Healthy apple trees add value to home, are good eating

By Bev Johnson | The Daily Journal

Published Saturday, September 29, 2007

So, what does your apple tree look like this fall? Are the branches breaking because there are too many apples on it? Are the apples many but small? If you cut into the apple, is it full of tunnels? If you have any of these apple problems, you didn't listen last spring and thin and bag your apples did you?

Did you know that it takes 30 leaves to feed one apple? Did you know that there are five spots on a spur for apples to form?

If all of them are full this year, there is no place for the new ones to form in August for next year. If you want apples every year, you must thin the fruit so there is room for next year’s fruit to form.

Do you know how to tell if your apples were properly fertilized? Cut the apple through the middle and look at the star the core forms. Each point should have two seeds in it. If there are fewer seeds, your tree needs help next spring.

For proper fertilization, you need at least two trees that bloom at the same time. One can be a crab or even a wild apple, but the bees need blooms from at least two trees flowering at the same time.

According to Larry Zilliac, an Extension educator at Alexandria, a bee must visit a blossom at least 10 times to properly fertilize it. If you have a Honeycrisp, Zestar, Sweet Sixteen or Chestnut crab, pick them before a frost. They are early apples and can't tolerate frost. They will turn brown inside.

Honeycrisp will store for about seven months, the others for about three months. Late apples can use a light frost. If you see frost on your apples, do not pick them until it is melted. You can damage your apples if you touch them while frosted.

So how do you tell if your apples are ripe? Cut them in half and look at the seeds. If the seeds are dark brown or black, the apples are ripe.

If we don't get good rains, water your all your trees and shrubs. Drought-stressed trees and shrubs are more prone to injury caused by even a normal winter — and when have we had one of those ?

They may be too stressed to go through the long, slow process of shutting down for the winter. They can have dieback, specially noticeable on the tops of maples. They are more prone to bark splitting and stem cracking. Leaves turning color early are a sign of the woody plant shutting down from stress, not winter dormancy.

The moral of this week’s lecture is, thin and bag your apples in mid June, and keep watering your trees and shrubs. After all, each mature tree adds about $300 to the value of your property. A broken-branched apple tree not only looks terrible, it won't be able to give you quality apples.

Bev Johnson is a master gardener for West Otter Tail County.