apple tree has given up??

[mutantpoodle]

I have had for some years a 'Discovery' apple tree
its about 5 ft high and similar diameter
it has be HUGELY prolific...every year just masses of apples

this year it blossomed but only lightly
now all is brown..no greenery nor buds at all

all my other trees are now in full leaf so its not location or some odd thing I might have done

is it simply having a year off? or has it given up?

[jackdaww]

I have had for some years a 'Discovery' apple tree
its about 5 ft high and similar diameter
it has be HUGELY prolific...every year just masses of apples

this year it blossomed but only lightly
now all is brown..no greenery nor buds at all

all my other trees are now in full leaf so its not location or some odd thing I might have done

is it simply having a year off? or has it given up?

======================

sounds serious .

did it get a heavy late frost ?

discovery is a great early apple .

[Dod101]

I am not familiar with apple trees. I have two with very prolific blossom this year but they are essentially simp0ly an attractive show. They never do much as far as actual apples are concerned. Without turning this into GQT it sounds as though the apple tree which is not performing has some sort of disease and I would be inclined to do some research in that direction.

Dod

[UncleEbenezer]

No idea if this applies to apples, but something like that happened to my recent neighbour's cherry tree. I think it was two years of looking dead (she thought it had been killed by some creeper), then the next year back in glorious bloom.

[bungeejumper]

No idea if this applies to apples, but something like that happened to my recent neighbour's cherry tree. I think it was two years of looking dead (she thought it had been killed by some creeper), then the next year back in glorious bloom.

Aaah, cherry trees do that. Especially if there's a long dry period - they shrivel up and turn brown and sulk, and then just when you're ready to chop them down they bounce back and shout "surprise!" (Mind you, they are also susceptible to something serious called silverleaf, which is usually localised but can be terminal.)

Several of our thirty-odd apple trees are showing symptoms this year where some flowering clusters (and their associated leaves) are looking a bit sick, but there's enough green leafery in general, so I'm not worrying yet. I think the highly erratic weather pattern down here in the south (heavy rain followed by prolonged drought) might be responsible. But I'd be bothered if there was no green at all by now.

Good luck with it, OP. Try checking for magnesium deficiency. A dose of Epsom salts usually fixes ours!

BJ

[Nimrod103]

The comment 'all is brown' sounds like it is terminal. Honey fungus or massive canker attack perhaps?

My own 4 apple trees look like they are going to give a bumper crop this summer. Makes up for last year when my Bramley took the year off, even though for every year previous it had been a good cropper.

[sg31]

I have very similar problems to the OP with a plum tree. Early last year I planted 6 dwarf cherries and 2 plums. They got their feet down quite well and put on decent growth. This year the cherries and one plum had blossom and burst into leaf and look the picture of health but one plum started to break into 1 leaf at the end of one branch which quickly shrivelled up and since then nothing. It looks completely dead.

I'm prepared to give it a while longer but the contrast between that tree and the other 7 is obvious.

I can't offer any advice to the OP. I tend to find apple trees are generally indestructible.

[mutantpoodle]

many thanks everyone for thoughts and ideas

yesterday i 'broke' an end off one of the branches to check what colour etc was within
all seemed OK...in as much as it wasnt obviously dry anddaed

so i will give tree the benefit for a year............my main problem is that this particular tree is in prime position in garden
so we not really able gto leave and ignore for long time...but on basis no one is likely to be allowed to visit it s not going to matter so much this year

i will try and be patient