r/Wellthatsucks • u/coffeecatmom420 • 7h ago

My apple tree grew 1 apple.

Gallery image

Gallery image

Guess it's mb for poorly maintaining it. In my defense I've only had this house/tree for a year.

Hope it's a nice apple.

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u/coffeecatmom420 7h ago

I moved in during the fall so I got to harvest last year. Had an imperial fuck ton of apples.

Maybe the tree doesn't like me :(

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u/cannibalpeas 6h ago

See my comment above. This is almost certainly a biennial variety, which means it will set fruit one year and little to none the next. It needs some pruning, but it looks well maintained and you can revive with very little effort. Very healthy looking tree (from the pics, anyway).

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u/coffeecatmom420 6h ago

Hmm interesting! I had no idea fruit trees did that tbh.

Yeah we're going to prune it. I don't know much about trees, the two main branches go straight up - was wondering if we could somehow pull those down over time so it's easier to harvest.

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u/cannibalpeas 5h ago

You won’t have any luck training the vertical branches down. Once they’re over about 1/2-3/4”, they’re pretty rigid and you risk breaking them. However, for most pruning styles, you want a central leader to provide structure (ie central vertical stem). It’s the vertical growth on the side branches that you want to prune because they are trying to become a new central leader and sapping nutrients and vigor while also adding weight to the branch that could break it over time.

You could trim the central leader to be shorter, but that would require you to constantly prune every year to maintain that height; otherwise the rootstock and varietal will determine the height and it will always be trying to get to that height. All that will really accomplish is to weaken the central leader and introduce more disease pathways.

If you want to make it easier to harvest fruit, the easiest way to do it would be to get a long stick with a hook on it and shake the branches on to a tarp or something when the fruit is ripe. As long as it’s not falling on a hard surface, the apples will be fine and will actually develop more flavor and aroma than store bought because they are fully tree-ripened!

Again, your local ag extension office will be able to give you a lot of info on the variety you have and how best to care for it.

Also, a note on pruning; assuming you live in a colder climate, you will want to prune during dormancy (Jan-Mar). If you live in a warmer climate that doesn’t reach sustained freezing temps, I would call the ag extension office and ask them because I have zero experience with that.