Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: Trikidiki on February 03, 2016, 21:23

Title: Aldi Fruit Trees
Post by: Trikidiki on February 03, 2016, 21:23
Just popped into Aldi this evening, they have their 'top fruit' trees in.

Didn't have time to stop and note all the varieties but from (failing) memory.

Apple: Granny Smith, Gala (cooker) and Golden Delicious.
Pears: I think it was three varieties, one was Williams, the other two were ones I am not familiar with.
Cherries: One sweet and one sour, not the usual suspects (Stella, Morello etc)
Plum: Two purple varieties, one I think was Stanley, the other was a German sounding name starting with 'R' but I can't find it online.

All at £3.49


Title: Re: Aldi Fruit Trees
Post by: Mr Rotavator on February 03, 2016, 21:50
Just popped into Aldi this evening, they have their 'top fruit' trees in.

Didn't have time to stop and note all the varieties but from (failing) memory.

Apple: Granny Smith, Gala (cooker) and Golden Delicious.
Pears: I think it was three varieties, one was Williams, the other two were ones I am not familiar with.
Cherries: One sweet and one sour, not the usual suspects (Stella, Morello etc)
Plum: Two purple varieties, one I think was Stanley, the other was a German sounding name starting with 'R' but I can't find it online.

All at £3.49

I purchased a Granny Smith the year before last. I got a few good apples off this year and it is looking like it is going to be a strong and productive tree. The only issue I have is that it is not a Granny Smith! I would say it is, or very similar to a Braeburn.

Title: Re: Aldi Fruit Trees
Post by: Trikidiki on February 03, 2016, 22:05
I purchased a Granny Smith the year before last. I got a few good apples off this year and it is looking like it is going to be a strong and productive tree. The only issue I have is that it is not a Granny Smith! I would say it is, or very similar to a Braeburn.

Let's hope they've got their act together, I bought one. As much as I like Braeburn I already have one.
Title: Re: Aldi Fruit Trees
Post by: Yorkie on February 03, 2016, 22:26
You need to be very careful with cheap trees from supermarkets, simply because they often do not have the rootstock listed.  This means that you could well end up with a full sized tree, which may not be appropriate for your garden / allotment.
Title: Re: Aldi Fruit Trees
Post by: Goneterseed on February 03, 2016, 22:37
So if you buy one of these supermarket trees and it turns out to be getting a bit big, would it not suffice to give it a good pruning each year, or is it not that simple?
Title: Re: Aldi Fruit Trees
Post by: mrsbean on February 03, 2016, 23:27
My plot neighbour is going to buy one. I bought a cheap one from B&M a few years back it has gone from strength to strength. This year we had 15 of the blue plastic mushroom trays full of apples, they are eaters or cookers. It was a Jonagold  ht10-15 foot. I just prune at a fashion to keep it tidy. Has,nt reached that yet about 9foot.
Title: Re: Aldi Fruit Trees
Post by: lettice on February 04, 2016, 08:38
Saw this about the rootstock of the Aldi fruit trees on another forum
Might consider one of the apple ones Myself. Cannot really go wrong at that price.

Quote
Thanks for your message. We can confirm that the Fruit Trees will be on sale from the 4th February and the rootstock will be as follows:
Apples, – These will be budded onto a “M9 Dwarf” rootstock, which will fruit earlier.
Cherry, – These are budded on to “Colt” rootstock which has uniformed growth pattern, it is semi vigorous and will not grow too large.
Pear, – These are budded on to a “Quince A” rootstock which is a virus free example.
Plums, – Will be budded onto a “St Julian A” root stock or a “Myrobolane” root stock these are virus free and semi vigorous growing.
We hope this helps. Thanks again. Laura Aldi UK Team
Title: Re: Aldi Fruit Trees
Post by: Trikidiki on February 04, 2016, 08:52
My primary reason for buying was a source of scion material for my grafting projects, the fact they came with a tree attached is a bonus. The Golden Delicious may be used to replace my existing one which had two major limbs broken off by too much fruit.

I already have five Aldi apples, three pears, three plums and two apricots. All have been fine except the apricots which were slightly abused. One has suckered and the scion died but it has been a source of apricot rootstock that I have bought different scions to graft to.
Title: Re: Aldi Fruit Trees
Post by: ghost61 on February 04, 2016, 09:57
The cherry tree variety is Burlat and needs another early cherry to pollinate it.  A Stella will do, so,watch out if you don't have any other cherry trees.  I bought three this morning all in fine vigour and showing green buds already!!
Title: Re: Aldi Fruit Trees
Post by: Lardman on February 04, 2016, 11:40
I've been waiting for those to show up.

That's a shame their apples are on M9 - I'm sure last year or the year before I read they on m26 which made them a cheap source of grafting play material.

Im not going mad - I did  2014 Aldi Fruit tree root stock (https://madebylova.wordpress.com/2014/02/09/aldi-fruit-trees-2014-rootstock/)

Might have nose around my local to see if there's anything tempting.  :lol:
Title: Re: Aldi Fruit Trees
Post by: jaydig on February 04, 2016, 12:07
 The year before last I bought three fruit trees from another supermarket. One Bramley, one Jonagold and one Opal plum.  To date the Bramley isn't a Bramley, the Jonagold isn't a Jonagold, and the jury's still out on the plum tree because it has yet to fruit.  Neither of the apple trees produced fruit worth using, so I'm just waiting to see what the plum tree produces.
Title: Re: Aldi Fruit Trees
Post by: Trikidiki on February 04, 2016, 12:45
Bu&&er.

I have definetly lost it.

Just looked at the labels in daylight and it appears I didn't get the Golden Delicious, I picked up the Gala by mistake. Now, do I risk going down to get a Golden Delicious and probably come home with three more trees or just grin and bear it. Checking on-line says Gala is an eater not a cooker as it says on the label. So will it be a cooker which isn't Gala or 'Gala and not a cooker'?


Title: Re: Aldi Fruit Trees
Post by: Goneterseed on February 04, 2016, 13:00
I usually miss these bargains but succeded this morning in getting a Cherry Hedelfinger which is a self fertile sweet cherry and ripens late July, and a plum Stanley, again self fertile eating plum.
Title: Re: Aldi Fruit Trees
Post by: Trikidiki on February 04, 2016, 18:16
Some of the other varieties they have.

Pear: Butirra, Williams, Concord, Santa Maria
Sweet Cherry: Hedelfinger
Plum: Rythgestetter


Title: Re: Aldi Fruit Trees
Post by: solway cropper on February 04, 2016, 23:33
A couple of people have mentioned this but what you see on the label with these cheap trees may not be anything like what you actually get. I have a four-year-old 'Bramley' which is hardly any bigger than the day I bought it and a six-year-old 'plum' which is large and vigorous and has yet to produce any blossom!!

Having said all that I also got a Jonagold which is exactly what it should be and has fruited this last two years.

I suppose at the price they are you might as well just go for it and hope for the best.
Title: Re: Aldi Fruit Trees
Post by: Trikidiki on February 05, 2016, 08:44
"What is in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet"

I might have bought one of the same batch of Bramleys. It hasn't grown much and the few fruits it has produced didn't look like Bramleys. I had put the size down to the fact I had planted it near to a willow just over the plot boundary and it probably being a dwarf stock. The Golden Delicious  bought at the same time is further away and is no taller but stockier and produced so much fruit last year that even after two lots of thinning it broke two limbs under the weight of apples.
All the other trees I bought at the same time are performing as expected.

Have you considered 'ring-barking' your plum?
Title: Re: Aldi Fruit Trees
Post by: mrsbean on February 08, 2016, 23:07
Was at aldi yesterday, fruit trees looked healthy. A chap turned up, looked like he had just come from digging, wearing clogs and covered in mud. He spent ages checking everyone out, untill he was happy with his choice. OH was cross because i wanted to see if he bought. Called it nosey. I called it a survey.
Title: Re: Aldi Fruit Trees
Post by: fallen angel on February 09, 2016, 08:52
Ok I have had a quck google but need to leave soon so am getting in a flap lol.

I want to buy some of these trees this afternoon but I can't work out what ones I can have that do not need another to produce fruit?

How can I tell? What should I look for on the label?

Many thanks.

P.s I was hoping to but a granny smith, plum and cherry.
Title: Re: Aldi Fruit Trees
Post by: fallen angel on February 09, 2016, 09:04
Ok from what I can gather I can get a granny smith and a stanley plum but the 2 cherry trees are sterile and can't pair with each other.

Fingers crossed aldi have what I'm looking for and they turn out to be what the label says :-)
Title: Re: Aldi Fruit Trees
Post by: m1ckz on February 09, 2016, 09:31
i got 4 yesturdat  2 apple a pear and a cherry     got home an read the lable    cherry was a sour cherry   anyone know what this means   ty
Title: Re: Aldi Fruit Trees
Post by: snowdrops on February 09, 2016, 09:45
i got 4 yesturdat  2 apple a pear and a cherry     got home an read the lable    cherry was a sour cherry   anyone know what this means   ty

It means you need to cook the cherries before you eat them & add sugar unless of course you like the insides stripping from your mouth 😄😄, I don't like over sweet things but boy are they sour. I've got a morello cherry that is a sour cherry, absolutely lovely in jams,syrup etc.
Title: Re: Aldi Fruit Trees
Post by: m1ckz on February 09, 2016, 10:47
ok thanks    may discard that 1 then  lol
Title: Re: Aldi Fruit Trees
Post by: Goneterseed on February 09, 2016, 14:12
The cherry that I got from Aldi is Hedelfinger which is a sweet cherry.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hedelfinger-Cherry-Self-Fertile-Ready-Fruit-Dark/dp/B00FKUUI5W
Title: Re: Aldi Fruit Trees
Post by: Trikidiki on February 09, 2016, 17:17
ok thanks    may discard that 1 then  lol

If you are discarding it, would you mind cutting off a couple of 'twigs' I could use as scions, I am grafting lots of fruit this year.
Title: Re: Aldi Fruit Trees
Post by: Trikidiki on February 09, 2016, 17:22
...........but the 2 cherry trees are sterile and can't pair with each other.

Don't give up on them, I'm sure if you look around there will be more cherries around your area which may be close enough to be pollinators, remember bees will forage over 1.5 miles and when the cherries are in blossom there may not be much else for them to forage in the area so they my be visiting lots of cherries.

Failing that you could always buy some suitable cherry scions online and graft onto one of the trees you have bought.
Title: Re: Aldi Fruit Trees
Post by: fallen angel on February 09, 2016, 17:56
I'v not seen any cherry trees around and I don't have many neighbours so I will wait and see if I can find one that doesn't need another or failing that a pair for each other  :D
Title: Re: Aldi Fruit Trees
Post by: m1ckz on February 09, 2016, 18:24
trikidiki
yes i think i can get u a few twigs 
Title: Re: Aldi Fruit Trees
Post by: Trikidiki on February 09, 2016, 20:14
I'v not seen any cherry trees around and I don't have many neighbours so I will wait and see if I can find one that doesn't need another or failing that a pair for each other  :D

What varieties are they, I may have one that would be a pollinator and could send you a bit to try grafting.
Title: Re: Aldi Fruit Trees
Post by: snowdrops on February 09, 2016, 22:00
ok thanks    may discard that 1 then  lol

That would be a shame they really are lovely when cooked, think pie,crumble or even ice cream, wait for
Mrs Bee to come along she'll have loads of recipes at her finger tips.
Title: Re: Aldi Fruit Trees
Post by: fallen angel on February 10, 2016, 10:32
I'v not seen any cherry trees around and I don't have many neighbours so I will wait and see if I can find one that doesn't need another or failing that a pair for each other  :D

What varieties are they, I may have one that would be a pollinator and could send you a bit to try grafting.

Thank you that's very kind but I wouldn't have a clue how to do that or where to start.
Title: Re: Aldi Fruit Trees
Post by: Trikidiki on February 10, 2016, 19:37
Have a look at this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSvHn5XJq0Q (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSvHn5XJq0Q)

You've got nothing to lose by trying it.