Bulbs
Flower Basics
Flower Beds & Specialty Gardens
Flower Garden
Garden Furniture
Garden Gnomes
Garden Seeds
Garden Sheds
Garden Statues
Garden Tools & Supplies
Gardening Basics
Green & Organic
Groundcovers & Vines
Growing Annuals
Growing Basil
Growing Beans
Growing Berries
Growing Blueberries
Growing Cactus
Growing Corn
Growing Cotton
Growing Edibles
Growing Flowers
Growing Garlic
Growing Grapes
Growing Grass
Growing Herbs
Growing Jasmine
Growing Mint
Growing Mushrooms
Orchids
Growing Peanuts
Growing Perennials
Growing Plants
Growing Rosemary
Growing Roses
Growing Strawberries
Growing Sunflowers
Growing Thyme
Growing Tomatoes
Growing Tulips
Growing Vegetables
Herb Basics
Herb Garden
Indoor Growing
Landscaping Basics
Landscaping Patios
Landscaping Plants
Landscaping Shrubs
Landscaping Trees
Landscaping Walks & Pathways
Lawn Basics
Lawn Maintenance
Lawn Mowers
Lawn Ornaments
Lawn Planting
Lawn Tools
Outdoor Growing
Overall Landscape Planning
Pests, Weeds & Problems
Plant Basics
Rock Garden
Rose Garden
Shrubs
Soil
Specialty Gardens
Trees
Vegetable Garden
Yard Maintenance
How to Care for Fuji Apple Trees
How to Care for Fuji Apple Trees. Biting into the sweet, slightly tangy Fuji apple is one of life's simple pleasures. While caring for a Fuji apple tree takes some know-how, the taste of your orchard-fresh Fuji apples represents an ample reward for your toil. Here's how to care for your own Fuji apple trees.
Biting into the sweet, slightly tangy Fuji apple is one of life's simple pleasures. While caring for a Fuji apple tree takes some know-how, the taste of your orchard-fresh Fuji apples represents an ample reward for your toil. Here's how to care for your own Fuji apple trees.
Selecting and Planting a Fuji Apple Tree
Buy your Fuji apple trees from a reputable grower. These trees can be grown from seed, but are difficult to train in the early years and are best handled by the experts. Expect to pay less for a standard-size 1-year-old tree and more for a dwarf tree or a standard 2-year-old tree.
Select your location. Fuji apple trees need full sun and well-drained soil. They do best in zones 5 through 8, which have a mild winter. Fuji apples need a relatively long growing season since they take 160 days to ripen. The fruit also needs about 100 to 400 cold "chill" hours to establish dormancy.
Plant your trees in spring at a spacing of about 20 feet. You will need more than one Fuji apple tree since they're not self-fertile. Fuji apple trees bloom in mid- to late spring and can be planted with other mid- to late season bloomers, such as Gala and Goldrush varieties, for pollination.
Cultivate the soil to a depth of 15 to 18 inches and add organic material, such as compost. Plant trees with the graft line 2 inches above the soil.
Mulch with straw two feet around the bottom of each trunk. Water when you plant and when the weather is dry.
Pruning, Feeding and Harvesting a Fuji Apple Tree
Feed Fuji apple trees in early spring before new growth appears with a 12-12-12 fertilizer after the first year. Apply the fertilizer under the spread of the branches. Avoid high nitrogen fertilizers.
Thin each cluster of fruits to two per cluster with sharp pointed scissors after Fuji's pink-white blossoms fall and the fruit is visible. This will keep the fruit from crowding when it fully matures.
Apply insect control. There are organic options of insect control available from seedsofchange.com.
Harvest when the seeds of the Fuji apple turn from white to brown. Expect a yield of 8 to 12 bushels from an averaged-sized mature tree. Dwarfs will yield less and standards will yield more, but the standard tree will be taller and harder to harvest than the dwarf.
Prune your trees in late fall to winter to establish tree growth in the early years. The pruning in the first 2 to 3 years should focus on developing a strong framework. Prune the subsequent years in late summer to encourage fruit buds.
