Page 36 - Simply Veg 4 2022

Dealing with non-fruiting top fruit trees
Every now and again you may find that one of your fruit trees fails to produce fruit and this may well happen after several years of good fruiting. This is not terribly unusual and can happen at any time and there are usually very good reasons for this. Alternatively, a tree may not want to start fruit production at all so let’s contemplate what you might do to get your tree into a fruiting habit. I am assuming:
• thatyouhavenotplantedatree without any suitable pollinators
• that your tree is not very young and has been in the ground for at least three years as some top fruits can take at least two years before they start fruiting. You may have to be more patient with some varieties and some such as the apple Blenheim Orange can take 7 years before fruiting will commence.
• that the tree in question is not having an “off” year as some fruit trees can fruit only biennially. Good examples are Laxton’s Fortune, Ellison’s Orange and Blenheim Orange
Weather
As it is not possible for us to control the weather in our gardens (as yet!) it is important to recognise that it can have an effect on our fruit trees. In severely cold weather flower buds can be destroyed before they even open and during blossoming a drop to minus 2 degrees C (29 degrees F) can destroy the viability
of any pollen. This will generally not be a regular problem unless you have planted your tree or trees in a shady, cold area or in a frost pocket. Looking at the opposite conditions a prolonged summer drought can cause a very poor formation of fruit buds, and this can lead to the formation of very few or no flower buds the following
spring. In severe summer conditions, therefore, it can be wise to irrigate fruit trees.
If, without realising, you have planted your tree or trees in a frost pocket you might be inclined to move them to a less difficult location if you can, If not you will need to be ready to protect your trees in times of frost.
Feeding
Although it is not generally necessary
to feed trees, provided they have been planted well, this may be required if a tree is either not cropping or cropping very poorly. Possible reasons here are nutrient deprivation caused by very poor soils, thin soils which have nutrients washed out after a heavy rainfall or growing the trees in grass or other plants which
compete for nutrients. In all
cases feed with a very good
handful of Pomona Fruit’s
Fruit Tree Feed or blood, fish
and bone in March and June
and lightly fork this into the
soil. Remove any competing
weeds and plants and cut
back grass to ensure a
circle of at least 900mm (3
feet) around the tree. Trees
should only be grassed
around if they are growing
on strong rootstocks such
as MM106, Quince A and St.
Julien A.
Don’t overfeed your trees
as this may lead them to grow excessive leaf which in itself will inhibit fruit bud formation. Avoid using fertilisers which are high in nitrogen such as chicken manure and chicken manure pellets as the high nitrogen content will also cause excessive leaf growth and inhibit bud formation.
Pruning
Fruit trees are pruned on an annual basis
to ensure that a balance is struck between growth and fruiting. In the case of fruit trees grown as restricted forms - and that will generally apply to all of the fruit trees that we are growing - annual pruning is essential and if missed even for one year this can lead to excessive growth of laterals and little production of fruit buds. In the case of stone fruits you should be pruning in June/July, pears in late July and apples in August.
Be aware of the tip bearing apple trees which produce the majority of fruits buds at the end of laterals. A good “haircut”
can remove the majority, if not all, of the following year’s fruit! Strike a balance between restricting growth and preserving shorter laterals.
Don’t overfeed your trees as this may lead them to grow excessive leaf which in itself will inhibit fruit bud formation
Festooning
Festooning fruit trees consists of training young branches to grow into gaps to improve the shape of the tree by creating hoops of branches. This can be done by bending the branches and securing them to the trunk with string. Another approach to festooning is
to tie plastic buckets to the branch and fill with water until they bend into the shape that is needed. The age and thickness of the branch will determine which
approach is used.
Essentially this method is used to
counter the apical dominance of the tree by bending the branches down to as near the horizontal as possible. The threat to apical dominance will worry the tree and start forming fruit buds on these horizontal branches. Commercially fruit farmers used
36 Simply Vegetables
Branch tied
GERRY EDWARDS FNVS