How to Grow Apples

Apples can be grown in pots, but look for the miniature varieties, such as the Fleming’s Trixzie Minature Fruit range, which grow up to 2.5m tall and wide. Sensational space savers!  

Early flowering and fruiting varieties include, ‘Gala’, ‘Early McIntosh’ and ‘Red Garvenstein’.

Late flowering and fruiting varieties include, ‘Delicious’, ‘Pink Lady’, ‘Jonathon’ and ‘Granny Smith’.

Best planted in winter, however, they can also be planted in other seasons.

For maximum fruiting, apples must have another variety that flowers at the same time and is within bee-travelling distance. This could deter many space-challenged gardeners, but the problem can be solved by selecting a double or triple-grafted tree (two or three varieties on one set of roots) or by planting two small growers very close to each other.

Apples need cool to cold winters for fruit development – chilling hours (number of hours a fruit tree needs to be exposed to effective winter temperatures for flower buds to break dormancy) vary between varieties, so check your climate and area before purchasing.

Prune trees to encourage an open-centred vase shape – this allows for better air and light circulation.

Fruit develops on branches that are two-year-old or older, so take care when pruning, otherwise, you may affect your next harvest.

If there are small, immobile and squishable lumps and bumps on the stems or leaves of your apple tree, chances are it is the sap-sucking pest Scale. These pests suck out plant juices and can stunt growth, flowering and fruiting.

If you notice white cottony stuff on your it is likely to be either Wooly Aphids, or Mealybugs.

Make sure the plant is well cared for by watering and feeding, and to treat the Scales spray with Yates Nature's Way Citrus & Ornamental Spray.

If there is one large grub with a brown head feeding near the core of the fruit, then this is probably Codling Moth.

If the grubs are legless and eyeless, and look more like maggots, these are Fruit Fly larvae.

Spray Codling Moth Caterpillars with either Yates Success Ultra Insect Control or Yates Nature’s Way Caterpillar Killer Dipel when caterpillars or their damage first appear. Treatment will only work when the Caterpillars are newly hatched and feeding on the foliage that has been sprayed, once they venture inside the fruit it is too late to treat.

To control adult Fruit Fly before they get a chance to lay their eggs inside maturing fruits, spray the trunk, lateral branches or a nearby surface such as a fence post with Yates Nature's Way Fruit Fly Control.

Bitter Pit is one of the causes of brown spots on the skin and inside the flesh. It occurs due to a calcium deficiency as well as climatic conditions.

Another cause is Bitter Rot, spots form when the fruit is half or fully mature starting with brown spots that grow larger and develop into sunken spots.

Make sure the plant is well watered and fed. Yates Thrive Fruit & Citrus Organic Pelletised Plant Food contains balanced nutrients, including calcium, and ideal for fruiting trees.

Once the fruit is already infected, it is too late to treat. Spray with Yates Leaf Curl Copper Fungicide Spray from flowering to harvest at 28 day intervals.

If your Apple leaves and/or fruits have black spots on them, that sometimes join together to form one great big scabby black patch, chances are it is the fungal disease Black Spot or Apple and Pear Scab.

Avoid overhead watering, and water only in the morning. As a preventative spray apply Yates Leaf Curl Copper Fungicide or Yates Liquid Copper Fungicide.

Dark smudges on the surface of an Apple's fruit skins can be caused by either Sooty Blotch or Flyspeck - both of which are fungal diseases.

Sooty Blotch can be rubbed off easily, while Flyspeck can't be.

Improve air circulation and light availability by pruning. Avoid overhead watering and only water in the morning. If treatment is required, spray at the first sign of the disease with Yates Mancozeb Plus Garden Fungicide & Miticide.

Apple tress are deciduous and their leaves will go yellow in autumn. If the issue is occurring outside autumn and winter, then it could be a pest, disease, soil pH imbalance, or sunburn.