Luci:

You've discovered Fuji's habit of frustrating you for 4 years and then exploding with fruit the 5th year. There have been many people who give up after 4 years and pull it out the winter before it starts really going. It will bear reliable from here on out.

If you haven't done so already you need to thin the apples to one per cluster, and a wide hand's breadth between the clusters. Fuji is a tip bearer but is not fussy about what constitutes a tip, so wherever you prune a branch, that becomes the new tip.

It will be difficult to maintain the espalier shape without summer pruning. Water sprouts are cut off above the third leaf in late summer. Any regrowth from the stump is removed a month later. This often causes the denuded stump to set a fruit spur, and you end up with is a branch with fruit buds directly on the branch or on short spurs. Do not allow any limbs or spurs over 9 inches.

Do not worry about the leaf to apple ratio; if you thinned enough, the tree will get by fine. It is far more damaging to the tree to allow excess vegetative growth than to make it fruit too much. Growing it as an espalier is a good way to keep an eye out for fireblight, one of Fuji's nemisis.

Applenut

Thanks for the info Applenut! I have thinned out the fruits from 6 to 3 per cluster but I guess I have to be more ruthless. Espaliers are indeed a good way to spot pests; had a small infestation of rosy apple aphids last April but I was able to get at most of them before they did any serious damage. Will be keeping an eye on fireblight then. Thanks again for your attention.