Apple Tree problems

[port-swigger]

Hi Everyone , first post here but avid grower ( and winemaker )

I was lucky to have three apple trees in my garden when I moved in ( one cooker two dessert ).
one of the dessert and the cooker give an excellent abundance of fruit, however one of the dessert produces loads of flowers, a few fruit however they never get bigger than this :



and then they fall off ....this has happened every year we have lived here ( 4 years now ) and I really made an effort to look after this tree this year .

This one is only about 11 feet from the good one

Questions :
1. why is this happening ?
2. can anyone identify the apple that does grow well ( it has red/green skin, very pale flesh that is exceedingly sweet ( my absolute fave apple in the world and they are free ! ) picture below
3. If I cannot find a "cure " for the poor performer can I bite the bullet and remove it without affecting the crop ( pollination) of my other two trees ??

Pic of the good one :



I`ve spent countless hours trying to see what is going wrong but not come up with any clues so far.

would be most grateful for an ID on my fav apple and any hint on how to save my other tree.

Many thanks for any replies

K

p.s also produced some very nice wine from the cookers and the left over dessert ones .....hic

[DavidT]

As there are three trees , I would guess they are Bramley Seedling ( cooker ), James Grieve ( eater ) and Cox`s Orange Pippin ( eater ). I would also suggest that the one you are having trouble wil is the Cox`s, they can be quite difficult to fruit, but they are good at pollinating other trees. I believe the two eaters were planted mainly to pollinate the Bramley. Welcome to the site, by the way.

[port-swigger]

Hi David and thank you for your quick response

James Grieve certainly looks like a good candidate for the tasty one ! (I googled some identical images )

hmm ....cox`s pippin ... would anyone here recommend uprooting this one and instead planting a Fiesta ( same taste as cox`s but more disease resistant ... )so I read.

not in the exact same spot but nearby .. I presume this would have the same pollen compatability ..?

really appreciate the advice so far as I hate to see potentially nice apples ending up as wasp/ant food

[DavidT]

You do realise Fiesta is a Cox`s, James Grieve cross? Also, which would you prefer, the Cox, or the Bramley?

[port-swigger]

Hi David , I did know the Fiesta was derived from the cox`s but did not know it was a cross with the James Grieve.

I Think I`d prefer the cox`s to do better than the Bramley as the kids eat more fresh apples than cooked ones.

Kev

[paulsherwin]

It does sound as if the poor performer has a disease of some sort. This year has been a wonderful one for apples and if you haven't got much of a crop this year you never will. Normally lots of blossom = lots of apples so long as the tree is pollinated properly.

If you want an alternative eating apple to your (?)James Grieve you could plant a Granny Smith. These have a very long growing season in the UK and are harvested as late as December, so the crop will be available when the JGs have been eaten. They store well and go from being very sharp straight from the tree to quite mellow after a couple of months storage. A GS should help pollinate the other trees too.

Paul

[Ian240356]

It could be that your poor performer is actually some kind of crab apple, these tend to give small fruits I think.

[port-swigger]

Hi Chaps

Thanks so far

I may well put in a GS for the longevity of available fruit ...I`ve also decided to add another from either

Fallstaff
Fiesta
Spartan

anyone had and good ( or bad ) experiences with these ?

many thanks