Jonagold Apple Tree

[Stargazer]

I planted a jonagold apple tree about nine years ago. It bore the label "self-fertile" which I now know is incorrect. Because my neighbours had a very large cooking apple tree with copious blossom, my tree had a large crop of apples on it for the first two years. Then the neighbors had their tree cut down completely and for two years my tree bore no apples. Is there a solution? Can I take some blossom from wayside apple trees and hand pillinate this smallish tree? If so, does it matter what sort they are?I imagine they are trees that have gorn from a thrown apple core in the past, Any advice most welcome. Thanks

[Chipchopper]

Have you considered planting an ornamental crab apple which will act as a pollinator ?

Two possible options are Malus 'john downie' or Malus 'golden hornet'.

[Stargazer]

I don't want to plant any more trees as I have more than I can cope with already. What about hand pollination? Is this an option?

[Chipchopper]

I think the decline in be number has a lot to do with poor pollination, I heard quite recently the bee populations are actually doing better in inner city areas as opposed to the country side.
bee hives are becoming a common sight now on high-rise rooftops and its apparently due to a richer diversity of plants grow in urban gardens.
Bees being the chief pollinators of apples, I'm sure must be having an impact on harvests.
Although apple varieties like Jonagold may be claimed to be "self fertile", they still do better it they can cross pollinate with different varieties near by, providing of course that the pollinator flowers at the same time.
Bees, I'm told can travel several miles between trees, but I guess it needs to abundant blossoms for it to be worth their while.
I've not tried hand pollination, but it may be interesting to experiment with, after all this is what plant breeders do, to develop new varieties, but I think you might be a busy little bee. :-)

[Chipchopper]

^^Been Number^^

[Stargazer]

Thanks for your advice. Apparently Jonagold need two different pollinators to produce apples. It is not actually down to the lack of bees. What I don't know is whether it is important to use a particular type of apple blossom in order to be successful.

[Chipchopper]

Hi Stargazer,
Sorry for my clumsy typos, even my corrections needed correcting, thats what happens when you're waiting for scampi and chips to cook ;-)

I'm afraid I don't know about // particular types of apple blossom// for successful fertilization, so I would hazard a guess and say the 'cross pollination' being the key word, so as long as the pollinator is flowering at the same time, I would assume that it would be compatible, but I stand to be corrected.
What ever the case, I wish you luck.

[Stargazer]

I thought I would give you an update on rereading the above posting. My tree is absolutely laden with small apples - so many that they will have to thin themselves out if they are to grow to their full size. I did hand pollinate but nowhere near the number that have produced fruit.