Fruit and Vegetables: Grow Your Own

Re: Thinning apple buds

seven11 — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:33:27 GMT

I found the labels that were attached to these trees and they were termed as family trees. As they`re barely 5 ft tall, I`m sure you`re right about them being in their infancy!

Re: Thinning apple buds

OrangePippin — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:17:36 GMT

It really depends on whether they have reached their mature size or not, which is why it is important to know the rootstock. "Dwarf" could mean M9 or M26 rootstock, and you mentioned two grafts per tree which sounds like a family tree which on MM106 - a semi-vigorous rootstock. From your description, even if they are dwarf trees, it sounds like they probably still have quite a bit of growing to do. Depending on the rootstock they should be 7ft - 10ft tall and with a good spread of branches before fruiting begins. On balance therefore, I think you need to treat these as juvenile trees and remove all the fruitlets. Let's see what everyone else here thinks!

Re: Thinning apple buds

seven11 — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:22:02 GMT

Thanks, OrangePippin, for your reply. All I know is that they`re on a dwarf rootstock. They were in 10 inch pots with a tight rootball, so I would guess at 2 or 3 years old. With this in mind, what would you suggest? Thin to 1 fruit per cluster and see what happens? I`ll go with whatever you suggest.

Re: Thinning apple buds

OrangePippin — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:16:32 GMT

The advice you mention on thinning is good ... but applies to a mature tree. You are (I think) dealing with a juvenile tree and therefore you need to think more about helping it reach its mature size, which means you probably need to thin if not remove entirely any fruitlets that remain on the tree by June or so. What rootstock are you using and how old are the trees?

Thinning apple buds

seven11 — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:25:28 GMT

Hi. I`ve recently planted 2 pot grown dwarf apple trees (approx. 5 feet from soil to top). Each has 2 grafts - Elstar and James Grieve. Each tree has many flower clusters producing literally hundreds of baby fruits. I have read elsewhere on this site that thinning the fruits to produce a crop of reasonably sized fruits is not necessary, as the tree will naturally shed any fruits it can`t cope with. However, I have also read in a book that fruit clusters should be manually thinned out to 1 or 2 fruits per cluster. I`d appreciate advice as to which is the best policy. If the latter is the case and I need to thin myself, as there are more than 30 clusters on each tree, would I need to remove some of the clusters entirely, or are they all likely to produce fruits if suitably thinned? Many thanks.