How to Grow Apples

Apples are the most widely grown fruit, thriving from cool frosty and temperate areas, to the highlands of the subtropics. Throughout history, before the industrialised age, apples and pears were the only fresh fruit available in winter. Apples were the staple fruit, especially in cool and temperate regions. Not only does the apple supply food, but drink as well, with its own version of aqua vitae – cider. The fabled Johnny Appleseed in the US grew his apples from seed left over from the cider factories, and supplied the new settlers of the mid-west with their first orchard. All they needed to get a government grant of land for a new life.

Apples can supply fruit from mid summer to winter, they store for long periods and our forebears were right - an apple a day really does keep the doctor away.

Cultivation

Apples will grow in a wide variety of climates and soils. Their three main requirements are full sun, cool winters (400-1800 chilling hours), and reasonable drainage. They won’t stand the humidity of coastal NSW from Nowra to the north coast (some succeed at the same latitude but at higher elevations, e.g. Toowoomba) and will not tolerate salty soils or salt winds.

Apples will grow in quite acid soils to pH 5.5, and thrive up to pH 7. The addition of organic matter and lime, and good soil preparation and fertilising techniques will get your tree off to a good start. Apples have difficulty getting enough calcium, which is made worse if high nitrogen fertilisers are over-applied.

Depending on the rootstock, they can be easily trained as espaliers to maximise yields and space, or grown as a shade tree. Most apples bear their fruit on spurs – lumpy outgrowths on the older wood. Some, like 'Golden Delicious' bear on the tips of last season's side-growths. As the tree grows these spurs may need to be thinned in winter when they are easy to see. All other pruning is best done in summer. Too much spur wood will result in too much fruit setting that can break the branches with their weight.

With good organic gardening principles most apple pests and diseases can be minimized. However codling moth is a persistent pest. The larvae of the moth burrow into the apple and then out again leaving a powdery rusty trail behind it. They can produce up to 3 generations a season, so unless you want to stew your apples – or eat around the rusty bits, you will need to take a few precautions.

Codling moth can lie dormant in cracks of bark and in the soil underneath the tree. In late winter clean off any loose bark and spray with white oil.

Plant out with buckwheat, clovers and members of the daisy family to attract beneficial insects. Chooks are also useful for scratching out the dormant pupae. In spring, pheromone traps are useful devices, if you have at least a hectare. Install pheromone traps from petal fall. Spraying with pyrethrum can also be effective when about 75% of the blossoms have fallen. A Dipel spray with 1% of pest oil is effective only when it is repeated every 10 days. Exclusion bags are extremely effective after initial spraying. Attach the waxed paper bags to each fruit to completely exclude codling moth, fruit fly and to deter birds and possums. This may sound tedious but it can be done while thinning the fruit – and only needs doing once.

Corrugated cardboard tied around the trunk in late winter to spring and smeared with petroleum jelly can ‘catch’ any larvae looking for a likely apple. Remove and destroy the cardboard band every week and replace. A biodiverse garden and some vigilance will most certainly reduce the problem. Eradication is only achievable with toxic sprays.

Apple rootstock and tree size

The rootstock that your apple is grafted to will influence the eventual size of the tree. Different rootstocks also offer some resistance to common apple pests and diseases, however in a healthy, biodiverse garden these should not be much of a problem.

The most common rootstock used in Australia is MM106 being both drought tolerant, and resistant to the woolly aphid which has wiped out whole orchards. It does however grow to a 12m tree and takes up to 8 years to bear fruit, and needs to be planted at 4.5 to 6.5m spacings. There is a legendary tree that harvested 3 bins or 1.5 tonnes, but gardeners today need fruit from early yielding dwarf trees that are easy to pick from.

Those wishing to grow a number of apple trees in a small space are best to choose their trees on M26 rootstock. This has some resistance to woolly aphid, and can be kept as a 2m high espalier even in fertile soils. Planting at 1 to 2m spacings, trees on M26 fruit in only 2 to 3 years, and are the answer for smaller modern gardens and easy to manage as espaliers. In fact, by training apples with M26 rootstocks as espaliers, it is possible to have a six month supply of apples in the same space as one apple on non-dwarfing rootstock. If you want to plant your dwarf apples as a standard tree, they will benefit from staking in their early years.

Apple Pollination

Apples are the most widely grown fruit, thriving from cool frosty and temperate areas, to the highlands of the subtropics.

Throughout history, before the industrialised age, apples and pears were the only fresh fruit available in winter. Apples were the staple fruit, especially in cool and temperate regions. Not only does the apple supply food, but drink as well, with its own version of aqua vitae – cider.

The fabled Johnny Appleseed in the US grew his apples from seed left over from the cider factories, and supplied the new settlers of the mid-west with their first orchard. All they needed to get a government grant of land for a new life.

Tips and tricks for growing Apples

• When the fruit is starting to form, and is about the size of a marble, remove or 'thin' some of the fruit, leaving 1 or 2 to a cluster. Always remove the ‘king’ fruit – the one in the centre of the cluster, as it will crowd the remaining fruit if left, and provide habitat for pests
• If you're short on space, apple are a perfect candidate for espalier training