Weak Apple Trees

10 years ago

My wife wanted a Winesap apple tree for pie making. I couldn't find a local nursery that had one, so I ordered it and a Jonathan from a mail order. The trees were about three feet tall with their tree balls wrapped in plastic. I'd seen much worse --- I had ordered a Winesap 40 years ago that came without me being able to decide which end went in the ground, and that grew to about 30' tall and wide and produce 100s of apples. Anyway ... these have been in the ground for three years and have grown to about 8' tall, but have never seemed robust (PS, the squirrels get the apples before we do.) In fact, if not for me bracing them with nylon straps, they will easily fall over in even a moderate wind. Is that typical?

Featured Answer

spartanapples

10 years ago

What rootstock are they on? Just wondering it that is part of the issue. Some need staking for the life of the tree. Others can be free-standing.

My sister-in-law ordered some apple trees mailorder. Of course most do not tell you what rootstock they are on. Her trees took forever to reach 5' and were tipping so badly I had to use some metal fence stakes to support them. Now they are actually kind of neat! Both are 5' tall x 6' wide and each produces a bushel or slightly more of apples a year.

My only complaint is that we spaced them 15' apart as we did not know they would stay so small.

One year I bought mail order for myself only to find a tag that said MM106 on the tree upon arrival. I shuddered as that rootstock is a big problem around here due to our heavy clay soils. The tree lived for 3 years, produced on crop and I lost it due to severe collar rot.

I learned my lesson. NEVER order apple trees without knowing what the rootstock is. Now I always ask if they do not list what it is. If they cannot or will not tell me, then I will not order from that source.

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Comments (7)

benfisher
10 years ago
I'd stop letting it fruit and prune it while dormant to promote vigor. Let the tree get larger and more sturdy by removing all the fruit.... Maybe two years? When you do let it fruit thin aggressively as to not stunt the tree growth. Cutting it back will stiffen it up. Even the top.
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onthebrinck
Original Author
10 years ago
Wow!!! I was not aware of any of this. But it explains a lot. I just noticed a week ago that there was a bulge about 4" above the soil line where the trunk goes from a narrow and skeletal 2" diameter out to about 4" knot and then back down to more normal looking 3" trunk. Would that be the grafting point of the root stock to the tree? Nonetheless, the tree foliage looks healthy, so I'll just reconcile myself to having it staked up indefinitely. PS: I could have easily just bought my wife a bushel of Winesaps from a nearby orchard .... but no ... she had such fond memories of the monster we had grown in our early marriage. Of course, she didn't have to clean the 100 or more apples that splattered as the fell onto the driveway.
spartanapples
10 years ago
onthebrinck:

Yes that lump in the stem at the base of the tree most likely is the graft union. I am a bit envious of your winesap. Winesap ripens so late that it does not always perform well in our shorter growing season in SE WI. A lot of very old orchards used to have that variety but no more. For us it may ripen well 3 years out of 5 so not economical to grow. I too love the taste of a good winesap and have fond memories of plucking them off the tree in early November. That flavor rates a perfect 10 on my scale. I just wish the local markets around here would carry winesap shipped in from more favorable growing regions as I sure miss it.

I would (should) plant one but I already have 22 fruit trees to care for (sigh). Too many things in life to try but not enough time. Enjoy the winesaps!
onthebrinck thanked spartanapples
onthebrinck
Original Author
8 years ago
Three long years of slow decline. The Jonathan turned half brown by June, and the squirrels ate every apple off the Winesap. I had made it easy for them, since I had to build a wood structure to rival the Eiffel Tower to support the tree. Today, my wife finally allowed me to remove them. Neither one had a tap root!!!
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
8 years ago
"Neither one had a tap root!!!"

Well, that is not too surprising :-) Very few trees develop a tap root beyond the seedling stage and many that do will lose the tap root as they mature. Apples and most other fruit trees do not have tap roots.

As to what problems these trees experienced that caused them to decline and fail, it is impossible to say. Here, semi-dwarf apples available at area nurseries are at least 2 y.o. grafts and already 5-6' tall. It is not recommended to allow them to fruit for at least the first two years so they can develop a proper, self-supporting root system. Mail order plants may well be much smaller and will take longer to establish properly so even more years necessary before they should be allowed to produce fruit.
TurkeyCreekTrees Zone 5B
8 years ago
Winesap tend to have more slender growth in general.