The relationship of fruit production and vegetative growth

[UnderDawgAl]

Great article. This might be the answer to the question I asked in the following post, to which I received only one response:

Biennial bearing of my apple tree?

We have this golden delicious apple tree that is 25+ feet tall. Two years ago when we moved here, I saw it bear hundreds upon hundreds of small misshapen apples. Last year, thanks to knowledge and experience on this forum, I pruned the tree and thinned the fruit heavily, removing hundreds of fruitlets. Because of the two years of heavy cropping, I assumed it would be a heavy bearer annually. This year, however, the tree only put on blooms on the upper half. Just a few blooms have appeared …