I got this little tree last year in great condition, and was overjoyed with its rich bounty of apples later in the season. I removed the last of them in early December as they weren't for falling off on their own. It then flowered wonderfully in March and despite my insistence that I'd not seen a single pollinating insect around due to the inclement weather at the time, it went on to produce a smaller bounty of apples in May/June. All was fine until last month when firstly I noticed a lot of the smaller apples had fallen off the tree and it was left with 4 which are still holding on but growing well. However, my main concern is the state of the leaves. They've started looking rather drab, and some have the discoloured or brown tips, and to me overall, the tree just looks unhealthy.
Care wise - I'm unsure exactly what medium its potted in but suspect soil over grit. I didn't feed it after flowering until 2 weeks ago (more out of desperation) as I'd rather lose the apples than the tree and figured it might need some sustenance. Feeding is with 'Green Dream' pellets. Since getting the feed it does seem to have managed to push out some fresh new growth which is encouraging. It's in a full sun position for 6-8 hours a day. But as most know the weather (particularly up here in the North) has been a lot duller than usual for summer with a LOT of rain, so watering hasn't been a problem - rather I've tried to ensure it doesn't appear to be getting waterlogged.
So I'm basically just seeking some reassurance if it's likely normal given the conditions to look as it does, or whether I need to up the ante with feeding before winter perhaps?
Goes without saying I'm more a hobbyist with "wee trees" as opposed to a full blooded bonsai enthusiast as I'm disabled & unable to spend too much money on the craft, but I do have a local expert who does all my repotting & yearly care etc (he's just gone AWOL on me
).