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Fruit & Orchards

Newbie! Will my Apple tree cross w/ another?

16 years ago

Help! Just bought my first apple tree, Anna apple bare root. I have no experience growing apples. I surfed the Net and read that Annas need a pollinator nearby, which is not a problem as I have a "mystery"apple nearby that grew on its own several years ago.

Problem: mystery apple tastes awful! Sour and tasteless. Would my Anna "cross" with this other apple? Another site even said Annas pollinate best with only certain varieties.

Do I need to worry?

Thanks!

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Comments (5)

Scott F Smith
16 years ago
It is very likely that they will pollinate each other. The only bad case is where one blooms very early and the other very late. Also the fact that you are getting apples on this other tree means it also must have some pollinator, e.g. a crabapple in a neighbor's yard. So you likely have multiple pollinators for your Anna which further increases your odds of success.

Scott
austransplant
16 years ago
peebee

I suspect your concern is whether the apples produced on the Anna tree will taste bad if pollinated by the mystery tree. The answer is no. A pollinator tree has no effect on the taste of the apples produced, though a pollinator tree is needed in order for a tree to produce those apples. But if you took the seeds from these apples and planted them, then the resulting tree would be a cross between the Anna and mystery apple, and could well produce bad tasting apples. In general, apple trees grown from seed cannot be expected to produce good tasting apples, which is why orchardists grow grafted varieties, as you are doing with Anna.
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jellyman
16 years ago
Peebee:

I have the impression that your concern is that cross-pollination of your Anna with the sour, tasteless apple might negatively affect the apples of your Anna.

You can relax. No matter the source of pollen that reaches your Anna blooms, the apples will be Anna in flavor and in every other respect. However, the seeds of those apples, if planted, might produce a tree with sour, tasteless apples.

The effect of cross pollination is always in the seeds of the seeds of the next generation. If your sour apple tree (probably a seedling itself) blooms in the same period as the Anna, it will help the Anna to set fruit, which is exactly what you want it to do.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA
peebee1
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks to everyone for your help. I am relieved that now I can look forward to some good apples.
applenut_gw
16 years ago
Peebee:

Your Anna apple needs no pollinator; indeed, Anna is the first to blossom and there is no pollinator available except Dorsett Golden, but it does just fine by itself. You will need to thin it heavily, as each blossom sets an apple. When the apples are a size of a dime, pick off all in the bunch exept one, the biggest one, and space the bunches a hand's-width apart.

If your tree looks lonely, also get a Dorsett Golden. If you're emboldened by your success, get Fuji (takes 5 years to fruit, but gives tons after that), Gala, Arkansas Black, Hawaii, Wealthy, Rubinette, and Williams' Pride. This should round out your apple season nicely.

Applenut

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