apples not appearing on my three trees

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    wsthWs&Th
    Greenhorn
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    No fruits this year on the 3 trees although few flowers bloomed in spring, just not very motivating. Why do you think?

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    fast driverFast Driver
    Expert gardener
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    Did you have frost when the flowers were there? This is one of the common causes why they won’t develop into fruits. If your tree isn’t that big yet, you can protect it with plastic when you know frost is coming. I agree that it isn’t very convenient but it’s feasible. As a general tip: It’s best if your trees are planted in an elevated area or near the house to keep it from frost.

    How about pollinators? Did you notice beneficial insects when the flowers were blooming? If not, plant flowers that attract bees and butterflies near your trees. And I hope you have at least 2 varieties of apples for cross pollination?

    Keep the spirit up! It takes time mastering the care of fruit trees.

     

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    hands_and_dirthands_and_dirt
    Greenhorn
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    It could be that they’re focused into growing wood instead of flower buds You should look into two things that lead to fruitless trees due to energy put into growing wood: too much pruning and too much fertilizer. Learn to identify where flowers are produced and not prune this part of the branch. For the fertilizer part, excessive nitrogen is responsible for to over grown but flowerless trees.

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    wsthWs&Th
    Greenhorn
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    That’s the thing we didn’t have frost. I saw a few flowers and few bees were around. Couldn’t say there weren’t enough to pollinate just don’t know how many are needed. Yes I’ve got two varieties – 2:1.

    Didn’t put any fertilizer leaving me too much pruning a probable cause. I wasn’t careful with where flowers come out on the branch. If I don’t prune it this year, you think I’ll get fruits next time?

     

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    FatzoFatzo
    Green Thumb
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    Hi let me barge in, if you pruned without quite knowing what you were cutting off there’s a strong chance you cut off the branches that would have born fruit. Usually the cycle is like this

    • year 1 spring branch grows, like about one or two feet
    • year 1 fall fat buds appear along the new wood, these are flower buds
    • year 2 spring these fat buds turn into flowers and bear fruit (if pollination ok etc etc etc)

    So let’s say you pruned back your tree to a smaller shape over the winter, you probably cut off all the wood that was bearing those fruit buds and you were left with a few only maybe along the trunk. Pfff sad but that’s how you learn. This year, try taking a close look at the branches and buds in winter to try and make the difference between the wood buds and the fruit buds. That way, if you need to cut some stuff off, you can at least keep a small portion of the branch, like until the first or second flower bud to make sure you get more flowers.


    Loving the season!

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    gerrygoluckyGerrygolucky
    Expert gardener
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    This. @Fatzo @Ws&Th This is the definite answer. I only started predicting good harvests when I started looking at the buds.

Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)