The Grounded Orchardist

Everyone keeps talking about their bumper crop this year. A lot of blossom, ample pollinators and now everyone is thinning due to such a heavy crop. Even after the June drop. I mean, it’s pretty much perfect but what if this isn’t your story? Let’s explore and problem solve what could be causing it.

why does my tree not fruit?

I get asked this question a lot.

If you had lots of blossom and had the pollinators but no fruitlets let alone any to thin out. This is more than likely due to a lack of pollination partner.

Now this is a big subject but a quick internet search will give you information on pollinating partners for your variety. Some trees are self fertile however, two or more will still be better than one. Some trees need two or even three pollination partners these varieties need to be different varieties to your original tree.

The trick is that the pollination partner needs to be in bloom at the same time as your tree. That way, pollinators such as bees, flies, beetles, wasps, etc can take pollen from one tree to the next thus pollinating your fruit as they go about their business. Crab apples can be a good way of replicating this as they are often long flowering.

“But I have the right pollinating trees you say.”

Then it could be frost.

A late frost snap at blossom time will kill off some, if not all the blossom. No blossom…no fruit. The frost destroys the cells inside the bloom which has the potential to become the fruit after pollination. You may not have noticed it at the time but that could be what has affected your fruiting trees.

“But there was no frost at that time.”

Then it could be a lack of pollinators

This doesn’t necessarily mean pollinators do not like your garden. After all if you stick a washing up bowl of water out, insects and birds will appear very quickly.

It could simply mean that at the time your fruit blossom opened up. The weather conditions were poor. Windy or wet conditions really deplete the amount of movement from pollinators. Bumblebees are tough but even their movements are considerably less in these conditions. Wind pollination happens but is unreliable and does not give a good crop. In a spring with this problem it really is down to bad luck.

This would also probably account for if your tree or trees have always cropped reliably until this or last  year.

“but none of these problems apply in my situation.”

Then maybe pruning could help

A heavier prune in winter or a bit of a summer prune could help. Summer pruning helps promote the growth of fruit buds and if you have the time will direct energy to the branches you want to keep it also has many other benefits too.

People are often not confident enough to prune heavily enough and get restricted by pruning rules. A heavier winter prune than you would normally undertake can help the tree to fruit well.

Both summer and winter pruning can stop biennial bearing.

It’s not all bad!

So, if you think the problem may be that you need a pollination partner or two. Use it to your advantage. Look online to see compatible varieties. Choose a variety you like! Or you can choose a variety for ornamental purposes there’s a stunning array of blossom and foliage out there. See pic below.

If you have a small space, choose a variety on a dwarfing rootstock and grow in a pot or espalier. Or, if you are really tight for space you could graft a suitable position partner on your existing tree or gather a few branches in bloom at the same time and hang them in your tree until the blooms have gone over.

To build morale in a bad year I think to myself at least the trees are having a rest..there’s always next year and they will be stronger after a break!