Things You'll Need:
- Honeycrisp apple tree
- Cultivator tree
- Compost or other organic material
- Mulch
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Step 1
Ensure you have enough room on your property for at least two trees. Honeycrisp trees are not self-pollinating. To produce Honeycrisp apples, you will have to plant a second tree to act as a cultivator, such as a flowering crab apple.
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Step 2
Check the USDA hardiness zone map and determine your location (see Resources). Honeycrisp apples can be successfully grown in zones 3 through 6.
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Step 3
Select a site where your Honeycrisp apple tree will receive as much sun as possible. They do best in full sun, but can tolerate partial shade.
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Step 4
Dig the holes for your trees one month prior to planting. Space them approximately 8 feet apart. Create planting sites which are 2 feet deep and 4 feet wide, encompassing as much compost or other organic material into the soil as you can when you fill the holes back in. This will result in loamy, well-drained soil for your new trees.
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Step 5
Remove the trees from their containers and plant them in the prepared sites. Be sure to dig down far enough to position the trees to the same depth as they were in their pots or to the soil marks if planting rootstock. Use your hands to push the soil back into the opening, pressing firmly against the trunk of the tree.
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Step 6
Place a layer of mulch around the base of the trees and water the transplants well. Give trees 1 inch of water each week that it does not rain, until the arrival of the first hard frost. Resume the watering schedule after the spring frost.
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Step 7
Fertilize the trees each spring and treat them with a general purpose insecticide as Honeycrisp trees have no genetic resistance to insects or diseases and have been known to be particularly susceptible to fireblight and apple scab.
