A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Plants and Flowers Forum Shrubs and Trees Apple Trees

I ordered 3 apple trees today and they will be delivered next Tuesday or Wednesday! I have a couple questions as this will be our first time planting apple trees.

Do we need to spray them their first year? Also, we were wondering if it would be good to put horse manure in the hole? I know it is good for plants but would it be good for the apple tree?

Ya know I maybe should have put this in the food garden forum?!? Could one of the hostesses move this if you think it should be over there? Thank you!

Anybody???

Nope, I didn't spray them for the first two years, you probably won't get any apples until then anyway depending on their size.

I use cow manure in my plants and trees but be careful if the manure is fresh it can burn the roots. I use a burlap bag of manure and soak it into a pail of water and use the water to fertilize my plants. Kind of a manure tea.

Dig your hole at least twice as wide and twice as deep of the root ball on your tree.

Thank you so much Tamara! When I ordered the trees the guy said that they are about 5 ft tall and we would have some apples in two years and lots of apples in 3 years. I will wait to spray them then.

Our neighbor has horses and will give us manure. I will have to ask him if he has some old stuff or if it is all too fresh yet!

I will have to try making that manure tea! Is that the only thing you use for fertilizer then?

I use a vegetable fertilizer for my veggies but everything else gets manure tea.

I'm cheap. My grandparents grew everything and never used anything but manure and manure tea.

Yeah but that's what I would do too! Cheap is better in my eyes!

I have been told that fertilizing the first year can be stressful on the apple tree to wait till the next year.

Thanks Bonny! I appreciate the advice!

I agree with Bonny. Do not fertilize the first year. If you are using horse manure make sure it has been composted for a few years. If not, the compost may never have achieved a high enough temperature to kill the thousands of seeds, weeds and others, or the pathogens they may carry. If aphids appear don't hesitate to spray with an insecticidal soap. Sometimes even a sharp blast of water from the hose will remove them. Also don't be surprised if when you do get apples you may only get them every other year depending on the variety and your location. What variety is it?Minnesota ? I'm in Brainerd.