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Study: pay attention to what types of apples are planted next to each other

A Purdue University study shows that apple growers should pay close attention to the types of apple trees they plant next to each other.

Pollen from other apple varieties is necessary for fruit to grow because apple trees cannot self-pollinate. Growers often plant crab apple trees near Honeycrisp, Gala, and Fuji. Crab apples produce pollen for bees to spread to other trees.

Peter Hirst, a Purdue professor of horticulture and landscape architecture, says planting different cultivars every few rows will promote cross-pollination.

Hirst and Khalil Jahed, a Purdue doctoral student, did a study on pollen and found that Honeycrisp pollinated with Red Delicious variety doubled fruit set compared to Honeycrisp pollinated with crab apple varieties.

The crab apples did better with Fuji and Gala.

The research was part of Jahed’s master’s degree thesis. They do not plan to continue the study but they  do plan to publish another paper on pollination and fruit quality next year.