Can the shoots of my Macintosh apple tree be replanted?
Question:
I have an old but productive Macintosh Apple tree. It is beginning to show sun scald and is putting out shoots 2-3 feet from the trunk. I would hate to lose this tree! Can the shoots be replanted and if so, how and when? It is a standard tree, not on a rootstock.
Answer:
Please take a look at these two resources, which will hopefully address your situation:
UMaine Cooperative Extension Bulletin #2409, “Renovating Old Apple Trees” (the short version is that proper pruning and a soil test to see if any amendments are needed is the path to bringing your tree back)
Univ of NH Extension “Care of Mature Backyard Apple Trees” (includes a section on bringing back older trees, as well as a caution not to exceed the recommended 1/3 per season pruning during renovation in order to avoid a proliferation of additional suckers)
Sun scald on apples can often be caused by an overabundance of fruit bending branches downward, poor air movement through the canopy (trapping hot, humid air among the foliage which raises temperatures on the fruit), and water stress. Proper pruning and watching the irrigation should help mitigate the condition for you moving forward.
As far as the suckers (the new stems cropping up) are concerned, we often advise against this because the new shoots are from the rootstock (which often doesn’t produce nice fruit), but because this is a standard, you should be able to pot up the suckers like new trees. There is a nice guide to this here (I don’t often link to non-university or botanical garden sites, but this is pretty straightforward and useful).
Happy gardening.