Apple plant growing up in my backyard!

Once my old classmate, currently in Ireland, posted the picture of a basket full of apples grown at his home. Another friend currently in the United States, commented that it would cost a fortune at home in Kerala. Then the classmate in Ireland posted picture of apple tree in his backyard and told us that most people have apple trees in their backyard. I thought of trying out apple plants at home, fully aware that it is not a plant for our tropical climate. That was when I found a large apple plant in a local nursery, growing in a two feet garden pot, and about 8 feet tall. During my next visit to the same nursery, I found that it had borne a small apple as well. Soon I found that they had plenty of apple plants over there and promptly brought one home.

For those not familiar with apple plants, the small plant with larger leaves seen here is the apple plant. The plant with a thick stem and small leaves in plenty is a Moringa plant and the short plants with small leaves and thin stem are Curry leaves. You can see four branches of the apple plant with thin stem growing in different directions. Though some of the old leaves have been damaged, the plant is continue to grow for the past few months, with fresh leaves coming up on all the branches. In between I had tried layering one branch, but it was not successful. I had also tried planting a branch in a garden pot. That attempt also did not succeed.

This was how the apple plant was when it was brought from the local nursery, in a polythene grow bag. It was soon re-planted on ground soil as you can seen in the next video clip. All leaves looked fairly healthy. Not sure whether they were using any special sprays to keep them better.

Video clip taken a few weeks later showing fresh leaves coming up and the apple plant growing well, without any significant damage to the leaves. Later when I saw some leaves getting damaged, I had pruned the damaged branches and tried planting them in a garden pot as mentioned initially. Later I tried spraying neem oil once or twice. Still later I had sprayed a mixture of neem oil, eucalyptus oil, lemongrass oil and turmeric, bought from a local mall. Though the plant is growing fairly well, I am not sure whether it will bear fruits in the hot tropical climate of my region. One amateur radio friend from the United States was mentioning that apple needs vernalization for flowering. Vernalization is the process by which plants flower after exposure to cold temperatures for long period. That is a seasonal trigger that helps plants flower in the spring when conditions are favorable. We do not have prolonged winter with cold temperatures in my region at just 11 degrees North latitude.