5th leaf apples, NO fruit

10 years ago

last modified: 10 years ago

I planted 3 Fuji and 3 Honeycrisp apple trees from a commercial nursery in this region (zone 7a) in 2012. They've done very well from a growth standpoint. They're vigorous and the tallest were over 12 feet when I did the spring pruning this year. A few of the Fuji's had a few flowers and now have set a few small fruit. The Honeycrisp had no flowers at all.

I'm surprised by this as everything I've read suggests that fruit production (one source: [url]http://www.starkbros.com/growing-guide/article/how-many-years/[/url]) should begin within 5 years after planting.

Am I doing something wrong or expecting too much?

I don't think I've been overly aggressive about pruning, following recommendations on this site and other sources. On the other hand, I'm new at this and there's no substitute for experience.

From year two and up until this spring, I've fertilized with 1 cup per tree of 10-10-10 per soil test recommendations. The orchard has a cover crop of Durana clover which has been vigorous until this year (year 5) and is starting to fade as expected. Last fall I planted rye grain which came up in patches where there was less clover.

This year, I've started working on organic certification and have used no non-OMRI approved chemicals. I've sprayed three times with neem oil (0.5%), EM, molasses, sea minerals, liquid fish, and liquid kelp. In the last spray I added BT which really controlled the caterpillar infestation that decimated my neighbor's trees. I still pulled a few dozen of them off, but they chewed the trees very, very little.

Should I decrease my pruning regimen? Perhaps I'm encouraging too much vigor.

Is there an organically approved soil amendment that can encourage fruit production? I've been really pleased with the way these trees have grown. I believe they're really healthy, but eventually I'd like to get some apples!

Any suggestions or comments appreciated.

Thanks,

Phil

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Comments (7)

tim45z10
10 years ago
Here is something that may help.
parker25mv
10 years ago
Ironically you may have given your trees "too much" nurture. If the trees get too much fertilizer that can divert the tree's energy towards growing bigger limbs and more leaves rather than towards producing fruit.
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sean_campbell36ny
10 years ago
Try tying the branches down to horizontal or below horizontal. This will trigger the tree to produce fruit buds
Konrad..just outside of Edmonton Alberta
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
Yeah...seems too pampered and too much growth.

And Honeycrisp does better in cooler region from what I've been hearing.
spartanapples
10 years ago
Welcome to the world of Honeycrisp. We sell honeycrisp trees at the nursery I work at. Honeycrisp does not come into bearing nearly as early as other varieties. No wonder they charge $65 a bushel around here at the local orchards. I planted 2 on Malling 7 about 5 years ago. Last year I got the first apple. This year one tree has about 25 flower buds. The other has 3.

I get lots of reports of Honeycrisp not bearing at an early age. Then when it does bear, a decent crop one season is followed by a poor crop the following season.

I find my trees tend to have lousy foliage by mid-season (yellow leaf margins), poor vigor and just a nightmare to prune and shape. Worst apple variety I grow as far as ease in pruning. The branches grow every way but what I want. Finally I decided to let it do its own thing and live with it. JUST bear me some fruit!

Yes I am tying down some of my branches too so they are horizontal to get them to set fruit buds. This trick worked great on some of my other apple varieties I grafted onto a crabapple rootstock. I do not see a lot of fruit buds set yet on the Honeycrisp branches I tied to horizontal the last two years.

If the fruit wasn't so delicious (and my wife's favorite), I would not suggest growing it. This variety has its own personality as far as not being grower friendly. I hope the newer Honeycrisp selections (Pazzaz) are easier in getting success.
creekweb
10 years ago
Vigorously growing apple trees makes me wonder what rootstock they are on. Some semi-dwarfing or standard apple tree rootstocks will take much longer to fruit than more dwarfing rootstocks. Most of my apples on the precocious more dwarfing rootstocks take no more than 2 years to fruit, while my trees on semi-dwarfing rootstocks have taken as long as 7 or 8 years to start fruiting. These trees are now very prolific so it was worth the wait.
speedster1
10 years ago
First 2 things I thought about when reading your post was too much fertilizer and vertical growth habit. Trying not fertilizing this year and next spring and tie some branches down to horizontal now.