Sand drains very well so it inhibits root rots. Otherwise, sand has very few available plant nutrients.

On another matter, do you see apple trees growing in Jamaica? Apples are not inclined to thrive in a tropical climate and would be very unlikely to produce fruit (no chill hours). And I hope you are aware that apples grown from seed will be NOT be the same as the ones the seed was taken from. Might not be worth eating even if they did produce fruit.

Thank you for the response.

Yes, I'm one of the few persons, if any, on the island growing apple trees. (I have the most overall)

But you do know a that apples are currently grown in warm climates? for e.g Wambugu apple variety from Kenya, Dorsett Golden from the Bahamas & King David from Israel, just to name a few. Apple Varieties that do well in Hot Climates.

It's 2022, I think most persons know that Apples Grown for seeds will not produce true to fruit, but the Apples you enjoy in the West today were originally grown from seeds (from regular folks like johnny apple seed) then cloned through grafting. Plus, seedling rootstocks are some of the best to used when grafting e.g Antonovka apple seeds (a popular seedling rootstock) are one of the rare apple varieties that grow true to seed. Gone are the days when we could depend on institutions for food security

Apples ARE now being grown in warm sites. Some group is growing them in africa and the carribbean (hope I spelled that right). They are only having luck with select cultivars and they must induce dormancy artificially by turning off irrigation and manually defoliating the apple trees. I recall reading that Haralson (bred by U of Minnesota) has actually been found to do well in this research. I forgot who led the work in Africa but it was interesting to hear about. It was odd that they found certain cold hardy far north varieties actually worked better than some that are for low chill areas like Ein Shemer.

Thank you for the info on those varieties and the link, @Maluseedgrowers !

That is really good to know, I didn't think they would produce fruit in my z11 Mediterranean climate but maybe I will try one of those next year.

Do you have to defoliate your trees to simulate dormancy like @spartanapples mentions? Which variety have you had the most success with so far?

Unlike places nearer the equator, Malta does have distinct winters which, while still relatively warm, are much cooler than summers, so I would have thought there would be apples you could grow. There must be some varieties grown around the Med which you could try. Israeli varieties might suit. It seems that apples have naturalised in Malta. https://www.maltawildplants.com/ROSA/Malus_domestica.php Apparently you also have an indigenous pear, Bambinella.