My second try at apple trees

My first try was many moons ago and all but one died. The survivor (William's Pride) is still growing on the property in Camp Verde AZ.
Today I received two bare root trees from Stark Bros around 2:30 PM and got them in the ground by 5PM.
Tomorrow I will set up some deer fence.

The bare root trees looked quite healthy. The Braeburn was leafing out already!



A water soak for a couple of hours while I dug the holes



There is about 6 inches of loosened soil at the bottom of an 18-inch-deep hole. That is covered with about 4 shovels of cooked compost, another six inches of native soil, another layer of good composty soil to get me up to the right depth for the root balls and leave the graft point a couple inches above the ground level.

The Braeburn



The Pioneer McIntosh



The trees are dwarf and semi-dwarf varieties. I spaced them about 13 feet apart.



Someone on FB told me that using a metal tree stake somehow channels energy to the trees for faster growth and better production. Sounds like hooey to me, but I thought I'd ask the hivemind about it.
Anyone heard of this?

I've got lots of questions, why cook the compost?
Is the rootstock suitable for your local soil type? Same as the one that took? Are you sure the rootstock will root where now there is bark if you bury it that deep? Personally i wouldn't take the risk, because it might rot and what does it matter if the stem is a bit higher. Tree grafters sometimes put an extra grafted stem in between the rootstock and topgraft which is known for not branching out.
Are you sure it's getting enough sun with all those pine trees around? And how do those pine needles affect the pH.
I know it's better late then never,but i try to time so that i get to plant my trees in autumn so they get a bit of time to get used and maybe send out some early roots before summer heat hits them.
Electroculture, what i've seen of it, my friend did a mini test with some copper wires sprouting seeds in the same location, same day,same soil, the differences were impressively leaning towards the electroculture pot. When asked if he was going to do his whole garden like that now, he chuckled and said that's too much work. Just what i thought when i saw films with gigantic legumes. But why not, if you're a garden freak with a small garden and money to spend?  

Hugo Morvan wrote:I've got lots of questions,

"Cooked" is my way of saying "completed". It's raw compost from the compost bin that has finished.

I am not aware that engineered rootstock is created with specific soil types in mind. The one that survived many years ago is in a different location than I am now. Different climate, different elevation, different soil, different parent nursery, etc.
The trees that died all died in 5-gallon buckets as the nursery provided very small, grafted trees and I was in process of growing them for eventual planting in another location. They got some sort of leaf rot. The survivor eventually got transplanted into an existing orchard with 10 other apples, a pear, several pecan trees, a couple of plums, and a walnut tree. As of last year, it was the only apple that survived a late frost.

I'm not following the correlation between planting depth and bark being present. I'm also not sure why it would matter much. Please explain.  The root ball on these trees was bout 9-10 inches deep out of the box. that is the planting depth used.
The additional digging and soil prep was to provide a suitable medium for root propagation. High nutrient rich and non-compacted soil.

The spot was chosen in part because of the amount of sun it receives. The pine trees provide some shade in mid-day, but the area receives ample sun.

Pine needles do not affect soil ph. This is a myth. Pine needles are slightly more acidic when green than when they are brown and dry. They are basically just like leaves, except they take longer to break down.

Stark Bros. provides a root prep fertilizer to aid the tree in root production and a schedule for use over the coming months. They also guarantee survival. I am hopeful.

Interesting anecdote about "electroculture". That's a new word for me. It sounds like your friend tried it with vegetables, but not trees?  I watched some videos a while back about using copper wire with tomatoes, but the results were inconsequential.

Joshua,

May I ask you why do you plant so late in such an aggressive climate?
My conditions are a little bit more gentle and none of the trees I planted after April, ever survived - regardless of the species and cultivar, regardless of how I planted and how much I watered or mulched. Finally I have realized that January works the best for my new trees - lower temperatures and natural soil moisture helping build the roots and giving some adaptation before merciless high UV sun hits.

Cristobal Cristo wrote:Joshua,

May I ask you why do you plant so late in such an aggressive climate?
My conditions are a little bit more gentle and none of the trees I planted after April, ever survived - regardless of the species and cultivar, regardless of how I planted and how much I watered or mulched. Finally I have realized that January works the best for my new trees - lower temperatures and natural soil moisture helping build the roots and giving some adaptation before merciless high UV sun hits.

Yesterday was technically my last frost date according to the zip code per USGS data or something like that. My elevation is 7250 above sea level.
We are entering the rainy season here, so I am hoping that there will be plenty of natural moisture to augment my watering.   It rains periodically for about 15 minutes once or twice a day when the weather hits. If I had planted in April, I would have had multiple nights below freezing to contend with. As it was, last night the low temp was 40*F.  There are too many chill hours here to grow peaches and other stone fruit.

Just moved here from 9a about 7 months ago. This is a very steep learning curve for me.

I'm not following the correlation between planting depth and bark being present. I'm also not sure why it would matter much. Please explain.  The root ball on these trees was bout 9-10 inches deep out of the box. that is the planting depth used.
The additional digging and soil prep was to provide a suitable medium for root propagation. High nutrient rich and non-compacted soil.  

Your left tree seems to have quite a long bit of rootless bark before the graft. Why bury it?

Everyday is a learning day. Pine trees don't make soil acid, they like acid soils. Ok.

Best of luck.

Joshua States wrote:Yesterday was technically my last frost date

You are planting dormant trees so frost date is rather irrelevant. My last frost is at the end of March. One time I got one in the middle of May and fully leafed out apples, pears, plums, sour cherries, quinces did not care a bit. Some trees are more sensitive to frost. For example chestnuts, pomegranates or figs would lose all leaves.
I think this may be the major reason why your trees are dying - planting them so late in a harsh high altitude climate.

Hugo Morvan wrote:
Your left tree seems to have quite a long bit of rootless bark before the graft. Why bury it?

Everyday is a learning day. Pine trees don't make soil acid, they like acid soils. Ok.

Best of luck.

OK I get it now. The instructions that came with the trees said to plant them as deep as they were in the nursery. I guess I kind of assumed that bright pink paint line was the planting depth.

Cristobal Cristo wrote:

Joshua States wrote:Yesterday was technically my last frost date

I think this may be the major reason why your trees are dying - planting them so late in a harsh high altitude climate.

The trees that died were 10-years ago, in the desert zone 9a, and got some sort of leaf scab. They are completely unrelated to this environment.

Joshua States wrote:They are completely unrelated to this environment.

I'm sorry for the misinterpretation. Nonetheless I support very early planting. Good luck.
I can share a quick list of which apples survived my climate which has some features of high dessert due to high diurnal changes, frequent freezes in winter and very arid summers.

Antonovka 1 grows very well
Antonovka 2 hit by the heat wave
Antonovka 3 grafted with Yellow Transparent died, root suckers growing
Antonovka 4 grafted with Melba died
Lodi grows very, very poorly
Gravenstein did not wake up after the winter
Dolgo 1 doing great
Dolgo 2 doing great
Belle de Boskoop growing well
Black Oxford growing well
Calville Blanc d’Hiver died, replaced with Ashmead Kernel that also died
Cox’s Orange Pippin died
Redfield doing great, had a lot of flowers, but no apples yet
Zabergau Reinette died
Binet Rouge was doing well but did not wake up
Golden Russet died, suckers got grafted with Knobbed Russet and all died
Bramley's will have fruits
Williams Pride had fruits last year but did not make it
Spitzburg grows

All my apples are on standard Antonovka rootstock. Dolgos are seedlings.
So after my initial excitement of apples growing well I realized that they do not.

Hugo Morvan wrote:

Your left tree seems to have quite a long bit of rootless bark before the graft. Why bury it?

Everyday is a learning day. Pine trees don't make soil acid, they like acid soils. Ok.

Best of luck.

I took this seriously and l dug that one up and replanted it. I raised the root ball by about 4-5 inches and got that barked trunk above the soil line. Thanks again for the advice.



I also added some cardboard for weed and evaporation control on both trees.



Then I put the mulch back, added some wood chips to the leaf mulch, and replaced the trunk guard.