Testimonials Shop News Specials Catalogue Contact Forum Blog My Account My Edibles
Rare and Collectable trees
Rare and Collectable trees50 percent off when you pre orderUse these promo codes to get special offers when placing a new orderAll Positive and Negative Reviews
Forum Rules | Updates
<< Back to Daleys Fruit Tree Forum

Pruning apple trees

    14 responses

Slicko starts with ...
I have recently bought two grafted low chill apple trees. Apart from pruning apple trees to a central leader I cannot find any other suggested method that might be appropriate for this type of type of apple tree.

The trees are on dwarfed root stock and they are planted closely (about 1.5 m apart) so that they can be maintained at an appropriate height for summer pruning and ease of harvest.

Are there other more appropriate pruning systems that could be used in this situation?
About the Author
Slicko
CARINDALE,4152,QLD
20th December 2014 4:00pm
#UserID: 1775
Posts: 227
View All Slicko's Edible Fruit Trees

Reply | | Remember to LIKE this Answer(0) LIKE this Question (0)
Brain says...
I know abc garden australia had a few segments on pruning. They recommend a vase shape.

At 1.5m apart, your options are limited but having said that, my red delicious is a stick, with one central leader only - it was like that when i got it from daleys and being quite short already, i didnt feel it needs a prune and now have 2 apples on it. But eventually, i would like it to branch out to give me more apples.
About the Author
Brain
Brisbane
20th December 2014 8:22pm
#UserID: 6289
Posts: 638
View All Brain's Edible Fruit Trees

Reply | | Remember to LIKE this Answer(0) LIKE this Question (0)
Slicko says...
Thanks, Brain. I had also heard that they can be espaliered but I don't have a wall I could put them against and I don't wish to put a freestanding frame in what is a quite a small backyard.

I am really interested in how your red delicious fares up here as I didn't think that there were sufficient chill hours for the variety. Are you in a part of Brisbane that gets quite cold in the winter. I am at Carindale and I don't know that we would get enough chill hours.

Mike
About the Author
Slicko
CARINDALE,4152,QLD
22nd December 2014 6:11pm
#UserID: 1775
Posts: 227
View All Slicko's Edible Fruit Trees

Reply | | Remember to LIKE this Answer(0) LIKE this Question (0)
Brain says...
seasons greetings.

Surprisingly, some apples do not need the stated chill hours to flower and fruit. I can attest it with the varieties I have and so too of the guy from Kuffel Creek (google/youtube). The issues with growing these cold apples in the subtropics are that they never go deciduous and their flowering cycle is all over the place. So meaning you won’t have reliable crops.

otherwise, the red delicious does ok. It had to wait its time and now fruited after 2 years since purchase.

If you are keen to expand your collection and assuming you already have a tropical something for pollination, I would recommend getting gala & sundowner as a pair. As they both seem to fruit and flower prolifically in my experience.
About the Author
Brain
Brisbane
27th December 2014 10:14am
#UserID: 6289
Posts: 638
View All Brain's Edible Fruit Trees

Reply | | Remember to LIKE this Answer(0) LIKE this Question (0)
Slicko says...
G 'day Brain, I hope the festive season goes well for you.

I didn't know that the chill factor for apples was not as crucial as it for some other fruit trees. Whilst I would dearly to have a Gala apple I am afraid that I do not have the space for it as I have just put in a Tropical Anna and a Tropic Sweet. I wonder if the chill hours for pear trees is not as crucial as I thought.

I am growing all my stone fruit, citrus and apples as dwarfs and close planting them so that I can keep them all about 2 m in height over the summer period.

Thanks for your advice.

Mike
About the Author
Slicko
CARINDALE,4152,QLD
27th December 2014 7:36pm
#UserID: 1775
Posts: 227
View All Slicko's Edible Fruit Trees

Reply | | Remember to LIKE this Answer(0) LIKE this Question (0)
Brain says...
I grew my apples in pots ... so that's another options. They are about 2m tall and about 1m wide on 40 cm pots. The apples are surprisingly pretty tough and do ok in a pot. Though a better water regime (on my part) would be preferred. They are on M26 rootstocks and does have the potential to double in size but so far they are not getting taller.

Not sure about european pears - didn't grow any. But for Asian pears Nashi, I've had the tropical nashi flowered (but no fruit formed, could be pollination issue). I have another one called Ya Li Nashi - forget it, it does not seem to like the brisbane climate. I think in general Nashis need the chill hours to perform.

Cherries are a no.

what other stone fruits do you grow?

I know VF (from the gold coast) grows a bit of stone fruit also and he's had a bit of success.

if your citrus are on flying dragon rootstock, they should be definitely be less than 2m. In fact, mines are about 1.5m tall. Just keep in mind that heavy pruning on citrus can set the tree back a year without fruiting. but otherwise, given enough water and fertiliser, they are fairly robust for the Brisbane climate. Just watch out for the fruit flies and possums though!
About the Author
Brain
Brisbane
30th December 2014 1:15am
#UserID: 6289
Posts: 638
View All Brain's Edible Fruit Trees

Reply | | Remember to LIKE this Answer(0) LIKE this Question (0)
Don C says...
Hi Slicko, if you want to espalier you can do it without a frame. I'm no expert, but in my limited experience apples are easier to espalier than other trees because their young wood is so flexible. They also can be tied horizontally. I have pseudo espaliered my apples by pruning off the appropriate branches and then tying the remaining branches down using a heavy weight. The trees were only planted last year, so still have a way to go, but so far it seems to be working. If you do a youtube or google search on espalier, the majority of examples are for apple and pear.
About the Author
Don C
Karangi
30th December 2014 6:51am
#UserID: 9420
Posts: 22
View All Don C's Edible Fruit Trees
Reply | | Remember to LIKE this Answer(0) LIKE this Question (0)
Don C says...
My understanding about pears and chill, is that they are fussier about their chill requirement than apples. Daleys have some low chill varieties. However, these are bigger trees than the dwarfed apples. Therefore, if you have limited space you would need to control them with pruning. Woodbridge trees in Tasmania have some pruning info on their webpage:
http://www.woodbridgefruittrees.com.au/wft/content/9-pruning
About the Author
Don C
Karangi
30th December 2014 7:00am
#UserID: 9420
Posts: 22
View All Don C's Edible Fruit Trees
Reply | | Remember to LIKE this Answer(0) LIKE this Question (0)
Slicko says...
Thanks Don and Brain for your input. At the moment I am thinking of the traditional vase shape as the way I will go.
Well, it looks as though tropical pears will be out of my league. Too bad!
At the moment I have peach and nectarine growing, two apples, two navel oranges, two mandarines, one lemon, six grapevines and one R2E2 seedling mango which is about four years old and bearing nicely. I am planning to add a lanes late navel, another peach and another nectarine to spread the fruiting season.
We have been here now for nearly 2 years and all the fruit trees and vines have been planted since then. The Isabella grapes, the peach, the lemon and the mango have fruited this season.
About the Author
Slicko
CARINDALE,4152,QLD
4th January 2015 5:32pm
#UserID: 1775
Posts: 227
View All Slicko's Edible Fruit Trees

Reply | | Remember to LIKE this Answer(0) LIKE this Question (0)
Brain says...
I am impressed with your r2e2 seedling fruiting. How tall is your mango?

I would definitely get the lanes late navel. I got the dwarf one from daley and the taste is very good. It has an old school orange taste and i would really recommend it.

Due to fruit flies, i have refrain from peaches and nectarines. But there are some nice tropical and dwarf varieties of both out there.


About the Author
Brain
Brisbane
4th January 2015 9:56pm
#UserID: 6289
Posts: 638
View All Brain's Edible Fruit Trees

Reply | | Remember to LIKE this Answer(0) LIKE this Question (0)
Original Post was last edited: 4th January 2015 9:55pm
Slicko says...
The r2e2 is about 1.8 m tall and there is a new flush coming. As you can see from the picture the fruit has been bagged and I have had to prop the branches up to carry the fruit otherwise they would be dragging on the ground. I have already taken three mangoes off the tree and they come in at just under 600 g each.

I have grown stone fruit for some years and the biggest problem I had was the persistence of the fruit bats. At the time it was pretty difficult to get hold of appropriate netting and I used to use mosquito net and that worked pretty well. This year I had an old mozzie net that I used to good effect

I will prune the mango heavily to keep it at 2-2.5m

The peach has now grown past the net height despite being pruned to open it up and control it's height.
Pictures - Click to enlarge

Picture: 1

Picture: 2
 
About the Author
Slicko
CARINDALE,4152,QLD
5th January 2015 1:31pm
#UserID: 1775
Posts: 227
View All Slicko's Edible Fruit Trees

Reply | | Remember to LIKE this Answer(0) LIKE this Question (0)
Brain says...
I am envious of your mango tree, especially grown from seed. I have a grafted one and it struggled for the first 2 years with die back and zero growth, let alone fruit. You must be doing something right!
About the Author
Brain
Brisbane
5th January 2015 10:52pm
#UserID: 6289
Posts: 638
View All Brain's Edible Fruit Trees

Reply | | Remember to LIKE this Answer(0) LIKE this Question (0)
sternus1 says...
Seedlings are more vigorous than grafted trees. If the variety isn't poly it's an exercise in futility however.
About the Author
sternus1
Australia
5th January 2015 11:01pm
#UserID: 8314
Posts: 1318
View All sternus1's Edible Fruit Trees

Reply | | Remember to LIKE this Answer(0) LIKE this Question (0)
Slicko says...
G'Day Sternus. You are right about monoembryonic seedlings being a waste of time, however, I understand that the R2E2 is polyembryonic. I do recall that when I planted the seed a number of seedlings emerged.

With regard to the apple trees I have taken to tips out and they are now starting to branch so everything is headed towards the trusted vase shape.
Pictures - Click to enlarge

Picture: 1
  
About the Author
Slicko
CARINDALE,4152,QLD
6th January 2015 6:00pm
#UserID: 1775
Posts: 227
View All Slicko's Edible Fruit Trees

Reply | | Remember to LIKE this Answer(0) LIKE this Question (0)
Slicko says...
The two apples have branched nicely and I now have the branches at about 30 degrees above the horizontal. However the central leader keeps coming on no matter how often I prune it.. hmmmm

Mike
Pictures - Click to enlarge

Picture: 1
  
About the Author
Slicko
CARINDALE,4152,QLD
11th March 2015 10:29pm
#UserID: 1775
Posts: 227
View All Slicko's Edible Fruit Trees

Reply | | Remember to LIKE this Answer(0) LIKE this Question (0)

REPLY to this forum

Login or Create Account

<< Back to Daleys Fruit Tree Forum