Donāt mean to hijack this thread, but seriously, several of my apple trees are approaching 15-20 feet in height. I am not getting any younger and fear falling off a ladder. So I really need to shorten them. I have been wondering if I should cut them off at 10-12 feet this winter or wait until next summer. It is said that winter pruning promotes growth. It is also said that summer pruning discourage growth. When is the best time of year to whack them off? Or does it make any difference?
Reduce the height this winter and reduce the water sprouts it encourages in spring and summer. Try to cut back to a side branch at least 30% the diameter of what you are cutting.
The side branch may send some water sprouts to replace the leader but most will likely come from the trunk itself. If you are around the tree a lot you can brush them off as they form.
The easiest shape to maintain for a pedestrian, ladderless tree is generally an open center where youād limit the tree eventually to only 3-4 scaffolds. Honeycrisp is reluctant to produce secondary branches so it can be wise to reduce the permanent branches gradually, even tying water sprouts to horizontal by using the temporary branches as anchors to tape secondary wood of permanent scaffolds to.
A central leader tree is the most efficient for producing fruit, but for a home grower the relatively slight difference is unimportant. It usually requires cycling in and out of upper branches so that donāt become excessively dominant and shade out the lower ones or need so much continual cutting back that they produce more wood than fruit.
You can prune a bearing tree back to the height you want it anytime, but summer pruning is more efficient.
Thatās because HC is prone to biennialing. Once you recognize that, you can either learn to live with it or learn to thin very aggressively. After 3 cycles of HC biennialing, This past spring, I thinned very aggressively.
What I meant was I took off flowers (not letting them produce fruitlets) about 70% of them. Then, when the rest of the flowers set fruit, I thinned some clusters out and the remaining clusters had mostly one fruit.
I had some HC this year. More importantly, I have seen fruit spurs for next year. I think I have managed to break its biennial cycle.
Prior to this year, I took out about half of the fruitlets/fruit clusters. That was not enough for my tree.
Keep in mind, there were a few people reported that their HC fruit yearly. That is likely due to types of rootstocks the trees are grafted on. Mine was unknown and does not prevent biennialing. Yours looks like it, too.
Several apple varieties are prone to biennialing. Once you recognize it and fix the issue through thinning, you are likely to break its cycle.
I have found that many backyard growers esp. new ones, donāt thin enough, or worse, are afraid of thinning. Without doing anything, your tree will produce in 2018. If you donāt thin severely in 2018, you wonāt have any HC in 2019 and the cycle goes on.
I have thinned in the past but only by taking off fruitlets. Its understandable to me that it would be even better to thin the varieties that are prone to be biennial by removing flowers. The tree will be on its 8th leaf next year so it should have a crop. Not a very vigorous tree though. Just have to remember next spring to very aggressively thin.
Not sure what rootstock it is on but it sure has plenty of root sprouts each year. Alan mentioned in a thread a specific rootstock that tended to have a high number of root sprouts but offhand I donāt remember which one he named. I have always suspected that my HC has the one that he mentioned.
I like hc. Unfortunately mine get wormy before most other apples. Might need to start spraying our something. Mine hit 14 brix pretty easily. My honey gold get 17 brix but soften quickly as they get to ripe.
Both 111 and 7 are capable of sending up suckers (root sprouts- water sprouts are vigorous shoots from scion wood). 7 is more likely to produce a less than vigorous tree as it is subdued by earlier fruiting than 111 and an inability to adapt as well to heavy soils or drought. It is also the most common root stock used for trees intended to be sold to home growers.
I grafted a Honeycrisp in my orchard and though it hasnāt fruited yet, Iām already thinking of grafting it over. I havenāt tasted locally grown HC, but havenāt found a decent one in stores for many years. Used to get pretty decent ones from the grocery store and locally grown examples from Colorado were very good: sweet, tart and flavorful. There seem to be many superior non-commercial apples available for home orchardists.
Thatās the trouble with HC and one of the main reasons behind club apples. HC requires certain growing conditions to achieve its full flavor potential. With club apples, growing practices and loctions can be controlled. I grow them in East Idaho and they are hit and miss from year to year. Last year, as with most years they were exceptionally sweet with a nice balance of tartness. This year they were only marginally sweet and had a distinct floral essence which I donāt care for. I believe it comes down to long warm days and cool nights during late summer, which we didnāt really have this year.
I agree, Honeycrisp really caught consumerās desire for something better. It also demonstrated that people are willing to pay more money for something they believe may be better.
The big success of Honeycrisp motivated plant breeders to create more varieties with similar flavor profiles and organizations designed to manage the quality and the supply of the new āclubā apples. Huge amounts of money have been invested in the club apples by large growers and packers. Its too soon to say if brand name apples will work similar to brand names in other consumer products, but I have doubts.
Honey Crisps: They were the best of apples, they were the worst of apples.
When they first came out they were well grown and delicious with a balance of sweet and tart, at least here. Now theyāre typically huge and sour. The big box stores sell honey crisp trees here but according to a fruit arborist I know our area isnāt suited for them. Such a shame.
The first ones I bought a few years ago were really good but now I would rate them as average. The price for HC is still high but slowly coming down. People are willing to pay more for good quality as long as it is maintained.
We are fairly close to you (about 1-1 1/2hrs). Some years are better than others but Iāve got to agree Kansas just hasnāt in my experience produced good honeycrisp. They are still a great pie apple here and produce abundantly for me though they are given to be biennial if not thinned. Iām not to the point of topworking my trees yet either. Goldrush has a huge CAR problem here. Rubinette donāt seem much better at tolerating disease. Trialing several other apple types but so far Iāve not found a magic bullet.
These are the 2 places Iād look to for advice. Theyāve been growing apples near KC for many years
http://www.wagonwheelorchard.com/ Wagon Wheel Orchard in Gardner,KS - the largest no spray orchard in the Midwest. They have lots of heirloom varieties.
http://givinggrove.org - They have recommendations on their site for fruit trees and rootstocks.
