Topic: Apple tree - no flowers...

[vaca]

Hello,

I've had an apple tree planted in my garden for the last 3 years and this is the first time that virtually no flowers have appeared. Only 3 or 4 flowers came out, 3 of which now have a small apple waiting to mature. What could've caused this? I did prune in winter and added well rotted manure sometime in February I think, could this be the problem? The tree is healthy and chock full of green leaves, but no buds... Should I remove the 3 small apples in hopes that the tree will try and produce more flowers?

very confused...

Thanks,
Vaca

[Baccy Man]

Lots of fruit trees become biennial you get a large crop one year & little or nothing the next. Leave the apples on it won't produce any additional flowers/fruit this year but should have loads next year.

[jennym]

I think there are a couple of things you comment on that would lead me to say that to some extent, the pruning and feeding may go some way towards explaining what has happened.
I am assuming that your tree is a spur bearing apple. I am also assuming that it is about 4 to 5 years old.
You say you pruned in winter. It may be that inadvertently you have pruned off portions of the stems/branches that would have produced flowers then fruit. You say that the tree is healthy and chcok full of green leaves. It may be that the pruning you have done in the winter combined with the application of manure has produced this abundance of green growth.
Pruning in winter tends to make the tree put on lots of growth. Generally, you prune in winter to help to shape the tree - for example, removing the tip of a branch will tend to make the bud that is left at the end of the branch  grow vegetatively rather than reproductively, i.e. to grow long and form the new growth on the branch rather than to fatten up and become a flowering spur.
High nitrogen feeds, such as manure can also make the tree put on green lefy growth and promotes the growth of long branches - sometimes you may want these, sometimes not.
I would leave the tree alone this winter, both in terms of pruning (except to remove any dead.damaged or diseased wood) and in terms of feeding.
Have a good look at it. The new growth that takes place this year, should ripen up and there may well be plenty of fruiting buds on it next year.

[glosterwomble]

We have a huge mature apple tree that has produced well for us in the 2 summers that we have been at this house. This spring it had a very poor blossom so I'm not sure how well it will produce. I don't think you are totally to blame, I think some year are better than  others.

[vaca]

Thank you for your replies. I think jennym has hit the nail, the tree is 4/5 years old and I did prune it quite vigorously last winter. I did this as the tree was shapeless and really needed some shaping up. I didn't realise that this plus the manure would cause it not to flower, but I guess it does make sense. I'll definitely leave it alone this winter and wait for a tree full of fruit next year.

I'm actually quite happy that the pruning and manure will cause more growth as the tree does need it. That was the main reason for doing it, but I didn't count on it not flowering, but I guess you can't have loads of growth and loads of fruit all at the same time... just the way it goes I guess.

...looking forward to next year's crop :)

vaca