Mould on young apple trees

I'm growing some apple trees from seed.

They're about 3 months old and were doing really well, but recently started to develop what look like mould spores on the leaves and stem.

I washed them all down yesterday, but the mould is back already.

My other half thinks I may be over-watering them, I think otherwise, but neither of us are gardeners in particular.
They were replanted into those pots a few weeks ago; they were brand new from the garden centre, but also need mould wiping off them every now & then; I don't know if that's significant or not.

I've attached photos. The plants are clearly ill from whatever this is.

Does anyone know what this is and if there's anything I can do about it?



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I've never grown apple trees from seed but mildew used to be a menace on an apple tree I grew for 20 years in my garden.

I'd suggest 1) reduce the watering a bit 2) mist the plant with plain water every few days 3) put it outside or at least ensure it gets plenty of fresh air if you want to keep it indoors.

 

Thanks for your reply.

I realise humidity may be an issue with them being indoors in this unusually hot summer, I'll try misting them daily and reducing watering and see how they go. The 'stuff' on them is as bad as it was a few days ago but the plants don't seem to be suffering any worse.

I've been reluctant to put them outside though because they seem a bit fragile in the wind. I've got places to put them that are safe from animals but not sheltered from the weather.

How much wind can they stand up to? Would it be worth putting them out on calmer days or is it not even an issue to worry about?

 

Hi Tobster

It's unusual to grow apple trees from seed because 99% of apple trees that you see are specific headstocks grafted on to specific rootstocks. Do you know what variety of seed you've got? Do you know if it will come true to type? Is it some special miniature type?

These considerations are important because what you want your plant to be - a house plant, big conservatory plant or garden tree/shrub - will govern how you treat it from now on.

If you ultimately want to plant it in the garden and see what it produces, it'll need to get acclimatised so putting it outside regularly is essential. As long as its main stem is well supported by a cane, it should be OK in any moderate wind.

If you want to keep it as a house plant/conservatory plant, you may have problems if the variety is a vigorous one. At some stage, when it reaches the size you want, you'll need to stop its vertical growth and also root prune it. Trying to keep a really vigorous variety in a pot can lead to physiological and disease problems. That said, bay trees are a common and vigorous species and you can keep them in pots indefinitely if you treat them right.

I have to say your apple "tree" looks pretty healthy and well looked after from the photos. I'm intrigued what your plans for it are!

 

They were a completely unplanned random event; eating a Tesco's Pink Lady apple in the office at work and noticing that the seeds had started to sprout inside the apple, so I put them in a vacant plant pot (where the last plant had died from neglect), but otherwise didn't expect anything or even care (being a graduate software engineer and therefore unlikely gardener).

The following week my colleague asked 'what's growing in that pot'; there were two of them, about 2" tall, with a couple of leaves.

So I started watering them. Another one sprouted but died off, and then another came up and did well. A few weeks later I took them home from the office and seperated them into individual pots.

Don't have any long term plans. What plans get made largely depends on their growth rate. I know the parent apple was Argentine/Chilean in origin; I don't know if North Yorkshire is a suitable climate for them to be put outdoors in?