How to Plant a Fuji Apple Tree

Fuji apples are gaining popularity because of their delicious taste and use in fresh salads. The Fuji apple tree is most common in the dwarf or semi-dwarf varieties, which grow 8 to 10 feet and 15 to 20 feet tall, respectively. The Fuji tree usually blooms in mid-April, producing a crop of apples in mid-October after it is three to five years of age. With the right planting and care, you can enjoy sweet, crisp Fuji apples from your own yard every year.

Things You'll Need

• Fuji apple tree
• Shovel
• Pitchfork
• Pruning shears
• Mulch
• Rodent guards
• Toothpicks or clothespins
• Rome or Braeburn apple tree (cross-pollinizer)
• Plastic and newspaper or sawdust (optional)

Instructions

1. Soak the Fuji apple tree's roots in water for 24 hours prior to planting, if the roots have dried out. Plant the tree in late fall or early spring.

2. Dig a hole in a spot that receives full sun. Make the hole 2 feet deep and twice the diameter of the root system. Use a pitchfork to loosen the soil on the hole's walls. Loosen some of the displaced soil and place it back into the hole.

3. Set the tree roots in the soil, spreading them out and making sure they're not crowded or twisted. Fill in the hole around the tree roots with the displaced soil, pressing the soil down.

4. Water the soil around the tree well after planting. Soak the soil to help firm down the dirt.

5. Spread a 2-inch layer of mulch around the tree, extending out to the drip line (where the outer branches end) to control weed growth and preserve moisture. Place rodent guards around the base of the Fuji apple tree to protect it from rodents that like to burrow under the mulch and chew on the roots and trunk.

6. Cut back the unbranched central leader, or main trunk, to 36 inches above the soil surface. Do this in early spring following planting, just before the buds begin to grow. This will help along new lateral branching.

7. Pick out the most upright new shoot after the new growth has reached three to four inches in length. Remove all the other 3- to 4-inch new shoots, leaving the one main shoot that will grow to continue the central leader.

8. Spread the lateral "scaffold" branches to create a wider crotch angle when the branches reach three to six inches in length. Use toothpicks or clothespins to prop up the branches so that they are at a 50 to 60-degree angle. This will create a stronger framework for fruit and produce fruit sooner.

9. Plant at least one other variety of apple tree next to your Fuji tree as a cross-pollinizer. Because the Fuji apple tree cannot self-pollinate, you'll need to plant at least one other apple tree that is a suitable pollinizer variety. Rome and Braeburn apple trees are good potential cross-pollinizer varieties for Fuji.

Tips & Warnings

• Purchase a healthy Fuji apple tree that is 1-year-old and 4 to 6 feet tall. Check the tree's root system to ensure that it's healthy and well-developed.

• If you cannot plant the Fuji apple tree immediately after purchasing it, you can wrap the roots in plastic, adding moist newspaper or sawdust. Then, place the tree in a cooler or refrigerator and store it there for up to three weeks at 40 degrees F.

• Don't add fertilizer to the soil when you first plant the Fuji apple tree; the fertilizer will "burn" the roots.

References

• "Growing Apple Trees in the Home Garden," by Michael L. Parker

Resources

• Fuji -- Malus 'Fuji'