Two Questions please...Apple Trees & Compost

sunset_gold

First question is:

I planted two eating apple trees two years ago in my front garden. Year one both produced about 6 fruits each and they were nice.

Year two, the first tree produced only a few fruits (about 10) which were not quite as sweet as the first year. The second tree's branches pulled all the way down to the ground and was covered in small fruits. I did remove some of them, but sadly only realised that I should have done more when all of the small fruits (about 30) were too hard and bitter to eat.

So in January this year I pruned both trees (not knowing the right or wrong way to prune trees). The first tree I just snipped off the ends of the tree, but the second tree, which was the one that the branches were touching the ground, I cut back to about 12 inches from the trunk.

This spring the first tree had masses of blossom and now has loads of small little apples starting to appear.

But the second tree, although has lots of leaves did not have even one blossom flower and concequently has no fruit.

What is the rules for pruning apple trees and will the fruitless tree come back to blossom next year?


Second question...much easier hopefully!

Can I put the compost from potatoes / tomatoes grown in growbags onto my vegetable patch raised beds at the end of the growing season or can you not re-use potato / tomato compost?

Farway

Apple trees, give us the name of the varieties and it will be easier to help, some are tip bearing others are not

Old grow bag compost, yep, put it on the veg patch, it will mingle with all the other soil, germs, microbes, volcanic ash etc already there and will help improve the structure of the soil

RAS

Apple trees - agree.

More importantly, if you prune hard in winter, you encourage massive new growth in the spring. If you prune gently in winter, you encourage flowering buds.

If you prune in summer, you control growth.

Flowering has been massively encouraged by the harsh winter on all sorts of plants; both of my apple trees produced masses of bloom amd one is producing up to 9 fruitlets per flower bud.

I will shortly be nipping out half of these fruitlets and possibly removing whole bunches. After the June drop, I will reduce each cluster to one or two fruit.