apple blossoms- none yet

[boilerhouse47]

Hi folks, I have a red delicious dwarf apple tree that I planted 2 1/2 years ago.
I have not had a blossom on this tree yet. I have used some tree fertilizer spikes and it looks good and healthy. Nice green leaves and plenty of new growth. I did a seach and some say apple trees need to be 3-4 years old and others say 5-6 years old to produce fruit.
How do you tell how old the tree is without cutting it down and counting the growth rings? Right now at the base it is about 1 1/4 inches in diameter and about 8 feet tall. It also gets plenty of sun.
I know that this tree needs a pollinator and I have 3 other types of apple trees near by, but this should not affect the fact that there are no blossoms.

Thanks for any and all replys.
Carl

 

[BonsaiJedi]

Although it is true that apple will not flower until a certain age, age can be sort of ambiguous in fruit trees as they are grafted onto root stock. Root stock can be 1-2 years old while the flowering portion can be decades + old.

A tree in the ground 2 1/2 years that hasn't flowered yet is not uncommon at all. I used to work at a nursery that sold lots of apple trees. In the container they would flower every year but once they were planted it could take several years to flower again. It goes to energy allocation: the tree in the pot didn't have to spend any energy growing roots thus could make flowers. Once a tree is planted it starts to (hopefully!) focus its energy towards root establishment. For this reason, I would generally advise against fertilizing too much as that can direct the tree's energy towards vegetative (shoot) production at the expense of flower production. Lack of nutrients is likely not the cause of lack of flowers on a new tree like this.

It may be a year or two until it begins to flower. Until then, keep'er watered, mulched, and happy and bumper crops of apples will soon be yours!

 

[booboo]

Bonsai,

I posted a similar question a while back about the same situation with a flowering crabapple. Curious what your (or anyone else's) thoughts are. I did nursery work a long time ago and don't remember a whole lot from it...

I planted the tree 3 years ago now. First year it was loaded with flowers and fruit. 2nd year, not a single flower. The nursery I bought it from suggested a high P fertilizer in the fall, so I hit it (lightly) with 0-46-0. This year, exactly 1 flower. It is in a sheltered location, in OK (but not great) soil, and well mulched. It's put on plenty of top growth with no dieback at all. I haven't fertilized it yet this year, was going to do it very soon. It is about 2 1/2" cal. at this point and I have no idea what the rootstock is. It gets about 50% sun and the nearest apple/crabapple trees are about 500' away.

Any thoughts?

Thanks...

 

[boilerhouse47]

Brandon, thanks for the quick reply. I'm glad to know it wasn't anything I was doing wromg. Is there any type of mulch that is better for apple trees or some type I should stay away from?

Carl

 

[BonsaiJedi]

Boo,
I'd give the same advice of patience. There's common knowledge amongst bonsaists that apples like to have "tight" roots thus when transplanting apples don't remove too much root or they won't flower well the following year. They flower best when slightly pot-bound. This is also why we see apples flower great at the nursery in their 5-gal pots only to not flower for several years once planted. Give'em time, water, and sunshine and tasty apples will soon be yours!
Of course, then you'll be finding what a pain it is to spray your trees if you want store-quality fruit but that a post for another time...

As far as the fert goes, true that flowers require P but on new planting (< 5 years in the ground) I would suspect the reason for non-flowers is related to the tree working on new roots and establishment rather than a lack of any nutrient. Putting down P will not be a negative but it may not speed up flowering in this case.

For mulch, any woodchip/bark chunk/shredded cypress would be great. I can't think of any organic mulch to stay away from with fruit trees.
Good luck!

 

[booboo]

Thanks. That makes sense. It was 5 gal. when I got it and was somewhat, but not badly, pot bound so I root pruned it when it got planted. I'll hit it lightly with the high P fertilizer again and see what happens in a year or 2.

Next round's on me!

 

[Gumnuts]

...................................opcorn:
Isnt something like Nitrogen for foliage
Potasium for flower
Could be other way round.
Will ask green thumbs next door.I definately know it applies with other
fruit trees .