Malus DOMESTICA

Malus DOMESTICA - Domestic apple tree, Orchard apple, Cultivated apple, Malus domestica, Apple tree.

Can be trained as bonsai!

Apple is a genus of deciduous trees and shrubs in the rose family (Rosaceae), numbering several dozen species. Wild apple trees are widely distributed: from Central Europe through the Caucasus and Central Asia to China and North America.

Trees range from 2.5 to 15 m (8 to 49 ft) in height; in wild species the branches often bear spines. Leaves are simple, alternate, with a serrate margin. Flowers are gathered in a corymb or subumbel, ranging in color from pure white to soft pink and carmine; blooming occurs in spring and is very profuse.

The fruit is a pome (apple): a succulent accessory fruit in which the flesh is formed by the enlarged receptacle, while the true fruit is only the tough seed chamber inside. Seeds are dark, dense, several per locule.

The orchard apple is the most widespread and culturally significant species of the genus: all familiar garden varieties belong to it. It is not a wild natural species, but the result of centuries of selection and interspecific hybridization, and is cultivated throughout the world today.

Sievers' apple from the mountain forests of Kazakhstan and Central Asia is considered the primary ancestor of the cultivated apple: DNA analysis has confirmed this directly. Varieties differ in fruit flavor, color, size, and storage life so extensively that they number in the thousands. Apple trees grow best in temperate climates without extreme temperature swings, on fertile soil under moderate moisture, though cultivars have been bred for both arid and severely frosty regions.

Apple seeds are dense, dark brown, situated several per fruit chamber. For germination they require cold moist stratification: seeds are mixed with moist sand and kept for 2-3 months at a temperature of 2-5 °C (36-41 °F). Scarification is not required.

After stratification, seeds are held for 1-2 hours in a 1% potassium permanganate solution, then soaked for several hours in warm water with the addition of a growth stimulant: SUPERthrive, HB-101, Aminozol, Epin, or Zircon. Then they are sown into a loose substrate to a depth of about 1.5 cm (0.6 in), moistened with a spray bottle, covered with plastic wrap or placed in a propagator, and germinated in the light at a temperature of 18-22 °C (64-72 °F).

Under favorable conditions, the first sprouts appear in as little as 2 weeks; main germination is completed within a month, while individual seeds may delay longer. Pricking out is performed early: as soon as the seed shows a rootlet about 1.5 cm (0.6 in) long and before 3-4 true leaves appear. In doing so, the taproot is pinched - this way the seedling develops a vigorous fibrous root system. Pricked-out seedlings are watered thoroughly, mulched, and shaded: for the first 3-4 days they are watered 2-3 times a day, and for the next 5-6 days twice a day. After two years, saplings are planted out into open ground; first flowering is expected in 5-7 years. Seedlings do not come true to cultivar, which is why named apple varieties are propagated by grafting, cuttings, and layering.

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The apple tree is light-demanding. It is best planted in an open location without drafts and without large trees nearby that would block light from the sapling.

The plant is winter-hardy and drought-tolerant; ornamental forms additionally tolerate dust, pollution, and soil salinity. Young saplings must be protected from frosts and temperature fluctuations, and with autumn planting, covered with protective material.

After planting, the sapling is watered with a bucket of water weekly, then once every 2-3 weeks, and in intense heat 1-2 times a week. The apple tree cannot tolerate standing water.

The substrate must be fertile and fresh, with sufficient nitrogen content, not overly acidic. The apple tree cannot stand waterlogged or excessively dry soils; groundwater should be no closer than 2.5 m (8.2 ft) to the surface. In container culture, drainage is placed at the bottom of the pot, and coarse sand is added to the soil.

Nitrogen fertilizers are applied in late April and before flowering; phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are applied during fruit swelling and in autumn.

Pruning is carried out annually, in spring and autumn, with sanitized and well-sharpened tools. At planting, the main leader is shortened, then for 2-3 years only dry and broken branches are removed, and once the crown thickens, branches are shortened by approximately two-thirds of their length, retaining those whose buds face outward.