Topic: Fruit trees

[tricia]

Is there any way I can persuade my apple and pear trees to blossom and therefore fruit this year? They seem to have gone into a two year cycle - the last three years have produced,  bumper,  nothing and bumper harvests.

Tricia 

[saddad]

Not too late to take out some of the fruiting spurs... that might help.

[ancellsfarmer]

Is there any way I can persuade my apple and pear trees to blossom and therefore fruit this year? They seem to have gone into a two year cycle - the last three years have produced,  bumper,  nothing and bumper harvests.

Tricia 

Keep your fingers crossed for a suitably frost free period while they bloom, hopefully with benign conditions to suit the pollinators. The number of fruiting buds was determined at the end of last summer, did you prune?
Any work you do now (before the buds swell) will decrease the quantity, but may well improve each individual fruit in terms of size and appearance. Some varieties seem to have 'on and off' years also

[ACE]

When certain plants and trees feel stressed they produce fruit as a way of sowing their seed before they die, a way of continuing their line. So if you believe that talking to plants is supposed to help, trick them by telling them you will cut them down and stop any tree huggers loving them to make them feel unwanted

[ancellsfarmer]

When certain plants and trees feel stressed they produce fruit as a way of sowing their seed before they die, a way of continuing their line. So if you believe that talking to plants is supposed to help, trick them by telling them you will cut them down and stop any tree huggers loving them to make them feel unwanted

Others have taken holly sticks to them, thrashed them heartily and drenched them in apple derived alcoholic beverages and beer, while offering verbal abuse and incantation ,it is alleged.

[Beersmith]

Firstly, try to remember what exactly happened in the poor year when you got no fruit.  Did the trees simply not produce blossom, or did the blossom fail to produce fruit because of frost damage?  If the latter then you may not have much of a problem.

Fruit trees can get a tendency to biennial fruiting but it would be a bit unusual for it to happen to both your apples and pears suddenly and in the same season. Check the varieties too.  Some are prone to this but for some it is rare. That will give you further clues.

Then try a bit more detective work.  Even very early in the season the difference between fruiting buds and vegetative growth buds is quite distinct.  Examine your trees for fruiting buds.  It should be possible to assess how many there are. If present in reasonable numbers I'd suggest you have little to worry about albeit late frost's are always a risk.

If there are few or no fruiting buds waiting to open, review your method of pruning.  It is unlikely to be the result of poor pruning but tip bearing varieties can be a bit harder to manage than spur bearing. Pruning a tip bearer like a spur bearer will probably reduce your yield.

Finally, as you report you are expecting this to be a poor yielding season. If your trees have become biennial there are quite a few things that can be done to help correct this, but not much in the short term.   Study the buds and blossom and using that evidence you will be in a good position to attempt some of the corrective techniques as the season progresses. There will be ample time to research corrective action when you see how much blossom and fruit set you get this spring.

[tricia]

Wow, lots of advice.  Thank you!

Have just been out between showers to take a look.  On most of the trees there are signs of leaves already,  but very few, if any, are fruiting spurs, maybe some on the Braeburn. Although it has been a very wet winter here in Torbay the bird bath has only had a thin layer of ice on it twice so I don't think frost can be the issue. All the trees were pruned in June,  removing upward growing new shoots to prevent the trees from getting too big. At the same time several bucket loads of fruit were also removed because the trees were so overloaded. In January they were pruned again to tidy up and remove some too close growing branches.

My 'go to ' allround fertiliser is chicken manure pellets. The trees weren't treated last year - should I give them a sprinkling this month?

The varieties I have are Jonagold, Braeburn, Grenadier (cooking) and an unknown Lidl one, plus a family pear tree (Concord, Conference and Hans Chretian).

Tricia 

[Beersmith]

It is certainly a bit of a mystery!

Frost, of course, is only a problem if it hits when the trees are in blossom.

Curiously, you report that the Braeburn has some fruit buds as Braeburn is one of the varieties that has a reputation for adopting a biennial habit.

I don't think there is any method that will produce fruit buds if there are none present. Hope it goes well!!

[Vinlander]

I agree that the buds can't be stimulated this late.

Biennial bearing is boom & bust effect - the tree is just worn out this year - but two observations.

You can remove fruit buds next time there are a lot - you can take out 3/4 from one half of the tree (and reverse the pattern next year if it works). You can do it in thirds - if you're sure you will remember which thirds have been done! You could get the same effect by removing a lot of fruit after the June drop (especially if the fruit has been getting a bit small). I regard a boom as an opportunity to remove any fruit that is touching a larger fruit - I find that maggots love to go in at the point of contact - it makes them invisible.

Or: You can fertilise less when you expect a boom and more after a bust.

Cheers.

[saddad]

Many apple varieties need a specific length of cold days to fruit well... Katy on our site did poorly for many plotholders and I'm keeping my eyes and ears open to see if they do this year as it not been very cold at all...

[tricia]

Update:

The sunny weather has meant that all my apple trees are breaking into leaf now. Unfortunately, there is not a flower bud to be seen  - not even on the Braeburn where I originally thought there might be a few  .

Last week I spread some chicken manure pellets around the trees so I hope that will provide a boost for next year!

Is there anything else I could do?

Tricia 

[galina]

Give it time.  Apples make leaves first.  In Northamptonshire the flowers are usually late April to early May. 

[Tee Gee]

I agree with Galina

and to add to that;

You say: there is not a flower bud to be seen

That to me is a good thing at this time of year less chance of frost damage.......but having said that it  has been like the middle of Summer here the last coupe of days.


When I started up gardening umpteen years ago the old lads used to tease me by saying put a "Packet of Patience" on your Christmas list, which proved to be invaluable to me in later years.

Trouble is now the "Weather Change" phenomena is confusing me no end because much of what I learned in the past has gone out the window due to lack of "Predictable Weather"

For example in the past I always suffered from lack of light in my greenhouse at this time of year, so I fitted shelving near to the roof of my greenhouse to ensure my plants got the best light available, now because of the weather, they are getting too much light, and they are frying!.......................and it is trying my patience!

I was speaking to my Daughter this morning she said that the met people are predicting Snow on Monday! So more extremes of weather e.g. from 20 °C to possibly 2 °C in the space of a few days.