[kezlou]

I just saw this advertised on  this web site:-
http://www.gardenbargains.com/appleOffer

Now i would love some apple trees to grow in pots but sadly missed out on them when they were being sold in Lidl.Can any of you wonderful people recommend these apple trees?

Thanks x


http://www.gardenbargains.com/appleOffer

"Yes, it’s true!… we need our land back so we are giving away our remaining stock of healthy apple trees so we can plant new trees for next season. So claim your FREE Apple Trees NOW!

Apple Offere are privileged to bring you these premium quality fruit trees, which commercial growers are terrified of you finding out about! … WHY? Our Apple Trees have a secret root system that keeps the trees from growing more than 6-7ft tall, so you can harvest your bumper fruit crops without ladders, stretching or effort. But that’s not all… Once established, you will grow massive crops of fantastic fresh fruits year-in/year-out AND your trees need only a small space in which to thrive in your garden or patio/balcony (in pots),
simply brilliant!

You will receive one each of these apple classics, Jonagold and Diva (while stocks last). All we ask is that you just pay for the cost of shipping, handling & insurance of £12.90.

Jonagold Apple
This is possibly one of the crunchiest apples you could ever eat and it has a fantastic flavour. Bred in the USA, Jonagold is a cross between the much loved, sweet-flavoured Golden Delicious and the zingy flavoured Jonathon. The marriage of these two varieties has given us large attractive, stripy skin fruits which are crisp, sweet and juicy with a gleaming white honeyed flesh which is a joy to eat. They thrive in UK climate and you can pick the fruit in late October/ early November and store them in cool, frost-free conditions for use anytime up to the end of January.

Diva Apple
Diva is one of the most productive apples you can grow at home – it will produce 30-40 red-blushed apples within the first year of planting with heavier yields in years to come. It has a sweet flavour with a delicious tangy bite which is popular with everyone. Diva prefers a cooler damp climate and is ideal for growing in your garden. It is scab and mildew resistant. Pick your fruit during October and they will keep for 8-10 weeks if kept in a cool, frost-free place.
Apple Offer"

[peapod]

Good find Kez, now that looks good. Im sorely tempted as the little one will love these on his bit of the plot(and me too!), I like the pear/plum/apple offer too..
Anyone help?I havent grown fruit before, and cant plant trees at lotty

Paula

[jonewer]

Hi Kezlou,

You should do some research to make sure these are what the people claim them to be.

Many of the trendy apple varieties you see in the shops are totally unsuited to being home grown, either in terms of climate or pest control.

I would urge you to look around and find a supplier of traditional English apple varieties that are suited to your particular region and micro-climate. Many of these varieties are ancient, far more tatsy than run-of-the-mill supermarket varieties, and they part of out heritage but are being driven to extinction because Tescos only sells golden delicious and royal gala from saskatchwan and timbuktu.

May cost of few bob more, but you'd be doing your bit to preserve part of the nations heritage and I for one would thank you!

edit - I swear I have no vested interest in these chaps, never even bought anything from them so cant say for sure, but Bernwode Plants sell a fantastic variety of traditional British apples. They seem to be "the business" look them up on the web, I'm sure they can advise if you call them up. They claim to provide ready-potted trees for £15 plus £16 for courier delivery for up to 4 trees.

extra edit - most of the modern varieties are selected on appearance and transportability (you can sling them in a crate without bruising them) rather than quality of taste or ease of cultivation. In reality, these commercial varieties are bred to look nice and shiny, and to have a bland but sweet flavour.

extra extra edit - Other things to consider are:

Frost - If you live in an area or plant in a micro-climate that is prone to frost then there is a danger that a frost will kill all the blossoms and destroy the entire season's crop.

Early or late fruiting - early crops will need to be eaten immediately they are ripe. Mid fruiting will need to be picked Sep/Oct and will keep for a month or two. Late crops often need to be kept until as late as April for the full flavour to develop but at least you have apples throughout the winter! Early apples may have some good flavours going on that you will not find in mid or lates so strike a balance.

Pollination - All apple trees need another nearby tree to pollinate and render a crop. Some are self-fertilizing to an extent but to get a good crop you need cross-pollinating trees reasonably close by (50m) that flower at roughly the same time in order to get a good crop. Planting a crab apple is a good idea as they are excellent pollinators. Cant eat them but they look jolly pretty and can be made into jam, or so I've heard.

[loam ranger]

I bought 2 apple trees from Lidl when they were last on sale, they were planted strait  away as per instructions, they are both starting to come into leaf now and one has had  floweres on it :?
Geoff

[vegikev]

hi all. i looked at the link and the "magic/secret" :?  rootstock is called m27 which is widely available from any fruit tree supplier ( grows 5-6 ft) with 15-20lb of fruit when mature. the pictures on the link show that the fruit is not that big, but is plentiful due to the lack of thinning. gala is a very good self pollinator.
 :idea: do you live near any fruit farms as farmers only pay 4-5 pounds for a tree and you may be able to buy from him/her. imho your better off spending £5 more and knowing what your getting and accually paying for.

hope this is of use to you

[FCG]

Jonagold is useless as it is a sterile triploid requiring 2 different pollens, requiring 2 trees. So unless you can fit another 2 in or you have a few trees already near you you're not going to get many or any fruit. Even more uselessly it doesn't produce any pollen. (not 100% on that point however)

I bought 2 trees from lidl and i plan to give them away to someone who can use them near me - a pear burre hardy is the other one. Useless! blooming useless!

So in my advice i'd say go with jonewer's excellent advice! It's very sensible, unless you can find a more suitable tree in a local garden centre.

[kezlou]

Thank you all very very much for all you advice. I had no idea that so much had to be considered before buying apple trees.

I don't have any fruit farms near me as such, as i don't have a car can't really get to them.
Think i might have a go at Acklam nursery or B & Q and see if they sell any, *fingers crossed* a bus will go there.

Diva sounds like a good to buy as its self pollinating.

jonewer:- Sorry to be a pain:-

Are they any heritage trees which are a dwarf variety that would only say need one more other tree to polinate with?
Sorry i'm useless i know.  :oops:
Thanks again
Kerry

[jonewer]

jonewer:- Sorry to be a pain:-

Are they any heritage trees which are a dwarf variety that would only say need one more other tree to polinate with?
Sorry i'm useless i know.  :oops:
Thanks again
Kerry

Hi Kerry,

As I understand, the size of the tree will depend on what root-stock the scions has been grafted onto. So you should be able to get virtually any apple as a dwarf.

I am certain that you can find a pair of trees that will cross-pollinate well but because there are literaly hundreds of varieties on offer from various suppliers, I would recommend phoning them and asking their advice.

Do a google search to find suppliers - I like the look of Bernwode Plants although I cant vouch for them at all never having used them myself - they are the only ones I can find that sell potted rather than bare-root trees, which has a number of advantages.  

[kezlou]

Thanks jonewer for replying so quickly, took a look at real english fruit an di have sent them an email stating my requirements and  if they could advise me on which type of apple to get.
Hopefully i'll hear back from them soon.

Found a couple more sites and quite like the look of keepers-nursery as it gives me the option to select trees which are self pollinating and are suitable for the north. Off to look at Bernwode Plants now to see which ones suitable for the north.

Thanks again for your advice, be afraif i might end up contacting you with more questions, if thats okay?

As soon as i have any more info i'll let you all know.

[SG6]

M27 rootstock will get to about 6 ft,
M9 will get to about 10 ft,
M26 to around 12 ft.

Slight proviso is the apple type, if it is a triploid then it will be more vigerous and will grow bigger. Bramleys are triploids as are a fair few others that are common.

M27 and M9 should be staked for support throughout their lives.
The M27 rootball is about 18-24 ins across. (Moved mine lots)

Haven't read everything but what is a Heritage Tree?

[pushrod]

agree with previous posters about staking M27 root stock. They will need staking with a thick, treated post otherwise it will rot to coincide with your best crop and your pride and joy will end up horizontal. Don't ask how i know this  

Haven't read the article but wouldn't a heritage tree just be an old established variety. Part of the trick for trees that are triploid/polyploid is to have the other trees flowering at the same time as it is quite possible to have some flowering late and others flowering early so that they miss each other.