Apple tree question

[GaryE]

I figure aquarium people generally like to grow things, so I'll try this...
My area has lots of crab apple trees, and a tree out front has long appeared to be one of them. But this year, with the worst regional drought on record, the record number of crab apples across the road has kept the deer busy, and my solitary old tree has produced half a dozen large, pleasantly tart apples. I'm thinking a past owner planted this one, and it's not one of the common crab apple types that line up across the road. But it is also the first 'crop' in the 3 summers we've been here. The apples were small, and picked off by deer before.

So how can I encourage this tree? Is there anything besides pruning I should do?

 

[gwand]

If you want apples with wonderful color feed the tree live food like daphnia, BBS and blood worms.

 

[Archerfish]

We had one when I was a kid. The only thing I remember seeing was the clipping off of dead limbs and removing the suckers. I seriously doubt it was fertilized. Well, possibly it received nutrients from grass clippings that were piled up nearby. What a tree. When we were little we climbed in it and gorged!

 

[Innesfan]

Some years ago we bought 10 acres in apple orchard country upstate as a site for a second home. Never built it and sold the land. But while we had it, we learned a lot from a neighboring orchardist about maintaining the several dozen apple trees on our property. He explained that all apples and crab apples basically have an expiration date. While they can live on they do not produce in volume after a certain age. You can prolong fruiting somewhat by judicious pruning--the method for crab apples is the same as for apples-- but productivity is not likely to return to the tree's glory days. But if your crab apple is not at that age yet, pruning is your best bet.

 

[GaryE]

Hmm, very helpful advice there. I can only guess the age of the tree. It is small compared to the crab apples across the road, but it's also in a windswept location that's hardly ideal. I'll try some things. It may be spent, or it may be still only a few years old. It does tell me I can grow apples here. I might add to the one tree orchard, in a better location.

Don't tell the deer.

 

[Colin_T]

Apple trees require a cross pollinator to get maximum results. If you have crab apple trees nearby, then plant a few other varieties of apple trees (Granny Smith, golden delicious, Fuji, etc) and you will get decent crops.

Make sure there are plenty of bees to pollinate the trees otherwise you get small crops. If there aren't many bees around, perhaps invest in a bee hive with a colony of bees and keep them warm over winter.

Fertilise the trees during spring and summer and make sure they get watered regularly.