Sour apples
Moderator: appledude
Sour apples
I have a small ranch in Centerville Texas. I usualy get a good crop of Ana's and Golden Dorsett's but they are sour.Because the pH is slightly lower than 7, I add some lime every year to bring it up to 7+ , but the apples are still sour. Also, because the trees are mature I use a high nitrogen fertilizer just after budding at the rate of 1lb/inch of trunk. Any help you can give would be appreciated. Thanks.
I think lime is overall good for apple trees, but they are very limited to how much can actually move around and end up in the apple itself, hence the need for foliar calcium sprays in certain kinds of apples, but that may not be a problem for you.
I am more concerned about your continual application of high nitrogen fertilizers. Try going a few years without the fert's and see if they get sweeter. I think I have heard that too much nitrogen can be detrimental to an apple crop, but cannot prove it.
I never ever fertilize my mature trees, and they produce very nice apples consistently. I would be afraid to dump nitrogen on them, as they are vigorus enough as it is. And we get around 40 inches of water percolating through the soil every winter, so my soil is not rich at all, naturally.
I will admit to using dilute fertilizers when apple trees are young. I like to get them big fast, but then back off to zero fertilizer after that. Winter rains wash any remaining excess nitrogen out of the soil eventually.
Do you do a fair amount of pruning each year?
How much rainfall do you get each year? Do you think it has the capability to wash the soil clean of excess nitrogen?
I am more concerned about your continual application of high nitrogen fertilizers. Try going a few years without the fert's and see if they get sweeter. I think I have heard that too much nitrogen can be detrimental to an apple crop, but cannot prove it.
I never ever fertilize my mature trees, and they produce very nice apples consistently. I would be afraid to dump nitrogen on them, as they are vigorus enough as it is. And we get around 40 inches of water percolating through the soil every winter, so my soil is not rich at all, naturally.
I will admit to using dilute fertilizers when apple trees are young. I like to get them big fast, but then back off to zero fertilizer after that. Winter rains wash any remaining excess nitrogen out of the soil eventually.
Do you do a fair amount of pruning each year?
How much rainfall do you get each year? Do you think it has the capability to wash the soil clean of excess nitrogen?
I agree with cutting back on the fertilizer. High nitrogen in the soil can "tie up" micro nutrients such as calcium, zinc, magnesium that will reduce the flavor of the apples.
I only use nitrogen on young trees the fist two seasons to get them kick started. And on some soils I don't use any at all.
I would highly recommend a soil analysis to see what (if any) you really need. You can also do a leaf analysis to see what is actually getting up into the tree.
Also use high calcium hydrated lime which will help prevent calcium deficiency over the long life of the tree. (Unless you need the magnesium, in that case dolomitic lime would be OK)
If you use too much nitrogen the trees will remain in a vegetative stage and never develop into a good fruiting stage. Highly vegetative trees produce poor tasting apples.
I only use nitrogen on young trees the fist two seasons to get them kick started. And on some soils I don't use any at all.
I would highly recommend a soil analysis to see what (if any) you really need. You can also do a leaf analysis to see what is actually getting up into the tree.
Also use high calcium hydrated lime which will help prevent calcium deficiency over the long life of the tree. (Unless you need the magnesium, in that case dolomitic lime would be OK)
If you use too much nitrogen the trees will remain in a vegetative stage and never develop into a good fruiting stage. Highly vegetative trees produce poor tasting apples.
sour apples
Thanks for the reply. I will definately cut back on the fertilizer; and I have sent off another soil sample for analysis. In answer to some of the questions: 1) Because it gets very hot here in the summer, I have an irrigation system to get water into the soil.2) I still prune some before budding to make sure the middle is open to the sun, but nothing drastic for these 5 year old tress.