Question on thinning apple trees

General Fruit Growing
1

These clusters are on my Dorsett Golden. There are probably about 5. With between 3 and 5 apples on each. The tree is doing really well and this is the first year it looks like it’s going to produce a decent crop. At the same time I know that’s too many per cluster. What’s a good amount? I was thinking two. Thoughts?

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2

Can you get a picture of the whole tree? It matters, If it’s little I’d go to one.
That first picture is a pretty little stick to hold more than one or two.

3

I could give an opinion if I saw the whole tree. It’s all about foliage to fruit ratio.

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4

@Fruitnut I must have beat you by a second. :slight_smile:

5

here’s what the whole tree looks like and yes those branches are probably about pencil thickness.

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6

I say thin down to very few fruit- there’s a risk of setting young trees back by letting them bear too soon.

7

makes sense. I’ll thin it out to one per cluster. Thanks.

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8

Just to satiate my curiosity, how old is the tree?

9

Not sure how old it was when got it, but I’ve had it for two years.

10

I thin to one per cluster and try to space clusters more than 10" or so apart. I also take the opportunity to bag up apples as I thin.

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11

30 leaves per apple

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12

Thanks. means I’ve got some thinning to do.

13

Next time I suggest you do most thinning within a couple weeks of petal fall when the tree is “deciding” whether to crop next year. It is also when you get the most benefit in terms of apple size that doesn’t reduce flavor because early in the season fruit is expanding by way of cell division. Later it is based on cell expansion.

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14

Hello well with such a small tree I’d leave 1 apple per spur is what I’d do .The best time to thin is 10 mm to 3/4 inch also.

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15

Dorsett can be a 12" high tree doubled over with a huge apple. Thin it hard to prevent dwarfing, one per cluster, a hand’s-spread between cluster. Get the trunk thickened up and it will be an apple machine for years afterwards.

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16

Thanks guys.Great information. I’ll adjust my thinning based on these recommendations and we’ll see how it turns out…

17

Yup, you never want the top of a thin trunk bearing apples.

18

all thinned up, down to 1 per cluster…as painful as it was to remove the fruit, I know it’s for the best…

interesting thing is that I’m still seeing blossoms. new ones are lower on the tree.

19

Thinning one to a cluster is often entirely inadequate, depending on how far apart are the clusters. I’ve removed 2/3rds of entire clusters on trees and ended up with far too many apples. Best to have about 7-8" between apples, although you don’t have to do all your thinning at once.

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