what should i do with my apple tree

My apple tree is flowering, should i do anything or just leave it alone ?

 

Now, just enjoy the sight, sound of pollinating bees and smell of the blossom.
In 6-8 weeks assess the resulting crop , if any and consider thinning to leave the best fruits to develop fully. It is a matter of judgment as to how many fruits the tree will support; the preference for size/quality over quantity being the determinant.
Later, in July-Aug, consider pruning for fruit next year.

 

So I don't need to feed it with anything specific or change the watering

 

Is it a young tree? In a pot? An old tree? In the ground? Espalier? Standard? Step over style?

 

There is a special dance you should perform of course...

 

It has been in a pot for 2 years

 

I have a few apple trees in pots. They are on dwarfing rootstock and are quite happy there. I do feed them in the growing season since, I think I once read, dwarfing rootstocks demand more food than larger ones. I could be wrong.

Here’s one. It’s either Gala or Braeburn. The label fell off years ago.

 

@hi2u_uk
You fail to say where you and your tree are located. If appropriate, you may consider applying to be included in this in 2026
https://www.flipflopsorwellies.co.uk/wassailing-events-devon-somerset/

 

I just water it every now and then in the growing season with the usual blue plant food that you dilute in a watering can. MiracleGro? The box fell apart some time ago and I can’t remember the name. As you can see, my life is a bit of a shambles with everything dropping to pieces.

 

I do the same. I have two dwaft rootstocks, Braeburn and Bramley. In my experience they need tonnes of water and feed, otherwise they don't seem to grow very much. I can only assume its a result of the rootstock?

I feed mine tomato feed during the growing season. They also get a handful of fish, blood and bone in early spring.

 

Is the growing season when the flowers are out or should I wait a bit until the flowers have gone before giving it tomato food

 

To be honest I don't want it to grow. I just want it to make apples

 

There are seasons in the northern and southern hemispheres, and they have an effect on plants. In winter, apple trees are “asleep” (dormant). In spring, they begin to come into bud, both leaf and flower. That is the time when they begin to “grow”. In summer, they are in full leaf, their branches and twigs are getting longer and their spring flower buds have formed small apples. In autumn, their “growing” begins to decline. No more leaves are formed, no more twigs and branches are lengthening. Fruits mature and leaves fall off. That is the end of the “growing season”. And back to winter. The growing season is any time that the tree is not dormant (asleep) but is showing signs of developing its leaves and fruits. Whether your tree will grow, in the sense of become too large, is dependent on the type of rootstock that it is grafted onto. The rootstock governs the vigour of the tree. I bought an apple once that said it was on a dwarfing rootstock and put it near a path. Five years later it was blocking the path, despite my best efforts at pruning it, because it was not on the rootstock that the label claimed it to be on.