[courgette]

I bought 2 new trees (maidens) and they were container grown. I planted out 2 weeks ago & one tree looked like it was gonna die after a few days, but now has picked up again & the blossom has bloomed even more....the other tree that looked fine throughout has now lost all its blossom & I'm getting worried! I've mulched & watered as directed by the nurserys leaflet that came with the trees.....is this normal do you think?.....oh both trees leaves are a little crinkly too which to me seems like they're in need of water, but I don't want to over-water either!

[vegikev]

hi did the blossom open fully? pull back the mulch and see if the soil is moist. what rariety are they?

[DavidT]

It sounds to me as if they are already overwatered. Let them dry out a bit and they should recover. What varieties are they?

[courgette]

hi

yes the blossom had all opened fully, the better looking tree has the blossom out full at the moment.

They are falstaff & red pippin varieties.

[Babstreefern]

I've got a Scrumptous apple tree, and the blossom has now all gone (so has the cherry tree as well).  I love blossom, but it doesn't last long.  Anyway, I bought mine as bear rooted, in November 2 years ago, and I planted them in a spot which was really boggy in the winter.

Then last November I swapped plots, dug up my trees and moved them to a spot on a slight slope, so they won't be water logged.  They've just now lost their blossom, so they're OK. 

I don't think you should worry, the trees will sort themselves out eventually, just look forward to some fruit growing.  Let us know in a couple of months if you have any.

[richyrich7]

Blossom drop is quite common on newly planted trees, as long as the leaves look ok I'd not over worry make sure you water well by that I mean a good couple of buckets full once a week perhaps twice if it gets really hot. Don't water a little bit every day that just encourages the roots to move upwards.
Just resign yourself to a 1st year without fruit from that tree.

I've put two bare rooted trees in this year both are flowering well but I'm not expecting any fruit in fact I'll probably remove 90% of the young fruit so not to put too much strain on the young tree.

[Trillium]

Richy's right, putting out fruit in its first permanent year is really a strain on the plant. It sacrifices growth and vitality for a few fruits which in a good windstorm could actually snap off the top leader of the tree if not a lot of side branches. I recall Monty Don making this mistake in his Fork to Fork series. All the good fruit experts recommend not allowing fruit the first year for these reasons. So, bite the bullet and pluck off all the flowers this year and you'll be amazed by the general growth spurt.

[strangerachael]

ugI've got a Scrumptous apple tree,

I've just planted a Scrumptious tree this year - are you pleased with it? Are the apples really scrumptious? 

[quote  So, bite the bullet and pluck off all the flowers this year and you'll be amazed by the general growth spurt.
[/quote]

And I was so looking forward to tasting my first apples - would it hurt to leave one or two, just so we get to sample them? 

[Babstreefern]

I must admit I didn't know about the first year.  Out of six applies, I managed to get one good apple (the other's either dropped off in the wind, or had some bore holes in them (probably insects, so I plucked them off (probably as well out of hindsight).  So I looked after the last apple, nursed it and in the Autumn, plucked it off (the Scrumptious apples don't drop off when they're ripe, you have to flick them off).  Anyway, I cut it into quarters a piece each for me, my hubby and my two next door mates on the allotment.  It really was scrumptious.

I also had cherries on my Stella Cherry tree, but by the time I got back of my hols, the birds had had them.

The second year, I had about 10 apples, and out of all that, I harvested six.  So what happens this year (third), I shall wait and see

[courgette]

oh good luck with that apple tree. I have pulled most of the blossom off now, but have left a few on each as I would like to get just 1 good apple from each to see what they taste like!!