Why hasn't my at least three year old apple tree produced flowers when another bought at the same time has?

Question

I bought two dwarf apple trees from walmart two years ago. They were both a nice size: at least five feet tall. I planted them both in the same area about 8 feet apart. The second dwarf apple tree, a mcintosh, has produced flowers for two years now. The dwarf red delicious has never budded. Should I replace the tree or wait and see what it does for a few years?

Answer 1

Since you have two different varieties of apple there is likely a difference of maturation time for the delicious apple!  Given that each tree is getting equal amounts of sun, water and nutrients, the difference is most likely the genetics of the variety.  A second possibility is differences in chilling requirements for the two varieties.  Some varieties of fruit trees require more hours of chilling before the flower buds will break dormancy.

Apple trees have perfect flowers having both stamens and carpels in the flowers.  There are not "separate sexes" in apple trees.

Answer 2

Believe it or not, the one not producing may be a male.  Try getting another one and see if it produces or not.  You can ask the garden professionals about how to ensure you are getting a male and female tree.

Answer 3

There's alot of genetic differences between apple varieties. In particular some varieties bear when they're still in the nursery(!) and others simply later in life.

Apples bear fruit on short 1-2" SPURS - Highly specialized stubby 'branches' that flower and fruit. Chances are your Delicious has yet to form Spurs. Again some varieties are genetically prone to form ALOT of spurs or do so at an early age. As long as they're not damaged when you pick an apple, these spurs will bear fruit for years to come - and never will become a long branch.

Go out an look closely at your two trees - and you'll note one clearly has spurs all over - and the Delicious doesn't - yet.

Remember a DWARF apple tree has been GRAFTED to stunt it's growth. So you have a Delicious trunk atop a more common 'rootstock' as they call it. Sometimes if the graft isn't well done it can keep a tree from growing vigorously.

I too have 2 trees that just have very different personalities, bought at the same time 5 years ago. A State Fair that flowers every year and it's young branches break from the weight of the fruits - and a Zestar which, like your Delicious, grows - but has yet to form any spurs.