This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.
Ill Apple Tree
Rebekah Caputo
Posts: 1
I have recently moved into a new house and luckily there are two apple trees estalished in the small garden. However one of them does not look to well. The apples are plentiful but tiny and manz deformed. Also all of the new growth is curled up on itself, dry and brittle. There are brown spots on some of the leaves but other than that the rest of the leaves look healthy. It is topaz joanna.
Any advice or direction on how to investigate further would be greatly recieved.
Many thanks
0
Posts
Hi Rebekah, from the Orange Pippin Trees website:
"The main horticultural problem is that the fruit size can be on the small side, so a good session thinning the fruitlets at the end of May is usually called for."
So I think that's the answer with respect to small apples.
As for the new growth being curled up on apple trees, that is usually a sign of aphids and the solution for next year is to place a grease band around the trunk which will prevent ants climbing the tree and carrying the aphids around to all the new leaves (ants 'farm' aphids in this way and feed off of the honeydew they produce as waste when sucking the sap from the leaves.) I use a thick band of Vaseline and since doing this I have had no aphid damage on my apple trees.
BTW, the variety name will likely be "Crimson Topaz" - originally from Czech Republic - not sure where Joanna comes in (maybe from the apple festival at Joanna Furnace in the US?"