Mcintosh Apple, no flowers...

[buckvelvet]

This tree is at my parents, I started pruning and training hard last year. This tree is 5th or 6th leaf and is about 8 feet tall right now. It has no flowers whatsoever, this can't be normal. I haven't done anything to it except a bit of fert and lime this spring. It hasn't flowered yet its entire life.

How do I help it along for next year in this department? It otherwise seems pretty healthy and has pepped up since I trimmed it.

 

[aerospacefarmer]

Chainsaw should fix the problem lol. Just kidding. I have a few trees that didn't have flowers for years maybe 5 and this year they are filled with fruit blossoms so I would say give it a bit more time before the chainsaw pruning

 

[chummer]

I have two I planted the year I moved in so this is their 5th leaf. They were the $20 Home Depot specials. They are planted next to each other and this is the first year one has blossoms, but the other still does not. The one that does did not ease into it, it is loaded.

 

[Maya]

Looks like there are some training needs and it got a bad start. What rootstock? What's the ph? (lots of moss in the background) And take a pic from farther back so we can see the whole tree.

 

[buckvelvet]

Will get better pics tonight and figure out the rootstock as well from the retailer/nursery today.

Those aren't apples in the back ground, I think those are hawthorn....

 

[buckvelvet]

We have very sandy well drained soil, aint no loam here boys. We have a PH of 5-5.5. Lime constantly but nutting you can do with out a ton of $ invested.

 

[buckvelvet]

The tree is on emla 111 rootstock. I'll get full broad pictures today of the tree.

 

[buckvelvet]

Here are the full view of the tree pis, as I said I was training it hard last year so I had to tie some of the branches down. My apologies for it taking a bit to pieces all the info together for you guys.

This is a close up of the trees that are flowering in the back ground, I think they are just a wild cherry.

 

[buckvelvet]

IME trees on mm111 like to put on quite a bit of wood for a number of years...especially if they don't receive full day sun and get fertilized annually. I had a number on my old place that didn't start bearing until they were 7-9 years old.

Thanks sure appreciate the info. Should work out well than as the granny smith I grafted right next to it is waking up so they should cross pollinate each other in 2-3 years.

 

[Turkey Creek]

Tree looks younger than what you first mentioned or the soil is definitely lacking nutrients. If it s on M111 I wouldnt expect blossoms on that tree yet.

 

[buckvelvet]

Tree looks younger than what you first mentioned or the soil is definitely lacking nutrients. If it s on M111 I wouldnt expect blossoms on that tree yet.

It has been in the ground 5 years, last year was the first year I started learning anything and my dad has zero green thumb. This year was its first year of lime/fert application. I groomed this tree in August last year and re-trimmed some again in March.

 

[buckvelvet]

Heck yeah its 300 yds from my place, stupid sandy....

 

[buckvelvet]

We have chickens so I could throw some of that around the tree.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

If your trees are that close to your house, I'd throw your lawn clippings and leaves around your fruit trees as well. Make sure you have window screen around your trunks and you can dump the leaves and grass clippings right inside the tree cage. The leaves and grass clippings will smother the weeds and slowly break down to build up your soil. Make sure you don't have any tree fabric or plastic between the leaves and the soil since you want them to make direct soil contact. Rotten hay and wood chips are also good natural mulches that slowly break down and improve your soil. I add a few cups of 10-10-10 fertilizer on the leaves every year and also some lime to help them break down.

I also throw deer bones in my tree cages since I've read that they are a great natural slow release fertilizer.

 

[buckvelvet]

Funny you guys should mention grass clippings, none of us have crap for grass growing because nothing grass like grows that well in our 'dirt'.

 

[wiscwhip]

If your trees are that close to your house, I'd throw your lawn clippings and leaves around your fruit trees as well. Make sure you have window screen around your trunks and you can dump the leaves and grass clippings right inside the tree cage. The leaves and grass clippings will smother the weeds and slowly break down to build up your soil. Make sure you don't have any tree fabric or plastic between the leaves and the soil since you want them to make direct soil contact. Rotten hay and wood chips are also good natural mulches that slowly break down and improve your soil. I add a few cups of 10-10-10 fertilizer on the leaves every year and also some lime to help them break down.

I also throw deer bones in my tree cages since I've read that they are a great natural slow release fertilizer.

The N in the fertilizer will help speed up the breakdown of the clippings/leaves, just be sure not to add such a large amount that is detrimental to soil microbes. The deer bones will eventually breakdown to act like bonemeal, which is a very good fertilizer in it's own right, albeit expensive to apply to large areas like plots.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

That must be some pretty sandy soil if your grass doesn't grow well this time of year. Our soil is fairly sandy (around 1.5% OM), but I can get some pretty decent lawn growth in the spring. When I fertilize my food plots, I make a loop through my yard and spread fertilizer in an easy to access area of my yard so I can grow more grass clippings to use as mulch for my apple trees. I don't really care too much what my lawn looks like, but I do want it to produce as much apple tree mulch as possible.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

The N in the fertilizer will help speed up the breakdown of the clippings/leaves, just be sure not to add such a large amount that is detrimental to soil microbes. The deer bones will eventually breakdown to act like bonemeal, which is a very good fertilizer in it's own right, albeit expensive to apply to large areas like plots.

I've found that a mixture of green grass clippings and leaves seems to work about best. If I go with straight leaves, they need a little nitrogen and/or lime to break down. I also rake up any sticks and branches that fall down in my yard and throw them on the outside of my tree cages. They break down slowly, but they seem to make a good long term mulch. Eventually some random weeds start growing through the decaying mulch, but that's OK. The weeds will either die and break down or be smothered by the next round of mulch application and it starts over again. By randomly applying grass clippings, leaves, bones, campfire ashes, etc. in 2 years I've been able to build a solid 4-6" of black soil around my apple trees.

 

[wiscwhip]

Very true Ben, if you have a nice lush green lawn, you most likely wouldn't have to introduce any outside N at all, because the fresh grass clippings will have enough stored in them to promote the process. The sticks and branches will add potassium back into the cycle as they break down, as will the bones and ashes.

 

[Maya]

Other than the soil issue, you should stake it and cut that big branch to the right out. That leader was trying to fork which stunts growth of the main leader. It's to poor a crotch angle to keep and try and train. These two steps will get you a stronger tree next year.