News:

Picture posting is enabled for all :)

Main Menu

Rather soyur apples.

Started by davee52uk, August 09, 2008, 13:48:34

Previous topic - Next topic

davee52uk

I have an apple tree on my allotment. This has not done much in the way of fruit until a few years ago when I dratically pruned it. This year it has given the biggest harvest yet. This was at least 30 lbs of apples.

The apples are small, about 2 in in diameter and red when ripe. They ripen and fall off the tree in July and early August. They seem to be eating apples rather than cookers. There are other types of apple tree nearby but these do not produce the same types of apples.

Can anybody say what kind of apples they are?

Also the apples, even when ripe are not all sweet. They are definitely not crab apples. They are not very nice to eat so I am trying to make wine from them

Has anybody got any other ideas what I could use them for.

davee52uk


Borlotti

Try using them as cooking apples and mix with blackberries for crumble or pies.  I have/had six Brambley apples on my tree, have cooked three but if short of apples use any windfalls that people give me and make pies or cook apples and freeze in little containers as apple sauce.

ceres

Apple jelly and apple chutney.

artichoke

I inherited an old tree and the apples are not sweet until October - older people tell me it's a Cox. But if yours fall off the tree before October (and lots of mine do) I suppose it's something else.

I make loads of apple sauce out of them, and apple/mint jelly, chutney and so on.

Robert_Brenchley

Try keeping them for a bit after they fall. My Egremont Russet sometimes drops fruit before it's ready to eat. On the other hand, it could be a tree grown from a pip, and just not up to much.

jennym

Have not experienced premature dropping of apples myself, but understand that some diseases and pests can cause this - it certainly isn't what you want to happen.
The very fact that you say the apples are sour indicates that they aren't ripe.
Even cooking apples would be fairly sweet by the stage that they'd naturally fall from the tree in autumn. Don't know of any apples that are ripe in July/August.
Are/were there any brown blotches on the leaves? Is the bark cracked at all? Even if not apparently very bad, this could indicate a leaf spot or scab disease, this could cause the apples to drop. I've heard that red apples are more susceptible but don't know if this is true (I have no red skinned apples). Yours may be a Red Delicious, which does get scab, or a Spartan which also does. I don't know any more realy red skinned apples that are susceptible, maybe someone else does.
To deal with scab, avoid very heavy pruning all in one go which may encourage lots of soft stems and leafy growth, and you could spray thoroughly with a fungicide from spring onwards until the leaves harden up. Also, make sure there are no dead leaves or other tree litter left overwinter, as the fungus lives on these.
A comment about the size being small - if when the tree is healthy, the crop is still large, it is best to thin out the apples around end June/ early July after some will fall anyway. This will encourage the remaining apples to grow larger. I take about a third to half of mine off and use them for jelly etc.

Powered by EzPortal