why does an apple have only one fruit!

[Sussex Groundie]

If you cut right back to the (Knuckle) the tree will rush to produce more wood for the next few yrs with little or no apples, I usually pollard apples leaving about 4"" of branch left this then give a better fruiting the following year.

 

A new site I am working on has the same problem, owner cut right back to the main branches last year 2-3 apples per tree this year and lots of new growth. S.G.

[easy-lift guy]

Here in the States we have this product known as Fertilizer. It really does wonders to promote healthy growth, fruit. Perhaps try a 2-10-10. Read the bag for instructions with regards to rate of application and timing.

easy-lift guy

[brccarborist]

Fertilizer yes, but Apple trees get nailed all the time with heavy pruning. If it is a spur bearing variety of Apple, and most are, and if you took it back to large wood, it's going to take a while to develop spurs again and fruit off of.

[Eddy_t]

Here in the States we have this product known as Fertilizer. It really does wonders to promote healthy growth, fruit. Perhaps try a 2-10-10. Read the bag for instructions with regards to rate of application and timing.

easy-lift guy

 

 

Fertiliser doesn't fix everything ted, especially if the trees have mycorrhizal fungi. Trees also tend to get a bit addicted.

 

Also he has hacked them back, application of potassium and phosphates won't fix the lack of flowering buds, nitrates may help, but he will be hacking it back again. Patience, it'll be yielding plenty of fruit again soon, it just needs to grow those buds first.

[easy-lift guy]

All good things come in time.

easy-lift guy

[Peasgood]

Did it flower?

No flowers equals no fruit.

If it did flower and no fruit then pollination, damage to flowers from hail, insects etc.

 

Apple should fruit on 3 year old growth as long as there are fruit buds on it, vertical shoots tend not to have fruit buds.

 

Without seeing the tree I expect there is a rush of new growth all growing strongly and vertically. Removing these and favouring/leaving any that are growing away from the trunk and are at or below 45 degrees from vertical will help.

Fertiliser won't matter unless very very deficient.

[easy-lift guy]

Did it flower?

No flowers equals no fruit.

If it did flower and no fruit then pollination, damage to flowers from hail, insects etc.

 

Apple should fruit on 3 year old growth as long as there are fruit buds on it, vertical shoots tend not to have fruit buds.

 

Without seeing the tree I expect there is a rush of new growth all growing strongly and vertically. Removing these and favouring/leaving any that are growing away from the trunk and are at or below 45 degrees from vertical will help.

Fertiliser won't matter unless very very deficient.

 

Actually your correct about the fertilizer, especially if the soil Ph is off. Did not bother to mention that earlier. Until the soil Ph is correct nothing else will really matter.

easy-lift guy

[Graham]

I pollarded my Bramley three years ago I think. It wasn't on a dwarfing rootstock and made a lot of regrowth but no fruit.

 

I posted on Arbtalk about it and took the advice of putting multiple cuts into the underside of some branches and tying them down into a horizontal position. The cuts callused and the branches bore blossom followed by fruit this year.

 

Vertical branches I left didn't blossom. This winter I plan to bring more branches down and prune out some of the regrowth.

[Peasgood]

Actually your correct about the fertilizer, especially if the soil Ph is off. Did not bother to mention that earlier. Until the soil Ph is correct nothing else will really matter.

easy-lift guy

 

Sorry to contradict but that isn't true. Apples can and do produce fruit even if the pH is quite a long way out.

There are plenty of things that matter a lot more than pH and fertiliser. Pruning, freedom from pest and disease, light, drainage and water are much further up the list of things that matter to an apple tree.

 

Get those verticals cut out or tied down as mentioned above and they will crop again.

Top tip with Bramley: you don't need to cut into the branch to tie it down, give it a damned good twist and it will bend without breaking. My personal policy with free growing Bramley is to let it go up, it will come down with weight of fruit eventually. Much better than trying to prune it down to position, that just makes it grow stronger.

Even better is to use Cultar as a growth regulator, I wouldn't entertain the idea of growing Bramley commercially without it.

[Tom D]

After pruning higher Auxin levels are produced in the wood, this causes more vigorous woody Apical growth. Apical growth, where the end bud on each twig is a new leaf / twig leads to dead straight sticks, when a tree flowers the terminal bud on each twig forms a flower / fruit, this leads to Decurrent branched zig zag growth as the new woody material is formed from the side.

 

So if all the regrowth is dead straight this is the cause, you perhaps took too much off!

 

Try a flush of potash in winter, a big load of fresh wood ash maybe.