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Fruit & Orchards

Granny Smith apple blooming in fall

9 years ago

Just noticed my granny Smith has a branch with blooms on it? I want to understand this more. Can anyone give me reasoning? Any information on caring for my tree is appreciated. It's 5 years old and I use Triazicide and Immunox. Has bloomed for 4 years but never any fruit. Some aphid and fire blight issues experienced.

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Comments (4)

fabaceae_native
9 years ago
This is actually fairly common. It can be caused by any number of things, but is usually linked to climate/weather, pruning/herbivory or other aspects of the growing conditions.

As you probably know, plants use external cues to establish the correct seasonality of their various processes (leaf senescence, dormancy, flowering, fruiting, etcÃ¢ÂÂ¦). If something happens to throw this off, they can easily flower, and sometimes even fruit out of season.

After a major August hailstorm at my place a few years ago for example, I saw many trees resume growth as if it were spring again. They grew new leaves and shoots, flowered, and fruited (in the case of the mulberry) before killing frosts came in October.

Similarly a few years ago a record cold snap in late winter killed the flower buds of all the fruit trees where I live. There was no bloom that spring, but by July, August, and September, various types of fruit trees were beginning to flower sporadically.
bcphillips
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you for responding. I'm disappointed that my fruit doesn't ripen. Before it gets to pea size it falls right off. I think I mentioned earlier that I use triazicide and immunox as directed on labels.

I think I read somewhere that Granny Smith does not have fruiting spurs but blooms on new growth? I have an apple book but Granny Smith isn't in it for some reason? It's semi-dwarf but probably 12 foot tall and growing rapidly. I've tried pruning it lightly for shape. I'll try to post a picture of the whole tree soon.
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That's interesting. The only thing I use yellow transparent for is to make dog food, and the apples turn to mush almost instantly, even when they aren't peeled. They would make a nice smooth apple sauce with very little effort (and very little flavor). I did an upside down gingerbread with granny smith and the texture and shape of the apple slices was fine, but impossible to tell about flavor since the gingerbread was strongly flavored. So maybe Granny Smith is very sensitive to cooking time. My apple Betty doesn't cook all that long, but the apples are not insulated by pie crust. They wouldn't get as done if the crust had to cook before the heat got to the apples. My Grannies didn't get fully ripe, but they are a lot more ripe than the one's from the store. However, they aren't so ripe that they should be cooking fast and falling apart. I'll try cooking with them again and I'll check them frequently for tenderness and remove from heat as soon as they get tender.
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Granny Smith is a variety that is highly susceptible to a disease called fire blight. that is the number 1 disease problem for our area. The odds of growing apple successfully in Georgia go way up if you choose disease resistant varieties such as Liberty, Pristine or Goldrush. Here is a link to a UGA spray program that is pretty good that I follow for the most part. I suggest you start reading the Gardenweb Fruits & Orchards blog, you can learn alot from the site. That is how I got started, I now am growing around 50 apple varieties, all on dwarf rootstock. Here is a link that might be useful: UGA spray program
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Fascist_Nation
9 years ago
Well, fruit trees can take some time before fruiting, but since yours is blooming that should not be the problem. Rootstock can also effect this. Is there any bee or other pollinator activity during bloom? While self fruitful a nearby apple (or graft a appropriate scion onto a branch) that bloomed at the same time would improve pollination. If you do not start getting fruit set within the next two seasons I would consider replacing the tree. I suppose some nutrient problem could exist that makes the young fruits fall off.
letsski
9 years ago
Granny Smith definitely fruits on older wood and fruiting spurs. See attached photo - this is of my 10 year old tree.

Here in California the fruit will stay on the tree until after Christmas. It lightens up and gets much sweeter as it ages on the tree.

I would suspect that you aren't getting good pollination for some reason - either too few Bees or not having another tree nearby. While GS trees are self fruitful, it always helps to have another tree that can contribute.

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