I tried walking away from it, but it is so rare to see anything grafted like this around here, I had to buy it. There are no directions on how to care for or fert it. Can anyone tell me what kind of fert to use? Thanks

Hi Patty,

Long time no write! I can read that everything's okay with you, now that you're hooked with an apple tree.

Just care for it normally like you would any apple tree. It would require more pruning for balance. What I do I just regraft whatever weaker cultivar on the tree to the most vigorous limbs along with pruning the tree.

As to fertilizers, typically a 16-16-16 fertilizer would suffice. Avoid using fertilizers with too much N, or you'll have more diseases. High N is good for citruses but not for apples.

Joe

Thanks Joe, glad to be back & so nice to hear from you.
---"Just care for it normally like you would any apple tree."---
I'm sorry, but I never took care of an apple tree, so I don't know what's 'normal' LOL.
Was thinking too much N would not be good.
I dug a big hole, mixed 1/3 part composted manure with some really poor soil, along with a little peat moss to loosen the clay & so far so good. I wish I could remember all the varieties... there are really 5 on this one ha ha... they goofed. S'posed to be 4 in 1. But, one of them is Fuji & I remember you & Benny have this & & wrote of it often.
Other than citrus fert, I have 10-10-10, 10-15-10, and 18-18-21. Any idea which of these I should use would be nice . I've never seen 16-16-16.
I wish you lived near so you can see this tree! It is about 6 ft & one of the grafts has many blossoms! I prolly won't get apples though huh?
I planted it in front of my fiance's house & surprised him yesterday when he came home from work -- he loves it. The squirrells would eat them here, & I might be moving there some time soon - when I'm finished with my remodeling project ( ?).
All it says in instructions is to prune in fall. I know just where to prune as there are some long branches on each graft. I love this tree!
Wish my 'nanna trees would do as well. I potted up my dormant IC early March & it grew a 5 ft leaf & it fell over now. Ther is a new leaf growing that is 4 inches high & not doing anything for 2 weeks. I wonder if it will die Oh well...I guess a different thread huh?
Thanks again Joe, hope all is well with you. And, thanks for sharing your knowledge on many of your plants with all of us. Can you send up some warmer weather here??? We are having a sh*t Spring!!!!!

Forgot to ask - do I have to spray the tree with an insecticide or something to keep worms out?

Patty, I would go for 10-10-10 formulation as a safe bet. I would also use 18-18-21 if it has minor elements added.

Apples are so easy to graft, you can easily turn it into a 36-n-1 apple next year, just holler us for scionwood.

If you have blooms and fireblight is a problem in your area, you need to spray copper sulfate on the blooms only, twice a week until the petals fall.

What kind of insect pests are prevalent for apples in your area?

We will guide you through the seasons, but it is best to learn from your local county agricultural extension expert first. At least pick their brains as to what the experiences of the local folks are.

Joe

How guick you are to respond young man!
All the ferts have minor elements so I will use 10-10-10 "as a safe bet" but will wait awhile after transplant shock.
All I know is around here if you bite into an apple & you see half a worm -- NOT GOOD LOL. Some kind of worm gets them and that's all I know.
Do you have a problem with that there too? I will find out mor here.
Do you spray your trees or treat them any way? Thanks again

Patty,

Thanks for the compliments. I'm not that young anymore as my wife dyes my hair now, LOL!

Anyway, your area probably have the insect apple pest from hell, like what we have too. It is codling moth. They will lay an egg on each and every apple, they are super efficient critters when it comes to putting a worm on each apple fruit.

Don't lose hope, we have developed a very good strategy to take care of those pests. When you have dime sized fruits, thin them out, especially those that have worm holes in them, remove them first, and leave just one or two fruits per cluster. Then apply Sevin directly on the fruits.

After one week, you can decide a pesticide free approach or continue applying Sevin as recommended. But the best approach for us is to apply Sevin only once, and then follow up with pesticide-free approaches.

One of the pesticide free approach is to bag the apples using the transparent ziploc sandwhich bags that you buy from CostCo. Just cut 1/2" off diagonally from both corners of the bottom portion of the bag, to allow ventilation and prevent sunburns and cooking of your apple. One week after applying Sevin, bag the apples with these. I have tried them and they really work without ruining your apples. Simply place the bags and zip them tightly either around the holding branch or petiole (if the petiole is long, but most of the time it is short, so I always end up zipping tightly at the branch). It amazes me that these bags when ziplocked tightly, can hold the entire season, against strong winds. You'll produce perfectly colored, worm free apples this way. It is a good approach if the tree is young and fruits are fewer.

And comes the second pesticide free approach, that is, if your apple tree becomes too big and too many to bag. You spray Surround unto the fruits. It is made of diatomaceous particles that coats your fruits and prevent the larvae from getting inside the apple. You spray several times throughout the season as recommended in the labels.

All in all, to have worm free apple, you cannot avoid using pesticides totally, but as a compromise, I do it only once, to make sure every worm that I did not see will be dead. Then I follow it up with either approaches depending on how many fruits of a cultivar I have. If too many on a tree, I simply apply Surround. If the cultivar has first time fruits, and there's not a lot of them, I bag them with ziploc.

Have fun growing apples!

Joe

Just 2 weeks after the last post - May 28th, we had frost but it didn't affect the blossoms on the one variety that had blossoms. The tree is doing VERY well & lots of growth. I'm wondering why there was not any fruit that came of all those blossoms!
I read Phillips post on pollinating with giberric (spell?) acid. Should I have hand pollinated or sprayed the blossoms?
I will have to take a pic of it soon...it's now over 6 ft tall. I thought I paid too much for it when Phillip said he paid $18.00 for his.... I paid $40.00 or 50.00, but then I saw the pic of his & it is much smaller. Mine came just about rootbound in a 7 gal pot so I'm happy.
Yoo Hoo, BTW Phillip, how is yours doing? How's the graft?
I'm hoping next spring I'll get blossoms on all varieties, but still wondering why no fruits. Did it need pollination from a different variety? Thanks

Most apples do need pollination from another variety.

Most multigrafted trees on the market contain one good mid-spring flowering variety that is a versatile pollinator, like golden delicious. I guess that is not guaranteed, but just the fact that there are 4 varieties would give you great odds that the tree as a whole is self sufficient. Young trees may take several years to produce. My stayman and granny smith have overwintered twice and have flowered both springs, but this is the first spring that they have fruit, and very little at that. I grafted a golden delicious to my granny smith for pollination, as stayman is sterile. I would just take good care of your tree this year, and see if you get fruit next year or the year after. Keep in mind also that some varieties tend to be alternate bearers, heavy one year and lighter the next. Do you know your varieties? Barbara

Hi Barbara, yes I know what varieties - they are all labeled, but I can only remember Fuji right off. The tree is at my fiance's house & I'm at my home now 35 miles away - we didn't move in together yet LOL. I'll write them down in a few days & post them here - esp the one with blossoms. There are 5.
Some branches are 3 ft long so it wasn't just grafted last year. I know most citrus will produce fruit by 2nd/3rd year (I read somewhere) so these must be slower. As big as this tree is, it's been grafted a while ago.
Hiya Skeet, "most apples need pollination from another variety"? Well, hopefully I get 2 varieties to blossom next spring. My neighbor has 1 apple tree (don't know variety) & it gets apples every year. There are no other apple trees nearby that I know of. He doesn't take care of it & the squirrels get them or they fall off & rot...prolly full of worms.
Thanks for responses...I'll post pics this weekend & what varieties I have.

Wow Phillip - 9 in 1, that's terrific. I'm afraid to graft on more...the ones on my citrus & avocado took but died.
I took pics today of tree but have to get them onto my puter at home tomorrow.
I looked real close to some new growth at top & there are a ton of little green eggs (Sam Sam, Green Eggs & Ham LOL) on bottoms of top 2-3 leaves & on almost all branches. EEEEEK, what is this!!?? All I could think of is to put dawn dishsoap in hot water & spray - for now. Can anyone tell me what are these eggs & what else to do?
My varieties are: -- all semi dwarf,
Anna - the one that had all the blossoms (needs cross poll. I assume) and has 2, 4 ft branches.
Dorsett Golden
Fuji
Einshimer (nver heard of this one)
Beverly Hills (smallest branch)

Thanks Phillip,
I think I will prune now as all the leaves I sprayed are looking brown. At least the green eggs are about black & looking dead. That hot water musta done it. Was going to wait till fall to prune, but since you are pruning now, it must be OK.