the south that shades it but since that tree is more valuable to us than the apple tree it isn't coming out.

 

[Catscratch]

An inexpensive solution is to simply graft a few crabapple scions to your stand-alone tree. I was chatting with the Master Grafter in a grafting class I took last year. He said that there was a commercial orchard that was having an issue with pollination. He took a crew in and grafted a crabapple scion to each tree. He said it worked beautifully the next year or two. Then the orchard had a crew come in to prune and they pruned all the crab apple scions. They ended up back where they started and had to graft again.

That's just funny!
I had actually thought of grafting a crab branch to it but would rather have another tree. I plan on doing that with my male and female Che trees once I get more of them. It's a recommended space saver with them since the males aren't suppose to produce much fruit.

 

[yoderjac]

That's just funny!
I had actually thought of grafting a crab branch to it but would rather have another tree. I plan on doing that with my male and female Che trees once I get more of them. It's a recommended space saver with them since the males aren't suppose to produce much fruit.

Consider doing both. I would expect the branch grafted to a mature tree would produce more flowers and pollen faster than a new tree.

 

[chummer]

Thanks Chummer. At home now recovering from knee surgery. The moose hunt went well if we were hunting bulls but, unfortunately, it was for cows only. We saw 7 moose including 3 monster bulls in close range but, never could get a cow in our sites. Saw a cow and calf 10 minutes after legal time one night. One unknown moose that was in an area so thick we watched it for 15 minutes and never could see its head. Put on 60 miles on the ground during the week in beautiful country so even though we did not score it was a successful hunt. Then two weeks later on my land my brother saw two cows.

Glad you enjoyed it. Seems strange there would be cow only tags.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Crabapples for pollination. Dolgo is a good choice, as are the ornamental crabs. Hyslop crab is sold by nurseries for pollination purposes, and also gets apples about 1 1/4" in dia. for critters.
NH Mountains - Glad to hear from you again too !! I haven't seen you comment lately and was wondering what happened. I hope your knee heals up well for you.
Sorry you guys didn't connect on a moose, but glad you enjoyed the hunt. A week in the North woods is medicine for me - tag filled or not !! Good luck with deer - bear - and whatever else you hunt this fall. ( hope the knee allows !! )

 

[Catscratch]

Turkey added a Hewes/Virginia crab to my order, which is a variety I had been wanting to try anyway.
I have a Dolgo at my place. Might try a graft or t-bud from it too.