Growing apples

A lot will depend on what rootstock they are on and also how well prepared the planting hole was.

Getting them off to a good start is all it is, a good start. After that it's down to good pruning and good feeding. You can spray and interfere as much as you like but a lot of it is guesswork and you can do as much harm as good. I leave mine alone but feed them well with a mulch of manure every year and keep the weeds at bay. After that it's up to mother nature.
Like all plants that crop you will get good years and bad years. Last year most of my apples were on the small side but there were plenty of them and they had a great taste with all the sunshine. If you see lots of earwigs then that is a good sign because they are predating on the less welcome bugs.
For me the answer is optimum pollination, and then good soil and nutrients.
Then cross your fingers and stand back.

It may be that some tree's take longer then others to establish.All i do with my tree is give it some sulphate of potash to encourage more flowers.Put a grease band on it to stop bad creepy crawlies (i can't remember which ones).Then about the end of April I give it a mulch of manure/compost to keep the moisture in and to suppress the weeds.Im not an expert on pruning but as they are young trees id imagine that apart from removing any damaged branches it would be better to let it establish properly before interfering to much with it.My tree is a Egermont Russet

Quote from: jonewer on January 22, 2014, 11:15

What varieties did you plant?

Bramley
Cox's orange pippin
Braburn

None of these are brilliant garden varieties I'm afraid.

Cox is very hard to grow well, particularly in a wet climate.
Bramley is a vigorous tip bearing triploid, very prone to scab.
Braeburn, susceptible to rusts, mildew, scab, very susceptible to fireblight.

Not saying you will never get a good crop, but supermarket varieties rarely do very well in the garden......