I pruned off half the wood. Trimmed back what was left. And have thinned what fruit is left. I think there’s probably still 2x too much. The bigger the fruit gets the thicker it seems.
If you can see well enough, what do you think?
My thought is it’s about right for a commercial orchard. But I’d be very happy with half as many if they were bigger and sweeter. I’m not sure how much difference it would make in size or quality. Maybe I should try half the tree each way and see how much difference it makes.
Very nice tree Steven, it’s responding very well to your care. Since I also experiment a bit I would keep the majority which looks about right to me, but try thinning one limb only. All scaffolds look strong enough to hold up, but you might want to place some vertical supports about 2/3 out from the trunk in case you get a storm when the fruit is maturing. Your tree is an ideal shape. The sun exposure you have should assure whatever sweetness the variety can produce as long as it gets plenty of water.
Take care
Dennis
Kent, wa
Your dozen are spoken for. Coons order in early. If I can’t cover it critters may get them all. In fact, here a crafty fox loves stone fruit. He picks them, moves off 50ft, eats that one, and goes back for seconds.
Desmond Layne told me one time to make a fist and stick my thumb out. That’s the minimum distance between fruits. Not sure if that’s for commercial production or backyard max quality. I’ve been doing that and always have good quality, but I have not measured brix so I’m not sure how they’d stack up, objectively speaking. Once you account for a few inevitable losses the actual spacing ends up wider than the thumb/fist thing.
I took out at least half the fruiting shoots. Then cut the remainder back. Then thinned to one fruit per shoot. It’s more fruit than I usually leave. That’s why I ask.
There’s always the question of what qualifies as a shoot.
I’d say, that’s the perfect thinning! I almost do that, but I don’t remove half the fruiting wood. Commercial orchards do much less thinning than that.
Only one suggestion not relating to your specific question. I did similar heavy pruning on all of my peaches, and decided to add a thin white wash to the exposed large scaffolds. I’ve had bark peeling and cracking before and thought it might be the result of sunburn. With my heavy pruning, I thought I might be setting myself up for more of the same.
