Hello, I am quite new to growing fruit trees but I purchased a dwarf apple tree 18 months ago to keep in a large container. It has been doing well so I decided to expand and bought five different dwarf fruit trees in April. In order left to right in pic
Stella Compact Cherry
Gala Apple
Plum
Golden Delicious Apple
Pear
(Far Right my original Apple Tree)
[IMG]https://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/o581/miss-twizz/DSCF1543.jpg[/IMG]
They arrived roughly 5ft tall, bare rooted and VERY severely cut back. I was surprised and disappointed by how severely; I mean they had no side branches at all! They were basically just sticks and one (the cherry tree) had been chopped off at the top as well. Never the less I soaked the roots as advised and planted them in large containers with a mixture of top soil and John Inns No.3 (also as advised). I also used Root Grow (“friendly mycorrhizal fungiâ€
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[quote="tori24"]Hello, I am quite new to growing fruit trees but I purchased a dwarf apple tree 18 months ago to keep in a large container. It has been doing well so I decided to expand and bought five different dwarf fruit trees in April. In order left to right in pic
Stella Compact Cherry
Gala Apple
Plum
Golden Delicious Apple
Pear
(Far Right my original Apple Tree)
[img]https://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/o581/miss-twizz/DSCF1543.jpg[/img]
They arrived roughly 5ft tall, bare rooted and VERY severely cut back. I was surprised and disappointed by how severely; I mean they had no side branches at all! They were basically just sticks and one (the cherry tree) had been chopped off at the top as well. Never the less I soaked the roots as advised and planted them in large containers with a mixture of top soil and John Inns No.3 (also as advised). I also used Root Grow (“friendly mycorrhizal fungiâ€
Stella Compact Cherry
Gala Apple
Plum
Golden Delicious Apple
Pear
(Far Right my original Apple Tree)
[img]https://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/o581/miss-twizz/DSCF1543.jpg[/img]
They arrived roughly 5ft tall, bare rooted and VERY severely cut back. I was surprised and disappointed by how severely; I mean they had no side branches at all! They were basically just sticks and one (the cherry tree) had been chopped off at the top as well. Never the less I soaked the roots as advised and planted them in large containers with a mixture of top soil and John Inns No.3 (also as advised). I also used Root Grow (“friendly mycorrhizal fungiâ€
Hi Eric, thank you for your advice! I had been advised to remove all growth under the graft and I did this straight after I took the photo.
I have had a look by scraping bark off as you suggested and pretty much the whole of the Cherry tree looks dead above the foot or so of greenery, the Golden Delisious also only has about a foot that has any green underneath. As for the Plum & Pear, nothing
The pots are fairly small I agree, I was advised when I first bought my original apple tree that this size would be OK for the first year then to repot them in a slightly bigger one the next year and an even bigger one the year after. Then to refresh the compost/soil every few years. Does this sound right to you?
They came from Gardening Express (.co.uk) and yes I would advise anyone to avoid them based on my experience! They do claim to have a guarantee but it only applies to some of their plants!
Thankyou for your advice
Tori
I have had a look by scraping bark off as you suggested and pretty much the whole of the Cherry tree looks dead above the foot or so of greenery, the Golden Delisious also only has about a foot that has any green underneath. As for the Plum & Pear, nothing
The pots are fairly small I agree, I was advised when I first bought my original apple tree that this size would be OK for the first year then to repot them in a slightly bigger one the next year and an even bigger one the year after. Then to refresh the compost/soil every few years. Does this sound right to you?
They came from Gardening Express (.co.uk) and yes I would advise anyone to avoid them based on my experience! They do claim to have a guarantee but it only applies to some of their plants!
Thankyou for your advice
Tori