Apple orchard maintanance

[woolybear]

Have a few orchards around here that usually draw deer and other critters durring the fall on into spring. This year the mast produced was virtually non existant.

For the most part they've been taken over by blackberry thickets and goldenrod and still offer a safe impenetrable bedding area but lack the fruits on the ground to hold any game as a primary feeding area through out the wintering months as they have in the past.

Questions:

To grow more fruits.....

- would pruning and trimming help?

- fertilizing drip zones?

- removal of underbrush and less desireables competing for needed soil nutrients?

Any input or tips to accomplish any of the above would be appreciated, thanks.

[OUTSIDER]

all of the above. I have read some debate about fertilizing "fruiting trees" Seems some studies conclude that the fertilization helps the growth of the trees and not the fruits, this was about nut producing trees, so take it as you will. It couldn't hurt. I would get rid of the underbrush, and also prune the trees, i am gettin ready to prune our apples here soon. get rid of all the sucker branches, espically those down low. Pick up a guide on how to properly prune an apple tree, will help alot.

[joeaveragehunter]

At a commercial orchard around here, they cut off 1/3 of the blossoms in the spring. They say it keeps the tree from putting too much energy into a full mast crop and then having a down crop the next year. Otherwise, the fertilizer does help the tree but has little effect on the fruit. I would try to take the golden rod and just thin the blackberry thickets if possible.

[Tominator]

Getting a good fruit set is more dependent on proper pruning and keeping the bugs off the fruit once they are set. Most varieties of apples will need numerous spraying throughout the year starting in early spring before the buds break. Once the blossoms are done, start spraying for bugs, malathion is decent so is Sevin, but Sevin will make a lot of fruit drop. Once the fruit is set, thin the apples to one apple per 8" of branch. If you have too many apples per branch, you'll end up with small apples.

I've read a lot of articles that say fertilizing is a waste of money, and I must agree. If anything, hit them with a low nitrogen and high phophorus/potassium, as these help develop fruit more. High nitrogen will just make the plant grow bigger.

[woolybear]

Thanks for the pointers guys, just saved me a ton of reading/research by answering the questions I wanted answers to within my limits. The plan is to try it on a handfull of trees this spring without breaking the bank, and as mentioned wasting my time.

Will see if I can get a few good producers back and go from there in the future depending on the results. Thanks again for the starting point.

[OUTSIDER]

I'll have to disagree with Tominator about spraying, the orchard at our place which has been producing apples for at least 50 years, has never once been sprayed, and we have never seen a noticable decrease in apples or quality thereof. I would guess in some areas spraying is a must for pest control, but here in WV where i am at, i guess we have a limited amount of critters that like to infest the apple trees. I would check with a local extension agent to get the most accurate data on your area.

[Tominator]

I'll have to disagree with Tominator about spraying, the orchard at our place which has been producing apples for at least 50 years, has never once been sprayed, and we have never seen a noticable decrease in apples or quality thereof. I would guess in some areas spraying is a must for pest control, but here in WV where i am at, i guess we have a limited amount of critters that like to infest the apple trees. I would check with a local extension agent to get the most accurate data on your area.

A lot depends on your varieties. Newer varieties are more pest resistant, especially to things like scab and rust, but generally speaking, most fruit trees require a lot of maintenance if you want quality yields.

[OUTSIDER]

We grow golden and red delicious if that means anything.

[Tominator]

We grow golden and red delicious if that means anything.

Yep, those varieties do pretty good. I had a golden delicious (the universal pollinator, btw) and I didn't have too many problems with that tree at all. It was my best producer.

I'm betting your elevation is a little higher too, so your humidity levels are probably a little lower than our area. High humidity will promote rust and scab problems, which reduces the vigor of the plant, which invites bugs.

[woolybear]

Well I wont be baking any award winning pies with them so they really don't need to be all that pretty. Just deer chow.

This tree from winter '08 was the ONLY one that produced and held its fruit well. It's about 500 yds away from the main orchard of aproximately 2 acres that was void of apples that year. Don't know what made this one the exception that year. It held much of it's bounty right up till spring along with a steady drop that kept deer coming back to it.

This tree was one of the few that yielded a good crop again this year, just slightly thinner.

[Tominator]

That's a decent looking tree. Tough to tell the variety. Looks like someone has pruned it in the past, but it could use a decent pruning come March.