Think it's too hot for apple trees in Florida?
Actually they can thrive here!
With more than 7500 known cultivars of apple trees worldwide, there's plenty of lower chill choices to choose from for Florida. However, choices of locally propagated trees to plant are limited to just a few, primarily Anna and Golden Dorsett.
But apples don't seem to actually need the exact number of chill hours attributed to them. A simple search on YouTube reveals a number of home gardeners and pro-growers succeeding with even 400-600 chill hour varieties in both Southern Florida and Southern CA, zones 9b and even 10a!
super 7g Apples in our nursery
So why don't more people grow them?
Typically, we think of apple trees as a cold climate tree. While it gets cold enough here most winters, our summers are so brutal, many small, young apple trees don't make it through their first or second summer unless they are appropriately pampered: apple trees do not like drought conditions, nor do they like wet feet.
A 6-foot tall 7 gal size tree will have a much higher survival rate than a 5-foot tall, skinny 3 gal size tree simply because you'll be starting with a much greater root mass. It's not about the height of the tree. Hardiness is more about the caliper (diameter) of the trunk, and the size of the root ball. Our 15g trees are the most popular for just that reason.
YOU can grow apples here in zone 9 if you know the two secrets:
Rule #1: Water your apple trees EVERY SINGLE DAY with slow drip irrigation (!) for most of Feb through Oct., and every few days Nov- Jan.
I can't stress this one enough: apple trees are complete water hogs. While they must have good drainage, they need water every day -- they don't like to dry out for long periods of time. Slow drip, not a hand held quick flood.
The only time to skip the water is when we're having heavy rains, or the wintry days are so cloudy that nothing dries out: parts of June-July-Aug, and parts of Nov-Jan. Slow drip for 10-15 min is far more effective than drowning your tree with a hose for 2 minutes. In our sandy soils, the tree only gets to drink while the water is flowing by.
This is real life: grown by a homeowner in the Micanopy area, new to orcharding, just 3 months after planting!
baby apples forming
more baby apples
Rule #2: Use our soil amendments formula (or something like it with the 70+ trace minerals) liberally -- every month.
A well-fed tree will be much hardier against the elements. Every month is not too much for an apple --- it's what they need! And if you do not have a layer of clay in your soil, you can use a little peat moss in the formula to help you with rule #1 (but don't overdue the peat moss, 7% maximum).
Which variety should you plant?
That said, if you really want to try your luck at growing apples, you will need at least 2 trees, for good pollination:
Anna Apple & Golden Dorsett are a really good match.
ANNA APPLE: 2 flavors in 1
The ever popular Anna Apple is firm, crisp and tart, green when first ripe and similar in flavor to the Granny Smith. It does best if cross-pollinated with another variety: Golden Dorsett is the most common choice. Both bloom simultaneously, as well as ripen simultaneously.
If you let the Anna ripen until it has a red blush -- about another 5-7 days longer, then the flavor is sweeter and it tastes more like a Gala.
Anna apple in our orchard
Ripens early to mid June
(in Gainesville)
chill hours: 150
mature height: 15-18' tall
width: x 12-15' wide
for zones 7b - 10a
GOLDEN DORSETT
The Golden Dorsett is a yellowish-golden color, with a light pink blush. Flesh is semi-soft and sweet, much like an old-fashioned Golden Delicious.
Found in the 1950's at Mrs. Dorsett's orchard in the Bahamas, the original tree may actually have been a seedling from a Golden Delicious.
Golden Dorsett is also called Dorsett Golden or Dorsett Gold for short by some vendors.
Cross pollinates well with Anna or Elsa Sweet, but not another Golden Dorsett.
Ripens early to mid June
(in Gainesville)
chill hours: 150
mature height: 15-18' tall
width: x 12-15' wide
for zones 7b - 10a
ELSA SWEET
Elsa Sweet is a delicious, new low chill apple variety for Florida orchards. Found in a north Florida backyard more than 15 years ago, it is likely a descendant of a forgotten variety (Golden Sweet ?) widely grown many years ago in Southern orchards, that developed new survival adaptations better than the original.
Elsa Sweet is an extraordinarily sweet apple with very little acid. It is a medium to large sized apple with a yellow-green skin. Sometimes develops a slight red blush. It is crispy, quite juicy and aromatic, and has a sweet yellow flesh that is firm and very rich in flavor.
Tree growth on the Elsa Sweet is reasonably fast and quite vigorous.
The original tree is said to be growing in an isolated environment with no other apples nearby, so the Elsa Sweet is assumed to be self fertile. It also cross pollinates well with both the Anna or Golden Dorsett.
Ripens mid to late June, or
even early July in Gainesville
chill hours: 150
mature height: 15-18' tall
width: x 12-15' wide
for zones 7b - 10a
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Beginning Bearing Age in 7G >>> X-LG 7G / $69:
super 7G: ~6'-6.5' tall / 2.5-3' wide / 1" trunks
Want a serious bearing tree now?
15gal / $99 & X-LG 15G $135
15G: 7'-8'+ /3.5-4.5' wide / 1.25" trunks
super 15g: 9-11' tall / 5-5'-7' wide / 1.5" trunks (ltd)
best availability is in Jan / Feb each year
