Apple tree doesnt lose its leaves

[kevs-chickadees]

I've got a Golden Dorsette apple tree that every year when it should be dropping it's leaves and go dormant it doesn't? Anyone know what might be going on? All the other trees that should drop their leaves currently in my back yard have done so except this one. I'm curious because last year we kept thinking it would eventually do so and when spring came there was very little new growth and even fewer blossoms. The year before that we "helped" it drop it's leaves and had a lot of new growth and a few blossoms. I'm just trying to get more blossoms on the tree and hope for some apples eventually. The tree has been in the backyard for 4 years now and only requires 150 chill hours. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

how close is it to street lights or very bright lights of any kind? i read something about how trees growing near bright lights year round tend to go into a later dormancy than those grown in more natural lighting conditions.

also, could the tree be getting too much or too few chill hours?

 

[kevs-chickadees]

It's in the backyard with all the other trees and not any where near any lights( no more than any of the other trees) it is the closest to my chicken coop though but I don't think it is enough to change the temperature that much. I guess I need to go out with a thermometer tonight and check. It's getting plenty of chill hours, I'm guessing between 300 and 400 because thats what my pear tree required and it had pears growing last season. I didn't know a tree could have to many chill hours?

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

well, as much as i don't like to pull from wikipedia, this does help to explain some of the concept of chill hours and possible problems. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilling_requirement
though i think i like this guy's description better. http://www.davewilson.com/homegrown/gardencompass/gc14_jan_07.html
Rain Tree Nursery has a map that looks very useful http://www.raintreenursery.com/chill_hours.html

i usually like to do a lot of research on fruit trees before i get them for my area. it's sort of difficult when certain things you want to grow just won't because we get too cold for them to survive the winter. i've seen a lot of tree suppliers that are shady and say a certain variety will grow in my zone 4-5 area, but more reliable ones say it just won't grow well enough to thrive.

 

[thistlebloom]

Fruit trees need to be hardened off for the winter. So, make sure you only prune in early spring, later cuts will encourage new growth.
Don't fertilize young trees, this will make it hard for them to achieve dormancy.

The one thing they all need in the fall is a good deep watering so they don't go into winter dry. I guess if you live where your ground doesn't freeze this will be less of an issue for you.

Do you have a tree to cross pollinate with? Zestar and Anna are good pollinators for golden Dorsette. Without cross pollination you won't get anything.

I noticed one of my young apple trees didn't drop its leaves this fall until well into December.

I have the same situation with the leaves not dropping in the fall with a flowering dogwood, but they eventually drop by spring and it seems fine.

 

[kevs-chickadees]

Thanks for the replies. If I'm understanding right the excess of cold or chill hours will only hurt the tree if it has already gone dormant and then came out of it. This makes sense and I've heard a few times of people loosing their whole crop because of this. My tree doesn't seem to be ever getting to the dormant stage. In fact the top branches of the tree seem to be thriving while the leaves on the bottom have been "helped off". Maybe I should figure out how to upload a picture? I had a Anna tree planted next to it (10 feet away ) twice but it hasn't made it. Once I was a sucker and got the home depot one and this last time I actually got a bare root from a nursery. I think this next time I will go to a different nursery and purchase an older tree. Still out of curiosity I'm going to put a thermometer out tonight in the branches.

 

[thistlebloom]

So you have made sure it's planted at the correct depth and you haven't fertilized it? Especially in the summer?

What zone are you in Kev?

 

[kevs-chickadees]

I think it's planted at the right depth, it was a container plant when I got it and I just made the top of the container soil even with the yard soil. The tree gets chicken poo from whatever free ranging chicken happens to decide to go there but other then that I haven't done anything to it in the summer. Actually the only time I have fertilized it was last spring and just a few days ago I put a bag of manure around it. (local nursery guy said to). I don't remember the zone, thinking 7 but I'm a novice at alot of this. I'm basically Phx but my backyard gets a little cooler.

 

[thistlebloom]

I wouldn't worry a lot about it not dropping it's leaves in the fall. You're in a warm climate, and the tree will lose the old ones when the new ones start pushing them out in the spring.

Don't trust a container tree ( or even ball and burlap ) to be planted at the correct depth. Some are, most aren't. You should be able to see the root flare where it goes into the soil. If you hold your hand out in front of you, and imagine your fingers as the roots, where your wrist ends and your palm widens out is what would be the root flare. If your tree looks like a telephone pole coming straight up out of the ground then it's planted too low.

 

[vfem]

We've had a very warm winter last year here in zone 7b (around 8a). This year, we're lacking cold... and 1 of our apples have been going nuts. It also didn't drop leaves, had some blooms on it, now I have tiny apples & yellow leaves that won't drop. The requirements for chill hours for ours was like 150 as well. It's done me no good. 4 years and only puney apples.

We are growing Lodi apples and Johnathon. Do you know what kind yours are? Honestly, here in NC... its rare to grow anything other then granny smith when not living in the mountain area. I now see why!