mtp
May 21st, 2008
May 21st, 2008
Queen Cox Applet
After a very short blossom period and a few quick hand-pollination attempts from me I think we have some Queen Cox apples growing! I’m very excited. After I found that ants were munching through the flower buds I really didn’t expect any of the flowers to be in good enough shape to be pollinated. But it seems I was wrong. The little applets (if indeed that is a word) are very cute don’t you think - all furry with a hint of blush. Can’t wait to see how they develop although I might have to think about (sigh!) thinning them because some of them are very close to one another.
What do you think, are you lacking bees this year…? I have a small orchard and the fruit setting is looking really poor, I am worried that the beans and courgettes will suffer, although I have a few cherries they are scant. I think I will have to get my paint brushes out to do a bit of pollination.
What a stunning photo! I would love to get a proper macro - lens for my camera. You might try hanging a pheromone trap in your apple tree. I use the traps in my plum tree and it really helps prevent maggots.
It’s quite a surprise to see a furry baby apple - I would have thought it would look all hard and shiny. It does look cute!
I’m shy to ask… but how exactly did you do the hand pollination?
Gorgeous photo!!
Gillian - I did it with my finger - ooh err…
Oh my!
[...] first summer with the tree, I’m not sure how many crabapples we will get. So after reading this post over at My Tiny Plot, I thought maybe I should give the pollinators a helping hand. It was all a little bit naughty if [...]