Clifford Armstrong Iii

Hey everyone,

I have a few apple trees I've grown from seed. Two of which started producing in the 2nd year...its now the 3rd year.

I haven't pruned them at all, but I'm wondering about whether or not I need to thin the apples. It's too late for that this year, but the apples were very small last year and this year, more like crabapples. I'm wondering if its because they're not clones of other varieties and that's just how they are, or because I've elected not to thin them. There are a few apple trees near my home that are not kept at all, but they aren't "wild" either. Those have apples that are about 3x larger than mine without anyone thinning them.

Just wondering if any apple growers out there have experience with non-thinned apple trees and what their apples came out like.

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:Many plants have a genetic mechanism which prevents self-pollination. It is called "Self-incompatibility". The way it typically works is that there is a collection of genes, for purposes of this example, we'll call them the S gene. But there isn't just one S gene in the species, there are a bunch of them, so there will be s1, s2, s3, s4, s5, s6, s7, s8, s9, etc...  So if the apple tree that I planted has the s5 gene, then it can be pollinated by pollen that carries any of the S genes other than s5.

Thanks for the answer. So, for clarity, when we say "self-incompatibility" we mean ANY of the same "s5" plants, not just a different flower of the same tree? And is there somewhere that has a documented list of these genes?

Would I be correct to assume then, that either Malus Fusca can pollinate with itself OR there is another plant in the wild it pollinates with that is not an apple. Considering that there is no other native apple.

Hey folks,

Can someone explain to me how it is that some trees need cultivars of other trees to pollinate? That makes very little sense to me as a necessity scientifically speaking. I'm looking at making a native plant orchard, which would include a Malus Fusca. Considering it is the only native apple to my region, I highly doubt that it needs to cross-pollinate with another Malus that is not native to its region. This is true for other fruiting trees of the region as well. Can someone rectify these two truths for me? (Truth 1: Apple trees need cross pollination with other cultivars. Truth 2: This apple tree is the only native apple tree.)

Thanks!

Thanks for the info everyone!

Hey everyone,

First-time poster... I looked for a bit and didn't see anything immediately about this. Would having two nitrogen fixing plants in one guild improve yield for the other plants? For example, I live in Western Washington and am wondering what would happen if I were to plant red alder, cloves, and dwarf cherries. Would having both nitrogen fixers improve the yield as opposed to one (in the hypothetical non-existing controlled environment)?

Thanks