Tree Sex

[Ridgerunner]

ChickiesMoma touched on it but Ill expand a bit. Apple trees are grafted onto a rootstock. Thats the only way you can get a true cultivar. Since they generally have to cross-pollinate to bear fruit, you cant grow them from seed and have any assurance on what you will get.

In addition to the problems of it just living as others have talked about, that graft should never touch the ground. If limbs come out below the graft, you need to prune them off because what grows from them is the rootstock, not the cultivar you want and that shoot may take over the tree and stunt your cultivar portion.

But if roots come out from above the graft, you lose all the benefits of the rootstock. The rootstock may control tree size (Dwarf, Semi-Dwarf, or regular) but it can also contribute to disease resistance or other things about how the tree grows.

You should plant a tree the same height it was growing, but in no case should that graft touch the ground. You dont want roots coming out above the graft.

 

[stano40]

Put a load of manure at the base of each tree and spread out to the drip line. Limestone would be in order here in Ma. They should be well trimmed. This should encourage bloom-next year. Too late for this year. Many trees need a different variety to pollinate-so bloom does not mean you will get apples.

I thought this would be a great time to show what my apple trees look like today so I took my new camera out and shot a couple of photos of them. Also I wanted to vindicate my son who planted them and told me just now that he did not plant them above the graft point of the tree. I guess when he told me he planted them deep it was just a ruse so he didn't have to move them for me, darn kids.

Anyway here's my poor trees. I tried to find out what varieties of apple trees these where but my daughter who bought them for me doesn't remember. It is very possible that I could have a Gala and a Macoun apple trees.

This one got hit with a felled tree this spring and clipped the top of it off and skinned it up pretty good. One of the photo's shows an almost split in it from the tree hitting it.

bob

 

[thistlebloom]

That's a great link Chickie! Really descriptive pictures.

Too deep planting is a very common problem, and you need to be careful when buying a tree to examine closely where the root flare really is before you plant it. Many nursery bought trees are already planted too deep in their containers, so planting them to the same depth would insure problems down the road.

Chickies article mentioned an arborist air spade, but you can accomplish root excavation with a hand trowel. And I have also used a
sweeper nozzle on a water hose, but it gets pretty messy. The trowel is my preferred method.

Stano, if by chance your trees are too deep, they are so little that checking and remedying it would be very simple.

If they were my trees I wouldn't hesitate to move them to a better site. It may set them back a tad, but the trade off in improving their situation trumps that. Since it looks like they haven't leafed out yet I think if you do it soon the disruption would be minimal.

Good luck with them, and I hope they start doing better soon.