CyberSalad: Garden Pursuits: Fruits and Berries: Apples

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Malus pumila

Apples, the most familiar of all temperate-climate fruits, are grown throughout the world in innumerable varieties. Most are 2 to 4 inches in diameter, but vary in color from bright red to yellow and green, and many are blended and striped rather than a solid color. The fragrant blossoms are about 1 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter and change from pink to white as they open in spring. Fortunately for home gardeners, apple trees are now available in the practical dwarf and semi-dwarf forms that bear fruit of comparable size to the standard varieties, and bear more quickly, as well.
Apple trees grow best in soil with a pH of 5.5 to 6.5. Buy vigorous one- or two-year old trees and plant them in late fall or early spring. Plant standard apple trees 40 feet apart, semi-dwarf trees 20 feet apart, and dwarf trees 10 to 12 feet apart. After the "June drop," when apple trees thin their fruit themselves, fruit should be further thinned so apples are 6 to 7 inches apart. One of the many problems of apple growing has always been the control of insects and diseases; about two dozen types of insects attack apple trees, and apples are vulnerable to several fungus and bacterial diseases. To be assured of pest free apples, set up a spraying schedule. Apples should be picked by hand when ripe but still firm.

	Dwarf Granny Smith, Crunchy fresh, soft and juicy cooked. Flavor blends beautifully with sugar and spices. By late October the skin is still green, but flavor is at its peak. Stores 6 months in cold storage. Zones 5-9.
	Dwarf Cortland, Sweet-tart flavor. Big red apples are extra juicy, especially good in fruit salad--cut flesh stays white. Heavy crops benefit from early thinning. Ripens in mid-September. Zones 4-8.

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Site launched January 1, 2000.
Site updated September 1, 2007.