Sweet Sixteen Apple tree
Owner: David
Location: Two Rivers, WI, United States
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| Age: | Planted in about 2010 |
| Age of this tree: | 15 years |
| Soil: | sandy with a little clay |
| Climate at this location: | Zone 5b - cool, within 1 mile of Lake Michigan |
| Pruning: | trained and minimally pruned just to maintain balance |
| Tree form: | Central leader (widest at bottom) |
| Height: | Between 6ft / 2m and 15ft / 4m |
| Cropping: | Light crops |
| Growth: | This tree grows fairly well here |
| Herbicides: | Manual treatment (hoeing and weeding) |
| Pesticides: | Chemical treatments |
| Local pests: | squirrels, rose chafers, aphids, apple maggots |
Owner's comments
Planted as a whip in April 2010. Doing okay in spite of my dog uprooting it and biting it in half the first year. Four scions of Kingston Black grafted onto this tree in April 2012. Sadly all the grafts died. Fortunately the Sweet Sixteens are good apples on their own. Tree is fully recovered now, but suffers yearly from attacks by rose chafers and squirrels who all love to steal most of them before full ripeness! Note: Take care not to remove too many flowers or baby apples in spring and early summer, we actually need to keep extra to compensate for the inevitable losses later in the season.Season records for this tree
2023
Spring blossom: 29 May
Size: 2.5m / 8.3ft high 1.5m / 5.0ft wide
Great bloom as usual, thinned to 2-3 flowers each as usual. Rose chafers killed a bunch but not as bad as years previous. I had about 40 small apples, until squirrels stole ALL OF THEM early in July and August.2022
Spring blossom: 30 May
Harvest: 1st week October 1kg / 2lbs
Size: 2.5m / 8.3ft high 1.5m / 5.0ft wide
Heavy bloom, thinned to 2-3 flowers per cluster. Pruned out a third of all spurs in March to help balance fruit vs vegetation. Sprayed before and after June vacation (evil rose chafers), which saved a few, got 6 before the squirrels.2021
Spring blossom: 23 May
Harvest: 4th week September
Size: 2.5m / 8.3ft high 1.5m / 5.0ft wide
Heavy bloom as normal. Pruned out half of all spurs in March to help balance fruit vs vegetation. Removed flowers to 2 per cluster. Apples were bagged, which did NOT stop the squirrels who stole ~50 apples, I ended up with just 1!2020
Spring blossom: 29 May
Harvest: 4th week September 1kg / 2lbs
Size: 2.5m / 8.3ft high 1.5m / 5.0ft wide
Typical heavy bloom. Thinned to one flower per cluster. Rose chafers arrived 6/14. Squirrels and dogs stole most, only 4 left.2019
Spring blossom: 31 May
Harvest: 1st week October 1kg / 2lbs
Size: 2.5m / 8.3ft high 1.5m / 5.0ft wide
Cluster of blooms on almost every bud! Thinned to 1 each. Had ~50 apples early season, rose chafers and dogs ate most of them, only harvested 2 which had insect damage and were not great.2018
Spring blossom: 29 May
Size: 2.5m / 8.3ft high 1.5m / 5.0ft wide2017
Spring blossom: 28 May
Harvest: 1st week October 2kg / 4lbs
Size: 2.5m / 8.3ft high 1.5m / 5.0ft wide
Major bloom on every point of the tree, removed half the blossoms to avoid overset. Lost about half to chafer beetle and apple maggot damage.2016
Spring blossom: 27 May
Harvest: 1st week October 1kg / 2lbs
Size: 2.5m / 8.3ft high 1.5m / 5.0ft wide
VERY heavy bloom this year, but only ~6 apples survived, and the dog ate every one!2015
Spring blossom: 30 May
Harvest: 3rd week September 1kg / 2lbs
Size: 2.5m / 8.3ft high 1.5m / 5.0ft wide
Canker: Not present
Scab: Not present
Fireblight: Not present
Cedar-apple rust: Not present
Woolly aphid: Not present
Pruned heavily on one side to balance. Allowed 9 fruits, 2 survived puppy attack.2014
Spring blossom: 6 June
Harvest: 2nd week October 1kg / 2lbs
Size: 2.0m / 6.7ft high 1.0m / 3.3ft wide
Woolly aphid: Not present
Doing very well, lots of blossom, thinned to 5 of nice size and color.2013
Spring blossom: 8 June
Size: 2.0m / 6.7ft high 1.0m / 3.3ft wide
Bloomed this year! Unfortunately no fruit set. Birds ate flowers.