If you love your apples, like someone I know… Meeeee then you are really going to enjoy this post. We have already covered how to grow apples from seeds in an earlier post. However, that was a normal apple tree which is growing in our backyard. Do you want to know how to grow 18 pounds of apples in just a square foot in containers?
The secret is that these dwarf apple trees are basically just a fruiting stem grafted onto a growth stem. This means that they will never grow any additional growth shoots, just fruiting buds. The trees are then capped off at the top, usually only about five and a half feet tall. This is the perfect size for picking apples, if you ask me! Unfortunately, these trees don’t do well in colder climates.
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Here’s What You’ll Need:
- columnar apple trees
- wide mouth container e.g. wine barrels
- potting mix
- perlite
- vermiculite
- peat moss
- organic fertilizer
- wheel barrow
- shovel
- chip mulch
Fill up your containers with your potting mix which includes extra perlite, vermiculite, peat moss and some organic fertilizer. Use your shovel to make a hole in the middle about the same size as your root bowl then plant your tree. Making sure not to add any potting soil above the graft point.
In order to maintain your moisture within the soil, apply 2 to 3 inches mulching. This should prevent your apple trees from drying off at the tips, in the event that they become stressed. Occasional pruning will keep the tree growing vertically instead of horizontally. If you are using wine barrels, you will have a lot of space available around the tree to grow flowers or herbs.
You can watch the video below on how to grow 18 pounds of apples in just 1 square foot…
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