4 in 1 Trees?

[Kathleen in WI]

Has anyone tried those 4 in 1 apple trees that produce four varieties of fruit on one tree? They look interesting but I've never tried one and I don't know anyone who has. What can you tell me about them?

Thanks!
Kathleen

[Beaners]

I don't know if I've ever seen one other than in the catalogs and occasionally a place like Lowes. They are just different varieties of apple grafted onto a single tree. If you already have an apple tree you can add as many other varieties as you can get your hands on by grafting.

Kayleigh

[Beaners]

Oh. Based on your location you may need different varieties of apple trees than the standard varieties available. I would check out the chill hours different trees require and whether or not your location can provide that.

Kayleigh

[Kathleen in WI]

Well, in a few weeks my location will be Colorado.

I was just curious how well something like that would do. Are they just a novelty/ sales pitch type thing or do they really produce?

[Grandmotherbear]

We have a 3 in 1 southern low chill apple- Einshmer, Golden Dorset, and Anna. We bought ours from Raintrees Nurseries in Oregon. Very satisfied with their customer service.
You want to make sure the chill hours match your location. technically, this county is Zone 9B BUT our microclimate along this ridge line is 10. A few lakes over, on lower ground, its 8.
You can simulate chill hours by stripping leaves off after the harvest,
Also make sure that your grafts are self fertile or you have an appropriate fertilizer/cross apple or crab available.
Any apple tree should not produce fruit its first, or possibly second, year. You stop growing when you start producing crops. We liked the fact the apples matured at different times. Also, it's a dwarf, which is appropriate for 2 people.

[Kathleen in WI]

That's very helpful. Thank you.

I do want to get some dwarf trees but my husband was reading that they are not good to have in dry climates because the roots stay at the surface. I'm assuming I'd have to irrigate. Colorado is pretty dry (which is why we are moving there--less humidity).

We will be zone 5a. I'm researching what fruit trees will do well there as well as landscape trees. We will have to create a windbreak for the winter for sure. But in our research we came across this 4 in 1 tree and it got me wondering how well something like that does. Overall, not just for my zone. I've never known anyone who had one so I was curious if people who did were happy with the results or if they were disappointed. I knew this would be the place to ask.

[Rowena]

We are very dry also, and have it on drip, and dug the hole with a backhoe that we were lucky enough to borrow so all the holes were dug and amended to a 4' x 4' hole at least. It is semi-dwarf and the 2 year old tree reached its full height about 2-3 years later. Good luck with the move. Make sure after it is established you water it only once or twice a week very deeply to help the roots reach. Drippers work well for that.

[karsan]

I have some experience with a 5 in 1 apple tree - yes, as I remember there were even five varieties on the same tree. My experience is old and in another climate than yours - 1960s, Stockholm, Sweden. In any case this tree stood in the garden of a house we lived in when I was a teenager. I was quite impressed by the fact of all the nice apple varieties. One branch for each variety, so there was not an enormous amount of fruit. - A good thing I would say, as I now live in an house with 5 big apple trees and often become overwhelmed by apples.

However, I do not know the history of the tree - if it was bought as a 5 in 1 or if the first owners of the house, built in the 1930s, were good gardeners who grafted a new variety every year.

In any case, I can testify that several apple varieties on the same tree is not a newfangled untried experiment, and that it can work very well.

karsan

[Kathleen in WI]

That's really pretty cool. (BTW, my daddy's family was from Sweden; not sure what part.)

So how many of you have just grafted your own trees? I've never had the opportunity to try it, but I am intrigued by it. Might have to give it a shot one day.

[haypoint]

My Dad has an apple tree with several different varieties. I think one variety died off and the screwy weather in northern AZ has foiled any fruit production.

I have done over a thousand successful grafts on apple trees and a few pear. It took me a few years to get good at it. Just need to know and understand the different types of grafts and have some grafting supplies. I use rubber band strips, grafting tape, yellow grafting wax, a sharp knife, aluminum tags and a pencil. Collection of properly sized scions at the proper time of the year and timely grafting.

I didn't do so good this spring. Some of my scions were too small and some of the seedlings I grafted to had died over the winter.

Pruning would be harder because you'd have to be sure you didn't prune off one of the varieties. With a central leader system, would you use one of the multiple varieties as the central lead? Perhaps they are bud grafts along a seedling trunk.