Dead apple tree planted this spring

9 years ago

Hi experts - looking for answers and advice. The pictures in this and the next post show a dead apple tree I planted this spring. It was a Spigold on G30, from Cummins Nursery. I planted 3 other apples from them at the same time. This tree grew only a few leaves on a few short branches, and looked quite stunted compared to the others. I had last looked at it about 2+ weeks ago and it looked green then, but I found it with brown dead leaves 3d ago. At planting, I put a small amount of compost in the hole to amend my otherwise heavy clay soil. I used no fertilizer on this tree, used no herbicides in my yard, covered the planting hole with mulch, protected it from deer and rabbits with a ring of fence. The lower bark shows no sign of rodent damage. This area of orchard is on a slope that does not get waterlogged soil. The other new trees, plus my 2 2y old apples and my 3 older apple trees all look fine (plus 2 nearby pears that have never shown fireblight).
2 questions:
What do you think killed this tree?
Should I approach the nursery about a refund?

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Comments (6)

eboone_gw
Original Author
9 years ago
picture # 2
ltilton
9 years ago
What did the roots look like when you got it?
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fireballsocal
9 years ago
Definitely go for a replacement or refund. You went above and beyond to keep it safe and give it a good start, as the other trees attest to. I would choose another spot to plant something though, just in case it's your soil or location that is the problem.
benfisher
9 years ago
you could cut it off and the rootstock would sucker....then graft onto it in a year or two.? I planted a bunch, last fall and they all died. I kept one sucker and they got big enough in one year to graft onto in the spring .. what's a couple years in the apple world!
eboone_gw
Original Author
9 years ago
I thought the roots were just ok-I've seen better and worse bare root trees.
EDIT: Sorry, I checked and I have no pictures

I thought if I contacted the nursery and they wanted more info I might need to dig up the roots for a post-mortem exam and picture
And if it died from a root related problem, it won't sucker. I suppose I need to dig it up and look at them.

This post was edited by eboone on Thu, Sep 11, 14 at 8:01
curtis
9 years ago
Looks to me like the roots never established. In my opinion you can pronounce it "not your fault" and replace it with no further thought or worry.

I don't know how long you have to ask for a replacement from cummins, so would ask today. Send them the first photo, that is all they will want to see.