What is wrong with my apple tree?
Discussion
A mature tree should be fruiting now - mine (ex-Woolies!) has gone beserk this summer with record growth after Spring pruning and a bumper crop of very small apples.
If the leaves are brown and curled it might be an infection so best they are cut off and burnt/taken to the tip rather than allowed to stay around and pass on the infection.
If the leaves are brown and curled it might be an infection so best they are cut off and burnt/taken to the tip rather than allowed to stay around and pass on the infection.
Thanks for all your replies so far.
To give you a bit of background, I bought the tree along with a pear tree about 3-4 months ago from B and Q. They both came pre potted.
I dug the holes in the garden, shook the compost loose and planted them. The pear tree is doing really well, not so much the apple tree (as you can see).
The soil is quite clayey (A word?) so I guess is quite poorly drained - could this be the cause?
To give you a bit of background, I bought the tree along with a pear tree about 3-4 months ago from B and Q. They both came pre potted.
I dug the holes in the garden, shook the compost loose and planted them. The pear tree is doing really well, not so much the apple tree (as you can see).
The soil is quite clayey (A word?) so I guess is quite poorly drained - could this be the cause?
Never buy fruit trees from B&Q and the like - use a proper fruit nursery.
As far as I can see all the sheds buy up everything damaged/diseased/misshapen.
Their stock is often neglected/abused, worse marked 'not established in this pot' which means some monkey cut all the roots off to stuff it in a pot with any old muck to stop the bare root stock looking too dead before they can shift it.
Also the root stock type is often not mentioned at all or is obviously wrong, so you don't know if you have a potential 60ft tree or a feeble growing mini-tree that will need permanent support.
Young fruit trees are best planted bare-root in late Autumn soon after dormancy.
If you treated both trees the same it is odd, as pears are a bit more demanding than apples, although more disease resistant, but pears also tolerate wetter conditions. Regular deep watering is important in the first few years - but also if you dug a planting hole in heavy clay and then watered a lot, you might have drowned it in a pond!
It just seems to be failing to thrive, possibly underwatered or windburnt but I'm not convinced.
I would bin it and replace this Autumn, in a slightly different well-prepared spot - no point persisting with a sickly specimen.
If you must, give it the VIP treatment - it won't do much this year now - and see if it comes back better next year. If it doesn't appear well next year, or flourishes initially then falters again, bin it as it probably has something nasty!
As far as I can see all the sheds buy up everything damaged/diseased/misshapen.
Their stock is often neglected/abused, worse marked 'not established in this pot' which means some monkey cut all the roots off to stuff it in a pot with any old muck to stop the bare root stock looking too dead before they can shift it.
Also the root stock type is often not mentioned at all or is obviously wrong, so you don't know if you have a potential 60ft tree or a feeble growing mini-tree that will need permanent support.
Young fruit trees are best planted bare-root in late Autumn soon after dormancy.
If you treated both trees the same it is odd, as pears are a bit more demanding than apples, although more disease resistant, but pears also tolerate wetter conditions. Regular deep watering is important in the first few years - but also if you dug a planting hole in heavy clay and then watered a lot, you might have drowned it in a pond!
It just seems to be failing to thrive, possibly underwatered or windburnt but I'm not convinced.
I would bin it and replace this Autumn, in a slightly different well-prepared spot - no point persisting with a sickly specimen.
If you must, give it the VIP treatment - it won't do much this year now - and see if it comes back better next year. If it doesn't appear well next year, or flourishes initially then falters again, bin it as it probably has something nasty!
Quote from "good ol' boy" on a gardening programme I saw once: "Plant a $5 tree in a $25 hole.
If the apple tree looks like it's dying you have little to lose if you lift it and check the root ball. If it's dry stick it in a bucket of water for a day. Meanwhile dig a much bigger hole, discard some of the clay/soil and stir in some compost. Add general fertiliser if none was in the compost. Water the hole really well then put the tree back in and stake it.
If the apple tree looks like it's dying you have little to lose if you lift it and check the root ball. If it's dry stick it in a bucket of water for a day. Meanwhile dig a much bigger hole, discard some of the clay/soil and stir in some compost. Add general fertiliser if none was in the compost. Water the hole really well then put the tree back in and stake it.
driverrob said:
Quote from "good ol' boy" on a gardening programme I saw once: "Plant a $5 tree in a $25 hole.
If the apple tree looks like it's dying you have little to lose if you lift it and check the root ball. If it's dry stick it in a bucket of water for a day. Meanwhile dig a much bigger hole, discard some of the clay/soil and stir in some compost. Add general fertiliser if none was in the compost. Water the hole really well then put the tree back in and stake it.
Wot he said. See if you can get it back.If the apple tree looks like it's dying you have little to lose if you lift it and check the root ball. If it's dry stick it in a bucket of water for a day. Meanwhile dig a much bigger hole, discard some of the clay/soil and stir in some compost. Add general fertiliser if none was in the compost. Water the hole really well then put the tree back in and stake it.
To get water down properly into dry soil, leave a hose dripping at the base overnight.
Update
The tree is dead
I took it out of the ground with a view to replanting it elsewhere in the garden. There was a hurrendous smell of rotting and the root ball was covered in a white fungus. I'm not sure if the clay soil has trapped in water basically drowning it or if there was something wrong.
Ah well, there is always next year and the pear tree is doing well!
The tree is dead
I took it out of the ground with a view to replanting it elsewhere in the garden. There was a hurrendous smell of rotting and the root ball was covered in a white fungus. I'm not sure if the clay soil has trapped in water basically drowning it or if there was something wrong.
Ah well, there is always next year and the pear tree is doing well!
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