Red Delicious Apple Tree

Not only is it fun, but growing apple trees is a great way to have produce from your garden with very little effort. Apples will grow in cold areas where other fruits will not thrive and because they store well even a big harvest will not be wasted. Everyone loves apples and they are so versatile that you will never tire of your tree.

Eat them fresh, put them in salads, bake them in pies or turn them into sauces – whatever you do apples are a real winner in every house. Top of the list is the Red Delicious Apple, which remains a real favorite with everyone. Even if you have sometimes bought this apple at the store and not been impressed, wait until you pick them ripe straight from your own tree and see what a delicious apple this truly is. Its deep red skin delights the eye and its juicy and crunchy flesh excites the mouth. Children and adults all love this apple.

Growing Red Delicious Apple Trees

The Red Delicious Apple Tree not only produces a big crop of large apples every September, it is one of the hardiest and sturdiest apple trees available and so it makes a great garden tree, especially if you want to grow chemical-free fruit for your family. It is hardy to minus 20⁰F and will thrive in all zones from 5 to 9. In warmer areas not all apples will do well, but the Red Delicious Apple Tree will thrive in warm areas and needs only a short period of winter weather below 45⁰F to bloom and fruit properly.

Size and Appearance

The Red Delicious Apple Tree grows to around 15 feet in height and 10 feet across. Your tree will begin each year with a beautiful display of white apple blossoms on its branches just as the leaves are beginning to appear. These will soon be followed by baby green apples that will grow and grow over the summer into fruits 4 inches or more across. A mature tree will produce 10 to 20 bushels of apples each fall, plenty to satisfy a large family and give you lots of fruit for juice and sauces. This amazing apple will store for up to 5 months in suitable conditions, so you will have all the apples you need right through to spring.

Planting Location

Apple trees are easy to grow; they just need a sunny spot and a soil that is not always wet. If your soil does not drain well, plant on a slope, not in a hollow and add lots of coarse organic material to your soil when preparing your planting area. Garden compost, animal manure and rotted leaves are all good materials to improve your soil with. If you also mulch the root area every spring with these rich organic materials you will have a great harvest without having to use chemical fertilizers.

To plant your Red Delicious Apple Tree, dig a hole in your prepared area that is twice as wide as the pot your tree arrives in. Place your tree in the hole at the same depth it was in the pot, keeping the ‘kink’ in the stem, which is where your tree was joined to its roots, 2 or 3 inches above the final soil level. Replace most of the soil and water your tree well. When all the water in the hole has drained away, replace the rest of the soil and mulch the root zone. Keep your young tree watered each week for the first season and then water when the ground becomes dry. Always water your tree over the whole root area, not up against the trunk.

Care and Maintenance

Some pruning is needed to give you the best crop. Keep an upright central stem on your tree and allow side branches to grow out from it. Remove extra branches so that your tree is open, not dense, and shorten back the tips of the shoots to encourage flowering. The best time to prune your tree is during the late winter, during cold and dry weather.

The Red Delicious Apple Tree is such a vigorous variety that it will often produce too many baby fruits. Once the fruits have begun to develop, remove the smaller ones so that each cluster has just one apple in it, that way you will get large, top-quality fruit every year. Store your harvest in a cold place, around 32⁰ is perfect. Keep them in covered boxes so that they do not dry out.

History and Origins of the Red Delicious Apple

The parent of all Delicious Apple was found in Iowa in the 1880’s. The original form was replaced in the early twentieth century with a form with an entirely red skin, and was renamed ‘Red Delicious’. It was for many decades the most popular apple in production and remains a favorite with everyone. The Yellow Delicious Apple Tree is not closely related, despite the similar name, but it makes a perfect pollination partner for your Red Delicious Apple tree, as does the Jonathan Apple Tree.

Buying Red Delicious Apple Trees

The Red Delicious Apple Tree is a special variety and to keep all its best characteristics it must be grown the correct way. Our trees are produced the right way, by grafting pieces of stem, taken from correctly identified trees, onto special roots that control the size of your tree. Our Red Delicious Apple Trees are true to the original form and we give you the best plant for your purpose. However we are constantly renewing our stock so our customers get fresh, healthy plants, so supplies of this tree may be limited. To avoid disappointment order now.