When it comes to gardening we seem to think of the four seasons; spring, summer, fall and winter. Maybe it would be better to think of seasons that match the requirements of the plants we are trying to grow or the fruit we are trying to produce.
When it comes to deciduous fruit trees, the seasons should probably be pruning, thinning, plant growth and health, harvest and the last season is recovery.
The goal of the pruning season is to balance fruit production and growth. If you do not prune, you usually have a large crop of very small fruit. Since the tree produced a lot of fruit, it will not grow very much next year, so the following year you will not have any fruit. This is called alternate bearing.
Pruning correctly each year helps prevent alternate bearing and promotes a good crop of large fruit each year. So, in simple terms we are trying to reduce the number of flowers that will bloom in spring. The pruning season ranges from when the leaves fall of the tree until about the end of January
We are now in the thinning season. Thinning season is an important season that most people do not remember or just want to skip. Many home gardeners get excited about having fruit on the tree, and they do not want to remove the extra fruit. It seems in any contest you want the biggest or the most of something is needed to win the contest. If you leave all the fruit on your trees, you may win the contest of the most but lose the best tasting contest.
Thinning season runs from late April to mid-May. Usually when the fruit reaches about olive size it is time to thin, waiting to long after this size you are going to decrease the size or flavor of your fruit.
A tree’s leaves produce sugar, which is divided into all of the fruit and into new growth. The more fruit on the tree, the less sugar per fruit, meaning a lot of small fruit. If some of the fruit is removed or thinned from the tree, then the sugar goes into less fruit, making fewer, larger and sweeter fruit.
Thinning is hard to do because we think it is great to have the trees just covered with hundreds fruit. We all want that large crop to brag about to our neighbors. The sooner you thin the fruit, the less sugar you lose when the fruit is removed. But if you thin too early, you may be leaving on fruit that will later fall off because it has not been pollinated.
This is called June drop. In the Antelope Valley June drop normally happens in May. If your fruit trees are young or unhealthy and need to grow it is best to remove all of the fruit, so all of the sugar will go to growth.
Now the seasons can become confusing according to the fruit you are growing. For most fruit trees, after the thinning season comes plant growth and health season. This season lasts until the fruit is ready to harvest. For cherries and apricots, the harvest season comes fast, and for apples and pears the harvest season is many months away.
After the harvest season comes the recovery season. This is very similar to the season of plant growth and health, trying to get your trees to increase the production of sugar for health of the tree and the following years fruit. For cherries and apricots, after the harvest season you are preparing next years crop. In apples and pears, there is very little time for recovery, so the plant and health season is producing the sugar for this year’s crop.
During the season of plant growth and health, and the recovery season, your job is to correctly water and fertilize your plants. You are also doing any minor corrective pruning and trying to control pests that are attacking your trees.
This is the hard part and just as you control one problem usually comes up. Most gardeners love the flowers in the springtime and the fruit and harvest and just wish the rest would go away, it is too much work.
Since we are in the thinning season, here are some guidelines for different fruit trees.
When thinning apples and pears, leave no more than one fruit per cluster or spur. If you leave more than one fruit in a cluster, they will rub and damage each other. There should also be at least six to eight inches between each fruit on a branch after thinning. Since the leaves are producing the sugar for the fruit, another method used to determine how much fruit to thin is “counting leaves.” There should be about 40 leaves on the tree for each fruit on the tree.
Apricots should be thinned to a fruit every two to three inches apart and plums need to be spaced slightly farther apart approximately three to four inches apart on a branch after thinning.
Peaches and nectarines should be thinned before they have grown at least one inch in diameter. Nectarines should be spaced about four to five inches apart after thinning. Early ripening peaches need to be spaced about 10 inches apart, where late ripening peaches should be slightly closer at five to six inches apart on a branch.
When thinning fruit trees, twist the fruit off, or it is even better to use hand clippers to cut off the fruit. Pulling the fruit can damage the tree by breaking limbs or shaking off other fruit. With correct pruning last winter and thinning this spring, your trees should have good-sized, sweet fruit.
Even with correct pruning and thinning, your peaches, nectarines, plums and apricots may need to be propped or supported in order to hold up the branches that are weighted down with fruit.
I know it is hard to thin the fruit on your fruit trees, but you will be rewarded with better fruit later this harvest season.
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May 16, 2020 at 06:00PM
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Hints for pruning your fruit trees | Valley Life | avpress.com - Antelope Valley Press
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