apples in tropics?

Discussion in 'Fruit and Nut Trees' started by ambrose, Jan 11, 2007.

  1. BlueberryMania

    BlueberryMania Active Member

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    Hi Applenut.
    If the plant does not go dormant will it affect the plants growth?

    The weather is here quite hot but is getting cooler. I wonder how this will affect the internal clock of the plant.

    Thanks once again.
     
  2. Applenut

    Applenut Active Member

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    Mania:

    It may stagger around a little bit but will eventually adjust. The plant knows what to do. This is common for plants crossing hemispheres.

    Applenut
     
  3. BlueberryMania

    BlueberryMania Active Member

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    Hi Applenut:

    Well I finally found some organic soil for acid-loving plants. I trans-planted my blueberry plants into the soil over the weekend (which may not be smart). The ph of the soil is around 4.7.

    I was at a friends house over the weekend and noticed that her garden had pear and Pomegranate trees. She hasn't paid any attention to the trees and they growing with some fruit. I have taken up the challenge of making the trees healthier.

    As for apples I have contacted some local people here with regards to health certificates and importation permits. Don't know how long the process will take so for now I will concentrate on my blueberry plants.

    Take care
     
  4. Applenut

    Applenut Active Member

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    I always wondered about if Fuyu persimmons would grow there; they seem perfect as here no pests or disease bothers them and they fruit heavily and regularly no matter the lack of chill.

    Applenut
     
  5. rtkaushik

    rtkaushik Member

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    Apples seem to grow in Coorg, South India, at 1027 metres, 12 degrees North latitude. Check the photo at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulimalthe . Coorg is on the Western Ghats and is India's Coffee land. Annual rainfall is atleast 300cm. I think this particular place is a bit of a rain-shadow region. Dec-Jan temperatures do have a minimum of 10-12 degrees Centigrade [about 50F], thus giving 350hrs of chilling ? [6hrs from midnight to 6AM for 60 days].

    Am an urban guy with irregular gardening habits. Came to this (very informative) thread trying to find if apples could be grown in Bangalore !
     
  6. Gardenlover

    Gardenlover Active Member

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    Applenut great to have you on here. I have ordered Geneva 11, 16 & Bud 9 rootstocks for Honeycrisp apples trees. How far apart do you think I should plant them?
     
  7. shreeharisp

    shreeharisp Member

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    Hi rtkaushik,

    The Wikipedia link u have mentioned was posted by me.. The apple tree is in my house in Coorg. However we have only one tree but we get apple's twice a year. It's quite strange/amazing for the apple to be growing here consequently, the tree is quite famous in the neighborhood now.

    My address: #17, Sulimalthe Village, Hancode Post, Somwarpet Taluk, Coorg, Karnataka.

    Kind Regards

    Shreehari
    09042597942
     
  8. Applenut

    Applenut Active Member

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    Shreehari:

    Thanks for speaking up. Based on what you've posted many more varieties of apples will grow in your climate.

    Applenut
     
  9. shreeharisp

    shreeharisp Member

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    We got the apple plant from my aunts house, where she had grown 2 apple plants. The one in our house fetched apples after 6 years but the other in her house hasn't fetched any apple still.
    Now we get apples regularly. Can i know where can i get apple plants in India so that i can try some more varieties of Apple plants in Coorg.

    Regards
    Shreehari
     
  10. Applenut

    Applenut Active Member

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  11. Forester

    Forester Member

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    [Dear Ambrose, I was looking for growers of apples in Kenya with interest to buy seedlings and fruits as well and came accross this forum. You have been provided with very useful information which I felt could be useful for my purpose too. However The last word posted by this member is misleading. I work at the Plant Quarantine Station as the officer in Charge and Import permits are issued upon application. The MD of KEPHIS, the NNPO of Kenya is the Vice Chairman of the International Plant Protection Convention and we carry out routine customer surveys to determine extent of the possibility of 'chai..' If you need a permit make an application. The only applicable government fee is Kshs 600 - this is not chai and I have never heard of chai for import permits in the six years I have worked for the Quarantine service. Cheers and take the advise on growing apples.]Ambrose:

    Apples are grown extensively in the tropics. Indonesia has well over two million apple trees in commercial cultivation, and they are also grown in Thailand, the Philipines, Egypt, Ecuador and Honduras. The only reason they are not more widely grown is the fierce competition because of cheap imports from, you guessed it, China. China grows apples at such a scale that it floods the market of even local tribal markets of southeast asia. I remember getting a fund-raising flyer from a missionary group in Honduras where they are helping a jungle tribe become economically self-sustainable by growing apples and making cider, and had a photo of two indians pressing cider on a cider press in the jungle.

    The popular varieties in these countries are not the low-chill ones you'd expect; Wealthy is popular in Nicaragua and Rome Beauty in Indonesia. The chilling hours theory for apples is wrong (but seems to be true for stone fruit like peaches and cherries). Here in Southern California we only get a couple hundred chilling hours but can grow most if not all apples (a local grower had 1000 varieties in the late 1980's).

    I spent six months in the Nairobi region of Kenya and you absolutely can grow apples there. The lack of fruiting is not because of the lack of cold, as there can be more reasons. If the three trees are on seedling rootstock, it may take up to ten years to start fruiting. Some varieties are not self-fertile and need a pollinator. Importing rootstock and scionwood or grafted trees may be difficult but is an option worth investigating, as like you said there would be a good local interest (but I'm not surprised if the apples you find there are from China).

    I would plant trees 3 feet (1 meter) apart on Bud 9 rootstock and start with Dorsett Golden, Yellow Transparent, Chestnut Crabapple, Early Joe, Delicious (Hawkeye), Esopus Spitzenburg, Freyberg, Gala, Fuji, King David, White Winter Pearmain, Yellow Newtown Pippin, Rome Beauty, Lady Williams, and Arkansas Black. The Bud 9 rootstock often fruits the second year.

    All these varieties are able to take the heat of the dry season there and have done well with little chilling. You can plant anytime but just after the long rains is when the scionwood is most available. It would probably be cheapest to import rootstock and scionwood. Grafting expertise is locally available in Kenya because of the plantations, but it is not hard to learn.

    With the dry temperate climate of the interior disease won't be as much a problem as insects (everything eats everything in Africa). You may have to resort to apple bagging to get perfect fruit, but as you said, it would be worth it. I hope he decides to try. He will need to get an import permit, which may require some "chai"...[/QUOTE]
     
  12. Applenut

    Applenut Active Member

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    Dear Forester:

    Thank you for the accurate information regarding import permits into Kenya, and I stand corrected regarding "chai"; (bribes for those unfamiliar with the term). I'm glad to hear it, and will encourage others to not be afraid to do things right and bring apple propagative material into Kenya officially (as opposed to trying to sneak it in). Clients of ours have also optained import permits to Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Congo, and South Sudan without being asked for chai, and so my initial perceptions are obviously wrong.

    I hope to return to Kenya some day, as I haven't had a decent chapate since I left.

    Kevin Hauser
    Kuffel Creek Apple Nursery
    http://www.kuffelcreek.com/tropics.htm
     
  13. Rizky

    Rizky Member

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    you must take of all leave atthe tree that make the tree dormant
     
  14. Applenut

    Applenut Active Member

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    That depends on the variety; Anna and Dorsett Golden will flower and fruit by themselves, but higher-chill varieties will need the leaves stripped.
     

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