VICTORIA, Minnesota — It's so frustrating when our apple trees look so healthy, but just don't give us any apples. There's one big reason for that. It's called over-cropping.
May apple varieties (Haralson apples especially are known for this) have boom and bust years. Bobby and I talked to THE apple expert, David Bedford at the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.
While many of us blame a late spring frost for the reason we don't have fruit in a give year, Bedford says that's actually "quite rare to have frost on the apple blossoms in Minnesota. More than likely, over-cropping is the issue."
The goal is to have the correct balance of leaves to apples on a tree. If there's too many apples, the leaves aren't able to produce enough sugar and you end up with poor quality fruit that just doesn't taste very good. The tree produces too much fruit for it's own good and doesn't have the resources to support it.
And what follows the following year is virtually no fruit at all.
The solution to this is some work back in June. If your tree is in an over-crop year, apple must be removed by mid-June. Likely they are about the size of marbles at this point. It's a big job.
If you miss this window, it's still worthy to thin out the apples later in the summer. It won't help for next year's possible bust year but it can help with better tasting apples this year.
This brings the ratio of leaves to apples into a more manageable ratio for the tree. David's tip for homeowners is to make sure there about a fist width between each apple. There can certainly be a little more space here with a little less over there but think big picture. Pinch off apples, don't pull.
Putting in the effort when the apples are small will ensure you have a tasty crop come fall harvest.
If you don't have apples this year, we recommend a visit to the Arb's Apple House!
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