My First Fruit!

[CrazyEd]

Most of you know i've gone bonkers planting apple trees the past few years. This is my 5th year of growing apples of any sorts.

I am happy to report I officially have my first fruit. I won't know what I have for fruit at the farm until next weekend - if anything. But this 3rd leaf Zestar! on G.30 in my backyard orchard at home is looking good.

 

[CrazyEd]

The girth of the rootstock on this tree is pushing 2.5" and i'd say the tree itself is about 1.5". It's about 10' tall.

My question I guess is how much fruit should I let this tree put out. I know G30 is known as a workhorse. I'd say this thing has about 12-24 fruit on it. I plan to completely defruit the leader. I water the tree weekly and I spray it with bonide every 10-14 days or as needed.

 

[Turkey Creek]

Nice Ed! Looking forward to the day when I can post pictures of my producing trees.

 

[huntall]

Nice! Thats a great feeling!

 

[Lot2Learn]

Congrats!

Are you de-fruiting the leader to ensure that it doesn't bend under the weight of the fruit? How high up is the tree supported?

 

[CrazyEd]

Congrats!

Are you de-fruiting the leader to ensure that it doesn't bend under the weight of the fruit? How high up is the tree supported?

Yes, that was my goal. I have an 8' steel tpost 12" in the ground. So if the tree is 10-12' tall I have a fair amount above the t-post that isnt supported. I'm not exactly sure how tall the tree is but it's doing well.

 

[CrazyEd]

Here's a few pics of the tree.

May 25, 2012

July 22, 2013

May 10, 2014

 

[CrazyEd]

Congrats Ed. That's awesome. Kind of a good feeling isn't it?

It will feel good when it tastes good :)

 

[Lot2Learn]

Great looking tree!

I have no experience on this, but I've always thought that for trees on roots like this that require staking, I would nestle a 10', half-or-three-quarter inch conduit into the groove on the t-post and attach with zip ties. That would give you 10' above ground to stabilize with aglok.

That may be overkill, but hey, you're crazy! <grin>

 

[CrazyEd]

You are right, G.30 do require permanent staking hence my tpost. You are also correct that I could add a piece of conduit to the tpost. However even with that, I dont really look at conduit as a sufficient stake to hold any fruit load. We'll see maybe i'll put the conduit back up to at least help to continue to keep my leader straight. I do need to get my ladder out anyways and remove competing leaders from the top and adjust my clothespins.

I have debated pulling my tiny cage off. But I might give it another year or two. We have a few deer in my suburban neighborhood.

 

[tooln]

Lookin good, I have some apple and pear tree's that I put in 3 years ago, I'm still waiting.

 

[greyphase]

Looking good. From your recommendation Zestar! is on my list of trees to finish out my trellis next spring.

 

[Maya]

Nice Ed. At what you said the size of the tree is you should have no problem putting 20-30 apples on it, however you should still thin it. Return bloom is great w/ them though.

G30 as many of the Geneva rootstocks are being shown to be brittle at the graft union. Make sure it is staked good and don't over crop. Most growers have that do have them, have them on a one wire trellis and conduit. Many growers around here are leery of Geneva do to the breaks during wind storms at the graft union. Most are sticking w/ M26 or going up to 7's. I've got a couple hundred trees on G11 and 41, I hope I don't kick myself in the a$$. The disease characteristics are very good though.

 

[CrazyEd]

Nice Ed. At what you said the size of the tree is you should have no problem putting 20-30 apples on it, however you should still thin it. Return bloom is great w/ them though.

G30 as many of the Geneva rootstocks are being shown to be brittle at the graft union. Make sure it is staked good and don't over crop. Most growers have that do have them, have them on a one wire trellis and conduit. Many growers around here are leery of Geneva do to the breaks during wind storms at the graft union. Most are sticking w/ M26 or going up to 7's. I've got a couple hundred trees on G11 and 41, I hope I don't kick myself in the a$$. The disease characteristics are very good though.

Thanks for the replies everyone!

Thanks for the tip on thinning Maya. Since this tree is small enough I assume I can just hand thin. Do you have any tips or pointers on what or how I should do it?

It seems like most of the areas where I have fruit I have clusters. Like 2 or 3 fruit like pictured. Do I need to thin those down to 1 fruit?

I think I read on the other forum, it was a post by you or deerfieldapples that said shoot for 1 fruit every 5" or something?

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Great job Ed! Keep us updated w/ pix as the growing season progresses. I still have a few years to go b-4 I can hope for fruit. Anticipation! For now I can only fertilize, water, spray & wait. Good luck with all of yours.

 

[Maya]

Grow your thumb nails! Pinch of all but the best looking one in a cluster and yes, try to also thin to one every 6" or so at the least. You can also use hand pruners. If you are not spraying and you have some PC damage or other insect damage, look for that and take them out. Also be mindful of the size of the branches. If you think a branch is a little small take out more apples, likewise with the tree itself.