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I have a dwarf apple tree with 3 different varieties. It blossomed spectacularly this year and as a consequence I have loads of fruit about 2-3cm in diam. The tree is staked but the branches already seem to be drooping because of the weight. Can I thin out some of the fruit so the branches don't break without damaging the tree?
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The tree will thin itself out with the "June drop"
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Hi aussiechick02 and welcome to the vine. Yes you can thin out your apples but I would wait until after the 'June drop'; this is a bit of a misnomer as it often happens at the beginning of July when apples shed some of their fruit naturally. You'll find that by thinning the fruits, the quality of what's left will be improved. I thinned mine to two fruit per cluster last year on a fairly new tree, but it's up to you how ruthless you want to be. Meanwhile is there any way you can relieve some of the weight from the branches, training on wires perhaps?Comment
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The timing of the "June drop" varies slightly, but you'll know when it happens.
Once the June drop is finished, the best quality apples will be produced if you thin to just one or two fruits per cluster. This also discourages or reduces the effect of codling/sawfly maggot attacks.
Where you have a choice of fruits to thin out, remove blemished/split fruits, then smaller fruits, or mis-shapen fruits. Often the largest fruit (the central flower of the cluster) is largest, but it often grows in a deformed way and if another apple in the cluster is almost as big, it would be better to lose the central one.
Some branch bending is normal - and is why many trees gradually change from upright to spreading, as the weight of branches, leaves and fruit pulls them down.
If the tree is bending severely under the weight, you may need to stake it and tie up the branches like a maypole.
If you push a young tree to produce an excessive crop, you will get lots of small-sized and poor quality fruits. You may also get lack of growth and poor rooting/establishment.
You may well also find that an overloaded tree doesn't flower/fruit at all the next year and then gets stuck in the biennial fruiting habit thereafter..Comment
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A daft follow up question to the above - is it best just to twist off the fruits to be thinned out, or use secateurs?
I have a couple of trees in the garden that need thinning (a Teign Harvey cider, Adams Pearmain and a cox's). Unfortunately the Bundys Ringwood Red didnt blossom this year - shame, as the fruits are a fabulous reddish-pink throughout the flesh...
AdamComment
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Thanks everyone for the adviceComment
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Snip or prune them off. Don't twist them off - it can damage the fruit spurs or allow canker to enter the ragged wound left behind.Originally posted by kalimna View Post.Comment
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