Pears and Apple trees

6455 Views 33 Replies 19 Participants Last post by Moccasin, Dec 17, 2010

kestak

Discussion Starter · Jun 30, 2010

Greetings,

I planted 2 pears trees and 6 apples tress with one of them beeing a pollinator.

The year I planted them, I got a few pears. No apples.

This year is the second year and only 2 apples appeared.

How long does it take to get fruits? Is it normal nothing appeared? All the trees had flowers.

Must I put some special fertilizer? I kept the trees well watered.

I am in Georgia.

Thank you

1 - 20 of 34 Posts

composter

· #2 · Jun 30, 2010

What kind of apple trees and pear trees did you plant? Some varieties of apple trees and pear trees will not cross-pollinate, whereas some will.

Reactions: 1

kestak

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jun 30, 2010

Greetings,

I bought the trees from a local store. They are all the same kind of pears and the same kind of apples.

I think I'll buy a couple more pears trees and 2 more appletrees pollinators to make sure something will happen next year..

Thank you

composter

· #4 · Jun 30, 2010

kestak said:
Greetings,

I bought the trees from a local store. They are all the same kind of pears and the same kind of apples.

I think I'll buy a couple more pears trees and 2 more appletrees pollinators to make sure something will happen next year..

Thank you

Here's some info we've been using, the graph below is quite helpful:

All varieties of apple trees should be cross-pollinated with another apple or crabapple variety. To attain the best fruit set on apple trees, the king blossom (the largest and first one to open) in the flower cluster must be pollinated. Thus, the bloom periods of the pollinizer and the king blossom of the apple tree must overlap.

In backyard plantings, two semidwarf apple varieties that bloom at the same time should be planted within 50 feet of each other. Two dwarf apple varieties with similar bloom periods should be spaced less than 20 feet apart to ensure the transfer of pollen between trees.

and on pears:

Pear pollination

Most pear varieties are self-unfruitful. However, nearly all pears are suitable pollinizers for other varieties that bloom at the same time. One exception is Seckel, which is not a good pollinizer for Bartlett. Even though Anjou, Bartlett and Kieffer are partially self-fruitful, they should be cross-pollinated to produce heavy and regular crops. Pear flowers produce only a small amount of nectar, which is low in sugar. For this reason, more pollinizers and bees are needed for pears than for any other tree fruit.

http://extension.missouri.edu/publications/DisplayPub.aspx?P=G6001#Apple

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Herbalpagan

· #5 · Jun 30, 2010

usually you need different varieties to pollinate correctly. I usually read the better fruit nursery catties to find which pollinates which the best, but i think you can call your local extension agency and get better local info. Also, most trees take a couple of years to bear fruit at a minimum.

Reactions: 2

Grumble69

· #6 · Jun 30, 2010

I think my plum trees took about 7 years until they started bearing fruit. They grew well. They had flowers. But it just took them a while to get to that stage.

And some years the trees just won't produce. My dad has some well established pear trees. Last year they were loaded. This year, not hardly anything at all.

Reactions: 2

Lowdown3

· #7 · Jun 30, 2010

First and foremost depending on where you are in GA, their is only a couple types of apples that will PRODUCE in the lower part of the state. I found this out the hard way.

Secondly, you can't really expect a good harvest for 4-5 years. Sure you can get one or two here and there but realistically this is a long term project. This is why putting in fruit trees and digging a pond should be the first things done when you start a homestead IMHO.

www.homesteadingandsurvival.com

Has some free videos on Fruit trees for the survivalist. These will help you get started. Their is also free videos on Alternate energy, raising rabbits, storing fuel, Survival Gardening and others.

Good luck.

Lowdown3

Reactions: 4

toktok

· #8 · Jun 30, 2010

Really depends on the variety/sort of pear or an apple tree.

In general, pears start to bear fruit much early after a transplant.
Usually it is 2-3 years, there are varieties which can produce same year. Again, depending on a variety pear can produce for up to 100-120 years.

Apple is much more gentle. Usually starts to produce on 3rd 5th year. Produces fruits for up to 30-35 years.

There are years where a tree might not produce anything, usually it is related to some sort of stress (cold, hot, arid or not enough minerals.)
Personally I have noticed that most fruit trees go in cycles, one years you get an abundance, another year you get moderate. Sort of makes sense, everything in nature goes in cycles

.

Garden is a long term investment, keep caring for your trees and you'll get really good results.

Reactions: 2

kestak

Discussion Starter · #9 · Jun 30, 2010

Greetings,

I do not know what the pear tres are. I don't recall and I did not get pears yet to determine what it is. The apple trees are Gala and the pollinator is a yellow delicious (I think you call that also a Golden delicious).

Thank you

bridgierapa

· #10 · Jul 1, 2010

Depends how big the apples were when they went in, usually a first year apple won't bear fruit, nor second... how old were they to start?

1. apples cross pollinate. Don't worry about variety, the point is when they flower. They have to flower at the same time to cross pollinate. also; bees. No bees crossing the pollination then no apples.

2. obviously this means where are the bees? Sometimes you can attract them, they like blue, they LOVE bog sage, which survives almost anything. Perhaps some borage, queen anne's lace, other things like that to bring them around?

3. water. An apple tree will drop all its babies if there's no water. Were there any miscarriages under the trees?

4. frost/water/weather. What was spring like? did frosts hit and kill the flowers? did winds hit and kill flowers?

Other than that, a tree you bought from a nursery, with branches coming off the main stem, should be fruiting for you within 3 yrs.

b.

PS: you do need to feed but not hugely; and also, one pollinator for six apples is weird. YOu should have three pairs. One early pair, one mid-season pair, and one late season pair. Most weird that you have this setup. Did they talk to you at the nursery? what breed apples do you have?

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kestak

Discussion Starter · #11 · Jul 1, 2010

See below

bridgierapa said:
Depends how big the apples were when they went in, usually a first year apple won't bear fruit, nor second... how old were they to start? I do not know the age. But they were 6 feet high.

2. obviously this means where are the bees? Sometimes you can attract them, they like blue, they LOVE bog sage, which survives almost anything. Perhaps some borage, queen anne's lace, other things like that to bring them around? Yes we have bees and hornets..we know, we got attacked by a swarm last Sunday my wife and I.

3. water. An apple tree will drop all its babies if there's no water. Were there any miscarriages under the trees? Not a single fruit on the tree or on the ground.

4. frost/water/weather. What was spring like? did frosts hit and kill the flowers? did winds hit and kill flowers? We had one snow this winter only. It was cold, but cold for the south. IT is Georgia, Augusta. It is like an eternal spring for us Canadians...

We have 4 appletrees with one pollinator. the pollinator is tagged yellow delicious and the 3 others are Gala apples. They are all within 150 feet.

They got plenty of water with rain and when the rain did not go for more than 4 days we have a sprinkler system for the grass and brushes that cover the appletrees also.

Thank you

dolmen

· #12 · Jul 1, 2010

If you want to learn about apples and pears this is the man ....

I only have a few fruit trees but find this gents info just great ...

sign up for his latest videos, you can also ask him specific questions and he usually answers, hope it helps some.

Cheers

:thumb:

Reactions: 1

stephpd

· #13 · Jul 1, 2010

At 6' tall the trees would only be 2-3 years old. Way to young to expect anything. Probably won't see much more then a couple apples for a few more years. I have a semi dwarf 5 in 1 apple tree that just this year will provide all 5 types, and it's over 7 years old and about 20' tall. I've gotten 2 types off it the last couple of years, mostly Granny Smith and Macintosh.

Just had the June drop and about 1/4 of the apples fell. Branches are loaded and one broke from all the weight.

Pears start sooner in age but it still takes a couple of years before you'll see much of anything. I have two, a Bartlett and Anjou, with the former being a real heavy producer. Last year, at 5 years old I got over 7 bushels off of it. The Anjou only about 1 bushel, though it's a year younger. Maybe 2 bushels this year off it and about 10 from the Bartlett.

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ForestBeekeeper

· #14 · Jul 1, 2010

We planted two groups of apples trees.

One group which blossoms early, pollinates at the same time and produces in the early fall.

And a second group which blossoms later and produces in the late fall.

With apple trees you have to combine them according to when they blossom.

This is the third year our apples have been in the ground, Out of 16 apple trees this year we have had 4 blossoms.

You really can not expect much of a harvest before the seventh year.

Reactions: 1

kestak

Discussion Starter · #15 · Jul 1, 2010

Greetings,

What kind of appletrees should I add to my 3 gala and one golden delicious?
I am in Georgia.

Lowdown3

· #16 · Jul 1, 2010

Anna, Ein Schmeir, Dorsett and Granny Smith you ought to have real luck with in that area. I think your considered the "coastal" zone of GA but you still probably don't have enough chill hours for the apples you have.

What the big box stores (sLowes, China Mart) don't tell you and usually don't know is what produces in YOUR AREA. Not what grows, what produces.

Trees like this need a certain number of CHILL HOURS to produce good fruit set. We are about 2 hours from Augusta so I would assume climate is very similar. We do not get (usually) enough chill hours to get good fruit set on some of the varieties that will do good up north- Red Delicious, Gala, Golden D, etc.

What you need to plant are those 4 varieties I listed above. I found this out the hard way.

I ordered the types of apples I "liked"- Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, etc. they grew, but NEVER PRODUCED. I spent some time with a local nurseryman and learned about the low chill hours here, etc. I put in those 4 varieties and had apples in a short period of time.

Keifer and Moonglow are the pears your looking for. IIRC, Bartlett won't produce much here. Any of the "Asian" type pears ought to do well also.

Don't expect or even try to get much fruit the first couple years. Your investing in quality growth, not looking for a few small apples. Yes I know it's exciting and hard to wait but long term you'll be glad you did.

Also, get a soil test for your orchard area. Chances are the PH is very low unless you did something there already. Raise it to 6-7 and your trees should do well.

Drip irrigation is definitely the way to go for trees. Double emitters for each tree. The supplies are easy to work with and don't really require any special tools save the little punch thing.

Good luck.
Lowdown3

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IceFire

· #17 · Jul 2, 2010

Sounds to me like your trees are just too young to be bearing yet. Don't expect mych in the way of fruit until 3-4 years AFTER you've planed them. Crops will be light at first, but you still will probably have to thin some of the fruit and prop the branches to prevent them from breaking from the wieght of the fruit. (That's what my parents had to do with their trees)

uga1983

· #18 · Jul 2, 2010

Here are links to "Clemson Extension Service". Excellent information on many types of growing/gardening.

Apple: http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/plants/vegetables/tree_fruits_nuts/hgic1350.html

Pear: http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/plants/vegetables/tree_fruits_nuts/hgic1352.html

Vegetables, fruits & nuts: http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/plants/vegetables/

The cross polinators are very important. Yopu must plant a polliantor based on bloom.

Reactions: 1

kestak

Discussion Starter · #19 · Oct 9, 2010

Greetings,

We are trying to find Apple trees in the GA Augusta area and can't find much of what we want. We have already 4 Gala, 1 Golden and one other Golden (but another variety that is supposed to be firmer and better apple (can't recall the exact variety).

Anyway, we want Apples that we can cook good Apple pies (I luv apple pies...hehehehehe).

I saw at one of the big boxes trees (Home Depot) that are Malus Apple trees. I tried to find information about those but can't find nothing. Anyone knows about those? Or Better, a place close to Augusta GA where they have Apple trees like Gala or a variety close to it?

Thank you

ackbob

· #20 · Oct 9, 2010

might be a dumb question but how are the bees in your area...?... they are the real pollinators for this type of tree as far as I know........

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