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Texas Gardening

I am thinking of planting an apple tree....should I?

7 years ago

I would like to hear your experiences in growing apple trees in Texas. I know there are several low-chill, self-fertile apple varieties that are supposedly suitable for growing here and I am very tempted to purchase one. Will they grow well and produce decent fruit in Texas?

Molly

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Comments (5)

roselee z8b S.W. Texas
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
I've never grown apple trees, but from what I've read they have to be sprayed a lot to prevent their many diseases:

"Among deciduous fruit crops grown in North America, apples are perhaps the most pesticide spray intensive of any orchard crop. A multitude of fungal pathogens such as powdery mildew, bitter rot, black rot, and apple scab (to name a few) can cause injury to foliage, fruit and woody tissue. Application of conventional fungicides and insecticides is common among commercial growers, and non-commercial growers in more humid regions of Texas will struggle to grow clean fruit without spraying." Agrilife

I have grown persimmons and they were easy to grow and had no diseases at all, but possums getting the fruit were sometimes a problem.

Also I dearly love the wonderful sweet 'tangerines' I get on my Satsuma citrus tree. No spraying required and nothing bothers the fruit.
bossyvossy
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
I grow Anna and Carnivale. Anna has produced small fruit but the #%?! deer beat me to it every time. Carnivale has not produced fruit yet. Anna is described as self pollinating but fruit production is much better when you have two cultivars. I've had zero problem with diseases, just animals. I had a Golden Dorsett which did really well and good pairing with Anna but lost it to the drought from hell 2011. I could have done a better job at keeping it hydrated.

i have tried and failed 3x growing non-astringent persimmon. On my 4th, planted 3 yrs ago. So far so good but fingers still crossed. Everybody says how easy they are, not for me. 4th time created a raised bed and used lots of amends to make soil super draining.
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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
7 years ago
Try posting on the Fruit and Orchards forum. And while not all zone 8's are the same, we grow a ton of apples in my neck of the woods so I can't see why your zone 8 would be much of an issue. They also grow apples in various parts of SoCal, which is even a warmer zone.

btw, self-fertile apples are a bit of a misnomer. The vast majority are not and even those that are sometimes reported as self-fertile will produce much better and more consistent crops with cross pollination. And there are various cultivars that have increased disease resistance with little to no spraying required.
Renee Texas
7 years ago
at $25 each, we are going to throw two in the yard and see what they do. We are using this resource: http://harris.agrilife.org/files/2011/05/fruitnut.pdf (compare your location to where it is for).
jardineratx
Original Author
7 years ago
Thanks for the information to each of you! I have read that it is best to plant 2 varieties of apples to get optimum size and production, but I was hoping to find that I could get by with one variety. Renee, I think your idea is good...just plant two of them and see how it goes! I hope to hear from someone who has had bumper crops of apples with these low-chill cultivars, lol.

Molly

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