The best growth will come from good-quality, deep soil that is reliably moist in the warmer months. An apple is, however, very adaptable and will grow in both sandy and clay soils, provided it does not become waterlogged. It can be a wee bit fussy with soil pH, preferring a neutral soil of pH 6–7.
Apples prefer a slightly acidic to neutral soil (pH between 5.8 and 7.0). Extreme soil pH values result in nutrient tie-up or toxicity and poor tree and fruit development. It is important to amend the pH in acidic soils by incorporating lime before planting.
Apple trees thrive when growing in a location that receives full sun and has a well-drained, fertile soil. Full sun translates to at least six- to eight-hours of sunlight during the growing season.
Most of commercial apple tree varieties thrive in cold and wet climate, where a cold winter is followed by cool spring and summer. Abundant sunlight is necessary, as it significantly affects the color of the fruit. Generally, the apple tree has greater needs in cold than most of other deciduous fruit trees.
Apple trees require full sun, so choose a spot where the sun shines directly on the tree for at least 8 hours each day.
Apples require around 20 inches (1.7 ac-ft) of water during the growing season, meaning supplemental water from an irrigation ditch or a well must be applied (Handley, 2018). The correct volume and frequency of irrigation is important to the overall health of the trees.
All trees should be fertilized in spring, before June 1. Young apple trees (1-3 years) should grow 12” or more per year. If they are growing less than that, increase the fertilizer in subsequent years by 50%.
Calcium in the form of calcium chloride is recommended because of its proven effectiveness and lower cost. Often early season sprays are liquid calcium products which tank mix easier. Make sure that the liquid and calcium chloride applications you use combined equal the total per season goal.
Apples are commonly grown in Victoria, Tasmania and cooler areas of western Australia, South Australia and New South Wales, and are becoming easier to grow due to improved disease resistance.
Fujis are the most popular eating apples in America and an excellent choice for a backyard apple tree! These easy to grow trees produce sizeable fruit and are sweet and juicy with a crisp bite. Although Fuji apples brown easily, they have a long shelf life compared to other varieties.
Plant your apple in a full-sun position. They like lots of sunlight hours, especially as fruit is developing, but dislike intense heat. Apples have a mild degree of wind tolerance, but will always perform better if sheltered from strong or drying winds. They'll only do well in coastal areas if they have good shelter.
Some fast growing apple trees include Red Delicious and Yellow Delicious. They can grow up to 6-10 inches per year or more.
One possible answer is: Divide one apple into three equal parts and give one part to each person. Give the other whole apple to one of the persons and ask him or her to share it with the other two.
Growing a dwarf fruit tree in the garden
Dig a hole at least 40cm wide and 30cm deep. Backfill a mound in the centre of the hole. Check the trees level in the hole.
Some farmers will use boron fertiliser in autumn or shortly after the tree begins to flower. This will ensure the tree has enough boron in the summer. In some cases, you may want to use a foliar spray of nitrogen, but in most cases you'll have enough if you gave the tree enough in the spring.
The best time to water is in the morning or evening, so the roots have a chance to absorb most of the water. Unfortunately, there's no magic schedule for watering trees. How often you should water will depend on the size of your tree, soil conditions, and weather conditions.
Have you ever eaten fruit that just has NO flavour and is so tasteless that it leaves you disappointed? At the ripening stage, plants utilise Potassium to increase sugar levels to sweeten fruit so it is full of flavour and delicious juicy goodness.
Apple tree water requirements depend on rainfall. In general, for an established tree, you won't need to water it unless you are not getting much rain or there is a particularly dry spell or even drought. About an inch (2.5 cm.) or so of rainfall every week to ten days is adequate for most apple trees.
Once every 7- to 10-days (or even once every two weeks) is plenty. Worse than dry, thirsty roots are waterlogged, drowning roots.
An established tree needs at least 2Kg of 8:4:10 per year, and at least some of this needs to be synthetic as manure does not have much potassium in it. Apply the synthetic fertiliser (say, 2Kg) in spring and the manure (say, 5Kg) in autumn (so that, after breakdown, it is available to the plant from spring onwards).
The easiest fruit tree to grow for beginners is usually an apple tree, which has the benefit of being such a popular, versatile fruit. 'If you are seeking a more low-maintenance fruit tree, look to the plum or peach trees, which require less care than other fruit trees,' adds Smith.
My take on this: Soaking apples and pears is a method that works fine if you use plain water, but only for a very short time—I'd say less than 30 minutes, and ideally less than 15. Any longer, and your fruit will brown while the texture suffers.