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

Subject: Apple trees
From: (Kevin Clark)
Date: Wed, Apr 14, 2004 7:03 PM

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


Much depends on what rootstock these trees are on. Were they bought as Dwarf,
Semidwarf, or standard trees? A secondary factor is whether the strain of
Delicious is a "spur type" or standard. (BTW, the cultivar name is 'Delicious',
not red delicous - this info is for the horticultural sticklers out there G)

I would expect dwarf Delicious trees to bloom by now, semidwarf trees should
probably show some bloom this year; standards, perhaps not. Spur types
typically bloom a year earlier than standards.

To encourage bloom next year:

1. Scoring - cut a continuous circle around the trunk about 2-3 weeks after
bloom, usually last week in May to first week in June in Ohio.

2. spread limbs to about a 60 degree angle with the trunk. Do this ASAP.

Hope this is helpful






BRBR

John C. Schmid

"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

You don't mention where you are. First guess: you are not getting
enough chill hours for your tree to bloom. Second guess: late
frosts are killing the blossoms. Need more info.

--
elizabeth, Baton Rouge, LA
http://community.webshots.com/user/elott63


"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