Dead apple tree planted this spring

11 years ago

Hi experts - looking for answers and advice. The pictures in this and the next post show a dead apple tree I planted this spring. It was a Spigold on G30, from Cummins Nursery. I planted 3 other apples from them at the same time. This tree grew only a few leaves on a few short branches, and looked quite stunted compared to the others. I had last looked at it about 2+ weeks ago and it looked green then, but I found it with brown dead leaves 3d ago. At planting, I put a small amount of compost in the hole to amend my otherwise heavy clay soil. I used no fertilizer on this tree, used no herbicides in my yard, covered the planting hole with mulch, protected it from deer and rabbits with a ring of fence. The lower bark shows no sign of rodent damage. This area of orchard is on a slope that does not get waterlogged soil. The other new trees, plus my 2 2y old apples and my 3 older apple trees all look fine (plus 2 nearby pears that have never shown fireblight).
2 questions:
What do you think killed this tree?
Should I approach the nursery about a refund?

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Comments (6)

eboone_gw
Original Author
11 years ago
picture # 2
User
11 years ago
What did the roots look like when you got it?
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fireballsocal
11 years ago
Definitely go for a replacement or refund. You went above and beyond to keep it safe and give it a good start, as the other trees attest to. I would choose another spot to plant something though, just in case it's your soil or location that is the problem.
benfisher
11 years ago
you could cut it off and the rootstock would sucker....then graft onto it in a year or two.? I planted a bunch, last fall and they all died. I kept one sucker and they got big enough in one year to graft onto in the spring .. what's a couple years in the apple world!
eboone_gw
Original Author
11 years ago
I thought the roots were just ok-I've seen better and worse bare root trees.
EDIT: Sorry, I checked and I have no pictures

I thought if I contacted the nursery and they wanted more info I might need to dig up the roots for a post-mortem exam and picture
And if it died from a root related problem, it won't sucker. I suppose I need to dig it up and look at them.

This post was edited by eboone on Thu, Sep 11, 14 at 8:01
curtis
11 years ago
Looks to me like the roots never established. In my opinion you can pronounce it "not your fault" and replace it with no further thought or worry.

I don't know how long you have to ask for a replacement from cummins, so would ask today. Send them the first photo, that is all they will want to see.