Poor Apple Blossom

[GJ2011]

Hi All,

I have a 3 year old apple tree in my garden, which last year produced lots of flowers across the whole tree, however this year its produced less than 20 flowers - all on one branch. Is this a sign I've mis-pruned it? Is there anything I can do to recover this year?

In its first year most of the flowers fell off in the wind and a whole new set grew back, would the same happen if I pulled off this years?

Thanks for any advice

[SarzWix]

Hi there
I'm by no means an expert (hopefully they'll be along shortly ) but one of my apple trees does this; fruits heavily one year, then hardly at all the year after. It's known as biennial bearing, and some varieties are more prone to it than others. I think that if you remove some of the fruit on a heavy year, it can help it to fruit more the next, but hopefully an expert will know better than me....

[FB.]

Hi All,

I have a 3 year old apple tree in my garden, which last year produced lots of flowers across the whole tree, however this year its produced less than 20 flowers - all on one branch. Is this a sign I've mis-pruned it? Is there anything I can do to recover this year?

In its first year most of the flowers fell off in the wind and a whole new set grew back, would the same happen if I pulled off this years?

Thanks for any advice

There is nothing that can be done this year. Even if you induced flowering, there may not be another apple tree nearby to offer pollen and your fruits may not ripen before winter arrives.

Some varieties of apple can easily become biennial. Pinching-out half the flower buds before they start to open can alleviate biennial bearing. Once the buds have flowered, pulling off blossoms or fruit thinning will not be as effective at managing an even cropping habit.

Young trees often want to grow rather than fruit. In the first year or two, they are stressed. Stress makes a tree flower because it tried to produce seeds, fearing that it is going to die.
After settling for a year or two, it gets some good roots down and doesn't feel stressed any more. Combine a good root system with good soil or excess nitrogen fertiliser and you can get a tree that just grows.....and grows.....and doesn't fruit until it reaches a large size.

It is also possible that you pruned off its flower buds. Some varieties are tip-bearers, which means loss of flowers if you prune, but an awkwardly large (and expanding) tree if you don't prune. Tip-bearers are not ideal for keeping in a restricted size.

You don't mention which variety or rootstock you have, nor how you're trying to grow the tree (cordon, bush, standard tree etc).
That can make a terriffic difference in how the tree behaves in any given environment - and also has a big impact on the best way to manage the tree.

[FB.]

Hi there
one of my apple trees does this; fruits heavily one year, then hardly at all the year after. It's known as biennial bearing

I've found that almost all apple trees can go into biennial bearing, if the growing conditions or tree management are less than ideal.

The following bushes of mine are having their "on" year:
Alfriston
Ashmead's Kernel
Blenheim Orange
D'Arcy Spice (MM106 bush)
Egremont Russet
Tydeman's Orange


The following are having their "off" year:
Bountiful
D'Arcy Spice (M25 half-standard)
Ellison's Orange
Golden Delicious
Norfolk Beefing

[Poddington Pea]

This is interesting, we moved to our house last October and the 3 apple trees were heavily laden with fruit, however this year one has about 20 flowers on another is covered and the 3rd, the largest, has some but is not covered. I wondered whether we had shocked them by doing a little pruning when they'd been left for so many years unchecked, but perhaps 2 of them are having 'off' years. The jury's out on this one until next year....

[GJ2011]

Thanks all, some very useful tips there. I'm growing a contained golden delicious, not sure if its a tip bearer - quite possible that it is as the branch that is flowering is the one I dont think I pruned as its growing in a favourable direction across the fence! Guess I'll have to bear it this year and hope for the best for next.

Thanks again all

[FB.]

Golden Delicious isn't a spur bearer, but......

I find it prefers to grow rather than fruit

It takes quite a few years of growing before it wants to fruit

Mine is proving to be strongly biennial

.........................

You don't mention the rootstock. That is a crucial piece of the puzzle.
Given the behaviour of the tree, I'd say that you probably have it on MM106, which is for trees to reach about 10ft (3m) when mature.
If you have a MM106-rootstocked Golden Delicious in rich compost, it will want to reach a large size before fruiting.
MM106 is the most common apple rootstock. It is also one of the most sensitive to soil quality; it can rival MM111 in good soil, but barely outgrows M26 in poor soil.
If you opted for a smaller rootstock, such as M26 or M9, it would be slower growing and brought into cropping at a young age.

If your tree continues to grow too strongly and not fruit, you will have to be cruel to be kind.
That would involve reduced feeding and when re-potting, use less compost (say half) and bulk-out with garden soil.
Also, a sure way to bring a tree into cropping the following year is to prune this years new growth back to just an inch or two (1-3 new buds) in mid-July. The harshness of the prune and the timing are important.
Winter pruning simply invigorates the tree to grow and not fruit. This is desirable in the early years while the tree is being shaped.