I’m going to explain again in 2026 terms why people have problems getting fruit. I told everyone the first step is to convert your soil from bacteria based soil to fungi based soil. If there are trees growing close by, you have fungi based soil. If you dont have that, consider bringing in woodchips. Is the tree old enough? If you’re asking that question, the tree is old enough. My uncle was a professional orchardist and taught me about stressing the trees to get fruit. He went out in his orchard with his baseball bat and hit every non producing tree that was old enough trunk lightly. That was his clever way of stressing the tree. He then might cut water by 25%. Slightly Girdling a tree is similarly a stress cause. We have, by now, attracted some people who only believe in science. I believe in science also. Every plant has 2 hormones that trigger processes. If you give them the wrong fertilizer, the tree won’t produce fruit. Nitrogen is the wrong fertilizer to make a tree fruit, but it causes lots of growth. Ok so therefore Monopotassium Phoshpate (MKP) Fertilizer causes a tree to fruit Amazon.com : Monopotassium Phoshpate (MKP) Fertilizer | Highly Water Soluble | 0-52-34 (1 Pound) : Patio, Lawn & Garden The hormone Cytokinin causes vegetative growth. The hormone Florigen causes flowering. Every one of you heard me tell you dont over prune. That overpruning stimulates Cytokinin which causes vegetative growth.
Figure out when flowering should occur for your tree you wish to bloom. Apply small amounts of Monopotassium Phoshpate (MKP) Fertilizer continually during the bloom time. I can’t make an unhealthy tree produce fruit , but I can make a healthy one produce. I hope this helps someone.
You might like this old thread. One of my uncles used a bat. I give them a really hard shake. I baby my trees a lot. As long as you stress them that stimulates flowering hormones. That can even be a hard cut in water. With the addition of the right fertilizer it causes fruiting.
I stressed some old big apple trees that are on my place. Not sure if they were planted or wild.
I was making new ground next to them. It was a pasture for 45 years at least and neglected pasture for 30. I cleaned it up.
I sub soilded, chisel plowed, an rototilled the ground next to them knowing I was cutting a lot of roots. It was mid summer.
The following year those 4 trees were absolutley loaded with apples. They had so many apples that to thin them would take a lot of effort and numerous branches broke from the load. It was remarkable. The trees went biennial after that.
Stress will make them fruit.
I need to.stress my pears. Don’t think I’ll use a baseball bat, but maybe girdle some branches.
@clarkinks this reminds me of my neighbor when I lived in Florida. She took a stick and worked her mango tree over pretty good all up and down the trunk. Went out the next day and talked to it and caressed it’s wounds. Couple days later she is in the med center with poison ivy all up her arms. She asked me to help identify the poison ivy, when I saw the poor tree it was obvious where the “poison ivy “ came from.
Great points guys! I’m intentionally making the Process overly simplistic to make the point about hormones because they are not readily understood. People used to tell me they did not understand hormones in plants. Many people to this day believe they have better methods. Ironically my yields are good consistently. Don’t discount good genetics either. Soil scientist are into soil and orchardist are into orchards. Acres USA and similar publications bring the 2 concepts together. Unfortunately I never hear people associate the actual hormones with fruit production.
If you want to know more maybe read this link post #36 where I discuss this concept in great detail
i heavy pruning has caused a few of my trees to start fruiting. training branches helps also. if the tree thinks its life is a risk, it will trigger fruiting.
Absolutely if florigen levels are there the tree will fruit. It may not stay in fruiting mode though in all cases. Pears fight back putting on vegetative growth normally when topped. There are always exceptions. Depends if nitrogen is present.