Does pruning the apple tree mean more flowers and more fruit?

[keegs]

I pruned all the fruit trees last fall and I wouldn't swear by it but they all seem to have allot more flowers this spring. Is there a correlation? Do more flowers mean more fruit?

 

[schmism]

generally each blossom will produce one fruit yes.

generally pruning will increase blossom count as the tree has more energy to put into less area (branches etc)

but note, you need to manage your fruit production by pinching off excess fruit when it is still small otherwise you risk overloading the tree. (both in weight and in amount of fruits it can put engergy into)

 

[dave1949]

Hi Keegs,

Pruning also helps get air movement and sunlight into the center of the tree, especially apples which like to send out branches every which way.

I doubt if pruning made more blossoms, that was already determined last year.
Dave.

 

[beenthere]

Depends on what was pruned. If just the sucker shoots were pruned, then the sets from last year will have more vigor. If last years blossoms were pruned off, there will be fewer but more vigor. Well-pruned fruit trees happen with yearly pruning. Not an occasional pruning.

 

[Chuck52]

I'm told you want to prune an apple tree so you could throw a cat through it. Lots of light to the interior is good for fruit set and development.

Chuck

 

[keegs]

Thanks for the feedback ....

I've got 2 cherries and 2 apples in the back garden. The one Winesap has been in the ground the longest and is the one in near full bloom...It must be going on 15 years old now and while its produced something each year, the yields have been low and the fruit has been small and gnarly. A few years ago I decided to look into it and found some info online about regular pruning. I printed off an illustration and some instructions and me and the Mrs. gave it a shave. It did allot better but still nothing to write home about. I did this last pruning (last fall) from memory. The inside of the tree is open and all the cross branches have been removed. I'd say it's a few days past peak now but I'll post a photo tomorrow morning so you can see it. It looks like one of those flowering ornamental trees.

Hey Dave, I hear Gravensteins do well in the northern climes. They may be hard to come by but I'm going to scout around before my next trip up to the farm. I'd like to get some in the ground now so I'll have something to retire on. :thumbsup:

 

[JakeBrake]

I'm told you want to prune an apple tree so you could throw a cat through it. Lots of light to the interior is good for fruit set and development.

Chuck

I haven't heard that one before. I do know that when the blueberries come in, our cat will be in the orchard trying to catch unsuspecting birds.

 

[dave1949]

Hey Dave, I hear Gravensteins do well in the northern climes. They may be hard to come by but I'm going to scout around before my next trip up to the farm. I'd like to get some in the ground now so I'll have something to retire on. :thumbsup:

The only fruit trees I have are apples gone wild and volunteer apple that started from dropped apples. They are a mess, branches reaching through the trees 15'-20' on some. I have been slowly releasing them and trying to prune them into something. The sap suckers have drilled the older ones pretty good and many have this black fungus on them that looks like soot. I think that is clearing up some as they get some air and light on them. They are basket cases.

The deer and moose appreciate my efforts. We don't eat enough apples to get serious about them with sprays and all.
Dave.

 

[keegs]

The only fruit trees I have are apples gone wild and volunteer apple that started from dropped apples. They are a mess, branches reaching through the trees 15'-20' on some. I have been slowly releasing them and trying to prune them into something. The sap suckers have drilled the older ones pretty good and many have this black fungus on them that looks like soot. I think that is clearing up some as they get some air and light on them. They are basket cases.

The deer and moose appreciate my efforts. We don't eat enough apples to get serious about them with sprays and all.
Dave.

I think I know the kind...got one at the top of the driveway. Looks awful, choked by other veg, half dead, full of lichen but it seems to produce apples every year (for the moose and the deer I imagine)

 

[Chuck52]

I've got one 50 year old double grafted apple tree with what I think is Grimes Golden on the side still alive. The other side was some kind of early green cooking apple and that whole side gave up the ghost last year. I've tried to revive that old tree, but it is on its last legs, so I took some cuttings and grafted one to a volunteer crab apple beside my "orchard". Surprisingly, the graft seems to have taken, so some day I may have a limb of Grimes Golden on this crab apple that make just the standard small red sour crabs.

I was interested in keeping the old tree going partly because it has survived cedar apple rust all these years. CAR is really bad in my area.

Chuck