Dan's #1 default: improper planting.

The planting hole full of non-native stuff and dug much, much too deeply leads me to believe bathtubbing and settling. If you can't find the graft and the root flare thereupon, it has settled and too deep & unhappy. As far as under-overwatering, impossible to tell with info provided, WAG is under-.

Dan

Look at the top piccie, ken. Then pour some single-malt and enjoy. ;o)~

Dan

Dan, I didn't set it at the bottom of the 3 foot hole. I mixed half good/half native and built it back up until the tree was sitting at what I thought was a good height before filling in the rest around the roots. The graft is about 2 inches above the mound of soil at the base of the tree.

Ken, I've dug my hand into the soil and it's never wet when I water it. It's never dusty dry, either. Its fairly loose, but will sort of clump if I squeeze a handful together (and that will easily break apart if you touch it).

Malaxi,

Next time you plant a tree or shrub, DON'T amend the backfill soil. Doing so is almost never a good idea, regardless of what type of soil you have, AND is often an impediment to proper drainage and a healthy root system.

When you water, water deeply (for long enough for the water to reach a decent soil depth). The soil at a couple of inches down, in the native soil surrounding your plant, in the backfill soil (since it's now different than the native soil), AND in the rootball, should remain moist (not soppy wet) in between waterings. Allow the surface to begin to dry out in between waterings.

Here is a link that might be useful: Planting a Tree or Shrub

My very first gut reaction is that this looks very much like fire blight. It turns out that Cripp's Pink is susceptible to this disease AND fireblight seems to be especially bad in many parts of the country this year.

It's hard to tell a lot from those pictures, but I don't see anything that looks especially fireblight-y to me.

I'm not too familiar with apples, but I didn't realize they grew well in zone 9 conditions.

Brandon, thanks for the info on planting. This is new to me, and I just couldn't imagine anything young taking root in the dense soil I had to hack through to dig the hole so amending it seemed to make sense at the time. I can see how it would create an artificial tub now. I guess time will tell if the tree fully takes.

I'll try to gauge the soil dampness better. With the sun around here, the surface dries out very quickly. It may well be that I'm not watering enough, though I'm not sure how to judge what's happening down at the bottom of the roots.

jqpublic, I'm zone 9 by zip code but San Jose can be in the 8s too. In any case, the apple trees in the neighborhood seem to do very well.

(and Ken - don't worry, I'm tickled pink that it set fruit so quickly. I just don't want to kill it!)

Thanks for the help, everyone.

Dan, I didn't set it at the bottom of the 3 foot hole. I mixed half good/half native and built it back up until the tree was sitting at what I thought was a good height

When the organic matter breaks down, your tree will settle into the hole. The deeper the hole and the more organic matter, the more settling.

And from the description seems like inadequate water.

Dan

In pic #1, ditto what rhizo 1 said: fireblight

I don't see fireblight. I've pruned lots of fireblight. I see drought stress, using info from text.

Dan

Fireblight is not all that common on the West Coast - it can occur but is quite infrequent. And I don't see any obvious signs of that issue either. I'd say watering issues are most likely the problem as well.

FWIW, California is a huge fruit growing state. Depending on location, you can find pretty much ANY possible fruiting tree imagined growing, including apples, peaches, cherries, pears, etc., as well as the more expected citrus, avocado, olive, etc.

@ Malaxi

I am also in San Jose and if I did not know better, i could have sworn these were pictures of my tree. I have the same exact issue for several years in a row. I still get fantastic apples every year but I feel like I am only getting 20% and the wilding takes away 80%. Mine is a pink lady on M7 and I believe pink lady is a derivative of Cripps. Did you ever get this sorted out? I would appreciate your feedback

sab ..... try the fruit forum ... for more in depth discussions of such

ken