Apple Trees: First Year Saplings in a Cluster [Bonsai]

These are apple tree seedlings, and they are adoring the hot sunshine this week. They are one of the more interesting additions to my bonsai collection this year.

When trees are grown in close proximity to one another like this in bonsai, as in nature, it is called a forest. The placement of trees within a forest is highly engineered process in bonsai tradition I won't go into here. Suffice to say, the aim is usually to plant trees in an arrangement that appears random, avoiding symmetrical lines and even distances, to ensure a natural, balanced scene.

Tossing some seeds in a pot to get a small forest growing is easy. Getting apple seeds to sprout is not as easy as it sounds. A few months back I made an in-depth article detailing the entire process of how to stratify and germinate seeds collected from the fruit of an apple. There are many photos in that article showing what everything looked like over time.

Check it out: Little Bit of CreativeTruth on Growing Apples from Seeds

Last week we had a strangely wet week with very little sun and cold temperatures. Apple trees, when they are young and weak in this stage are extremely susceptible to health problems. I kept finding leaves with white fungus, and I think it was powdery mildew. The leaves started becoming spotted, yellow, cracked, and soon had holes.

Anytime I see diseased leaves like this, I prefer to snip off the infected leaves. When the lowest leaves become sickly, there is less concern about removing them. The upper leaves are always younger and healthier. Those top leaves will sustain the growth tip of the apple branch.

Also, I chose to cover the soil surface with natural compost I made, which is probably slightly acidic because it mostly contains decomposed leaves, sticks, and conifer needles. Apple trees should love this kind of mulch. It will create a protective layer against any mildew that was on the rocky soil surface, and it will also leach down nutrients to the roots, and even help retrain moisture more evenly. Mulch probably also helps regulate temperature in the pot, keeping the soil around the roots cooler on a hot day, and warmer in winter.

Apple trees grow fast if they are healthy. I think these little seedlings are going to continue to speed up their growth. Many of them are already on their fourth or fifth set of leaves now since they first sprouted earlier this year. I'll let them continue to grow skyward in their natural tendency to encourage good health. The further the leaves are from the soil line, the easier it will be for the leaves to mature without fungus problems.

Indoors I am growing a few more of these apple seedlings using methods to change the shape, and to control the height. So far the indoor ones have not suffered any health problems, although I have noticed their growth rate is slower than the outdoor seedlings. Since they receive less sunlight and nutrients, this is likely why. My indoor plants are not mulched with compost, but I do feed them organic fertilizer.

In the front of my house I grow a pair of grafted apple trees. They haven't flowered yet after three years. This year they are growing so big and tall, I am starting to consider pruning them back in height a little bit so they do not outgrow the pots they are in.

When I can't decide whether to prune or not, I usually leave my trees alone unless they grow a branch that is horribly in my way. Most likely I won't prune them until late winter. They are just growing so fast!

Looks like I need to pull the second apple tree away from that overgrown shrub. The shrub is way overdue for being pruned back into shape.

A couple more posts will be coming out in this week's bonsai series related to more fruit style trees in my collection. In my collection I grow apple, lime, lemon, goji berry, cherry, and grape.

I grow all of my trees for the enjoyment of growing many different tree species. The more I own, the more I learn through experience about how to care for their individual needs. Keeping them small allows me to own more trees. When I have space and resources, I grow trees in larger pots with the intention of harvesting fruit. However, I do have to be mindful of the others in my house I share, and not go overboard, as they don't want too many large trees growing on the property.

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Photos in this post are all #originalworks by @creativetruth, unless stated otherwise.

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