Growing Great Apples in Tennessee

You can grow apples in the Chattanooga region

Tennessee has one of the best climates around for growing many fruits including apples.  The weather is generally mild throughout the year, with warm summers and cool winters, avoiding extremes on either side. There is also plenty of rainfall over the course of the year, rather than concentrated in one specific season. 

Apples are one of the most popular fruits in the world, second only to Bananas.  It is also a popular fruit to grow in home gardens, not only for the fruits but also for their gorgeous flowers.  The beautiful flowers attract many different pollinators when releasing their sweet fragrance in mid-spring.

Apple trees need a certain amount of “chill hours” (time in temperatures below 45F) to allow fruit to set.  The amount of chill hours required depends on the variety of tree you choose and the most popular need about 500-1000 hours.  Perfect for our Tennessee climate. On average, Chattanooga receives 1,000 + chill hours.

Long season varieties grow in zones 5-8 and are perfect for Tennessee’s growing climates.   More hardy varieties are available for colder climates like zones 3-5 to provide stronger fruiting in the colder weather.

As one of the few fruiting plants that aren’t too fussy about their conditions, apple trees are fairly easy to care for. They don’t need much fertilizer, won’t need to be heavily pruned, and can surprise you, year after year, with a plethora of fruit. 

Where and how to plant your apple tree

Make sure you have the perfect place in your yard for your tree or trees.  Choose a spot with plenty of sunlight and plenty of room to grow.  Apple trees need good airflow and drier air to prevent the growth of fungal spores on the leaves and help protect against pests and disease.  Do not plant  in low-lying areas where cool air settles in winter. 

Find a healthy-looking tree from a local nursery that carries varieties specific to your area’s conditions.  Clear the site and be sure the soil is light and well-draining.  Apple trees are susceptible to root rot and do not do well in clay soils.  You may need to add soil amendments such as mushroom compost and soil conditioner.

Make sure the hole you dig is just as deep as the soil line already on the tree and twice as wide.  Water immediately after planting.   It is critical that you water your new tree immediately after planting.  For the first year, in the spring and fall, give it a good deep soaking once a week (whether that be manually by you, or a deep soaking rain).  For most trees, 3 times a week (Mon., Wed., and Fri.) is sufficient in the hot summer months.  Please do not water DAILY, as this could lead to root rot and potentially kill the tree.  Water enough in early stages of growth to help roots establish, as well as in fall (for established trees) to help your apples become nice and juicy.  Keep in mind that your apple tree may not bear fruit for 2-5 years.

Fertilizing and spraying for protection

Fruit trees should be fertilized once a year.  For the first year of growth apply fertilizer about three weeks after the trees are set.  For established trees, apply fertilizer about one month prior to the start of new growth in spring.  Apply fertilizer about one foot out from the trunk out to the drip line. 

Apple fertilizers may be organic or non-organic, but the nutrients are the same to your trees. Both types can be applied to the soil or as sprays to apple leaves. Dry forms are available as well as several liquid organic fertilizers, including fish emulsion and seaweed concentrates. Compost may also be used to provide gentle nutrients to your home orchard.

Apple trees require nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium - the three numbers on fertilizer bags - as well as various trace minerals. For home growers, fertilizers should have a higher nitrogen ratio to encourage healthy growth. Common granular 20-10-10 fertilizer is suitable for apples. A rule of thumb for small orchards is 1 pound of fertilizer per each year of growth, up to a maximum of 6 pounds of 20-10-10 fertilizer per tree.

Use combination sprays during the growing season to target both insects and diseases.

Combination sprays are two different pesticides sold individually, normally an insecticide and a fungicide, mixed into the same sprayer and applied at the same time. This practice is a way to customize an application and save time.  Be careful using this method, as not all combinations are compatible, and some can be dangerous.  There are also premixed “Fruit Tree Sprays” available for purchase.

Copper Soap Fungicide is used on fruits, vegetables, and roses.  Spray on before buds swell to help keep it from going into early bloom.  This also helps to protect the plant from fungus later in the season. 

Diseases controlled: Cedar Apple Rust, Powdery Mildew, Peach Leaf Curl, Late Blight on tomatoes, Black Spot, and Anthracnose.

Dormant Oil sprays are used on fruit trees while they are dormant until just before their buds begin to swell and temperatures are at least 40 degrees.  It will suffocate insects and their eggs nest in branches on Apples, Crabapples, Plums, Quince, and Pears.

Pollinating your apple trees

To effectively pollinate your apple tree, you’ll need to plant more than one variety. There are a few self-pollinating options for smaller gardens short on space, but most trees will only produce fruit when cross-pollinated. Choose a disease-resistant variety like ‘Liberty’ for lower maintenance, or a dwarf variety for growing in containers or small gardens. 

 Apples rely on cross-pollination to produce large crops.  While most popular varieties will pollinate each other, some combinations of trees do better than others.  There are also some varieties that cannot pollinate other trees, which could result in trees that won’t bear fruit.          

Make sure the trees you choose will have matching bloom times to ensure the bees and other beneficial insects can do their jobs.  Try to plant the trees within about 100 feet of each other. Use the chart below to help guide you in your choices.

Pollinating partners for your apple tree

VARIETY	GROW ZONE	RIPENING SEASON	DETAILS	POLLINATE
Gala	5-9	Early	Very crisp, medium, semi-sweet fruit	Red or Golden Delicious, Honeycrisp, Granny Smith, Jonathan of Fuji
Babe	4-8	Early	Full-size, red, delicious, crispy	Liberty, Gala
Mollies Delicious	4-8	Early	Medium, red, crispy, sweet-tart taste	Golden Delicious
Mutsu (This is a triploid apple)	4-8	Mid	Medium to large, juicy, aromatic, sweet, spicy, tart	Needs two different pollinators - Golden Delicious, Jonathan, Red Delicious
McIntosh	4-11	Mid	Medium, bright red, crisp, sweet	Red Delicious, Gala
Jonagold (This is a triploid apple)	5-8	Mid-Late	Large, sour-sweet, crisp, juicy	Needs two different pollinators: Gala, Empire, Fuji, Honeycrisp
Honeycrisp	4-9	Mid-Late	Large, juicy, uniquely sweet, just a touch of tart	Gala, Fuji, Granny Smith, Winesap, Red and Golden Delicious
Yellow (Golden) Delicious	5-8	Mid-Late	Large, yellow skin, crisp, juicy, sweet	Self-fertile, but higher yields w/ Red Delicious, Red Jonathan, Early Harvest
Red Delicious	5-8	Mid-Late	Medium, juicy, crisp flesh, sweet and mild	Fuji, Jonathan, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith
Pink Lady	4-9	Late	Large, pink skin, distinctive tart flavor turns sweet	Gala, Winesap, Fuji, Granny Smith, McIntosh
Fuji	4-9	Late	Medium, red, crisp, firm, juicy, sweet-tart	Gala, Golden Delicious, Jonathan, Red Delicious
Granny Smith	5-9	Late	Medium, green, firm, crisp, tart (great for cooking/baking)	Red Delicious, Fuji, Jonathan, Gala
Snow Sweet	4-7	Late	Medium, red, crisp flesh, sweet	Jonagold, Winesap, Red Delicious, Granny Smith
Winesap	5-8	Late	Large, red skin, wine-like flavor, tart and sweet	Yellow or Red Delicious, Jonathan, Early Harvest

When and how to harvest

Start with a good idea of when your crop should be ready. Check the estimated ripening time for your cultivar, take the weather into account, and consider your crop load.

When you’re ready to test an apple for maturity:

1.    Examine the color of both the skin and the flesh: If you ignore the red areas of the skin, the remaining color is the background color. When many cultivars mature, their background color changes from green to yellow/green or golden. Apples that are not quite mature will have a greenish cast to their flesh. If the flesh has a greenish tint, come back and do another test in a few days.  Mature apples, on the other hand, will have flesh that looks white in color in many cases, or that has a yellowish cast.

2.    Give it a squeeze: Mature fruit should feel firm when handled, but not rock hard. 

3.    Do a stem test: Choose an apple on the southern side of your tree and rotate it gently. Does it come off easily, or does it resist? Fruits that are mature should detach easily from the tree.

4.     Let your taste buds be the final judge:  When these fruits mature, their starches turn into sugars. If you’ve got all starch and no sweetness, they need more time on the tree.  If the flavor you experience is sweet, it is past maturity and is now ripe and ready to enjoy for fresh eating.

Apples are a relatively low-maintenance, fruiting tree that everyone should consider growing in their garden. However, for Tennessee gardeners, it should be at the top of the list. This tree is ideal for our Tennessee climate, making it easy to grow. Choose one long-season variety or many, and they are guaranteed to grow happily in your backyard.