A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Plants and Flowers Forum Shrubs and Trees Dinner Plate Apple tree?

My mother bought this tree from an ad that came in the newspaper. That was about 15 years ago (she passed away in 2001). It's supposed to be what is called a "Dinner Plate" apple tree. The apples supposedly get as big as dinner plates.

It may be kind of hard to gauge the height in this pic but it's about 9, maybe 10 feet tall and only about 3 1/2 feet in diameter. It has NEVER bloomed so, obviously hasn't borne any fruit. The leaves look very much like a Granny Smith apple tree I use to have (Hurricane Katrina dropped a giant tree on it)but other than that it bears no other physical resemblance.

I'm thinking about digging it up. I planted it too close to my fig tree which was just a baby at the time. Now the fig is only 4 feet away....and it 'produces' so it has priority. :wink:

To be as old as this tree is, I would think it would be a lot bigger by now and flowering. ??? Anybody got any ideas about this tree?



Next pic is a closeup of the leaves.

I don't know much about apple trees but don't they need to cross pollinate with another apple tree to bear fruit? I thought that my dad bought 2 apple trees to get fruit to set off them, but I could be wrong....

Maybe some varieties do need that. My Granny Smith apple tree was a 'loner' and it bloomed and bore fruit. The weather down here is not great for apple trees so the fruit didn't do as well as it might have a little further north. They would start out great but by the time they were getting to a good size it was hot as hades down here and they would just 'stop' and not finish maturing. I got a few decent apples from it over the course of several years.

how cold is your winter? apples need a period of very cold temps to set fruit.

Last winter (or lack of same) can't be classified as one. Usually we have at least a few days of below freezing. Temps during the coldest part of the winter usually run in the high 30's to low 40's.

The tree is about 15 years old. We've had some winters with freezing temps in the last 5 years. I don't think that's it. My Granny Smith (may she rest in peace) produced fruit without a 'partner' and without really cold winters. This 'Dinner Plate' has never even bloomed.