What Apple Trees Are Compatible for Pollination?
Producing a successful crop of apples isn't as simple as just planting a tree and keeping it healthy. Most apple trees are not self-pollinating, so you must know which types of trees are suitable for cross-pollination. Does this Spark an idea?
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Basic Guidelines
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Besides being unable to self-pollinate, most apple tree varieties are not self-fruitful. This means that trees of one apple variety must cross-pollinate with those of a different variety in order to produce fruit .
Bloom Time Signifiicance
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Apple trees must bloom within the same time frame to pollinate one another. The more closely the blooming period of tree varieties overlap, the more compatible they are as pollinators.
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Early-Season Bloomers
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Popular early-season apple varieties include the Lodi, the Idared, the Braeburn, the Red Jonathan and the Red McIntosh.
Late-Season Bloomers
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Popular late-blooming trees include the Honeycrisp, the Fuji and Red Fuji, the Granny Smith and the Red Northern Spy.
Mid-Season Bloomers
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Mid-season blooming apple varieties like Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Gala and Golden Russet can generally be used to pollinate both early and late-season bloomers.
Non-Pollinators
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Certain types of apples--including Jonagold and Crispin varieties--have sterile pollen, and can't pollinate other trees. They can, however, be pollinated by a second tree of a different variety. You must plant a third variety to get apples from the second tree.
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