"Kevin Clark" wrote in message
om...
I have a small apple orchard with 9 trees. This is the third year for
the orchard, which I planted with trees that were about 6 feet when I
planted them.

Four of the trees are red delicious and they have never had blossoms.
(The other trees have blossomed and produced some fruit.) The red
delicious don't look like they will have blossoms this year either. I
am beginning to wonder if there is something wrong with them and they
won't ever blossom. How long should one wait for trees like this to
blossom?

Kevin Clark

Your success with Red Delicious (it may not be the registered cultivar name
but it is widely used so as to distinguish from Golden Delicious and anyway,
who cares) will depend heavily on where you are located. They are a high
chill requirement apple and will not be very fruitful in more temperate
climates - they need a cold winter and hot summer to bear fruit. They also
require heavy cross pollination - orchardists in WA state (the largest
producer of Red Delicious apples in the world) alternate rows of Red's with
that of reliable pollenizers. The blossoms are also extremely frost
sensitive, so that may be an issue as well. Provided that these conditions
are addressed, even very young trees should blossom although the degree with
blossoming will increase with maturity and proper spur development.

pam - gardengal