I have been getting so many questions lately I have decided to share them here so that we can all learn from each others questions. I am calling them Edible Questions and it should be a weekly deal provided the questions keep coming.
So if you have any edible plant and tree questions email me or leave them in the comments section and your questions might be featured right here!
This week’s question comes in from Greg.
Greg asks, “Dave I inherited an old backyard fruit orchard. It hasn’t been pruned in many many years. How can I make them more productive and produce more fruit?”
Greg has a great question here. One that I have personally had to deal with when I bought my current property. With a lot of time and care chances are Greg can revitalize his orchard so it is productive for years to come.
First off, it is well into fruiting season. Does your tree have a ton of small tasteless fruit? If so there isn’t much you can do for this year’s harvest. But you can help harvests for years to come. Tons of tiny fruit is a sign that your tree needs to be thinned. Doing a summer thinning will greatly help both the size and the quality of your trees fruit. Summer thinning is best done when your tree first sets fruit in late spring or early summer. We are almost in October so the window for summer thinning and pruning has past for this year. Next year you will definitely want to do a summer thinning and pruning to get your tree back in shape quicker.
What can you do between now and then you ask? Dormant pruning is a must! Clean up all the dead, diseased, and damaged branches. Any branches that are crossing one another, pointing downward or totally vertical can be removed as well. You can remove as much as 30% of the tree with any one dormant pruning. Pruning any more than that could cause harm to your tree. If your tree is so overgrown it might take a few years for you to get caught up with the dormant pruning upkeep. Dormant pruning can be done all winter but is best when done closer to bud break than just after dormancy has begun.
Now that your dormant pruning is complete your trees are all set for spring flowering. Once late spring and early summer fruit set has commenced you can now thin your trees. Depending on your fruit set a heavy to light thinning could be appropriate. A good rule of thumb is to thin close to 50% with a heavy fruit set and as low as 10-25% percent with a small fruiting. Either way thinning helps your tree develop large, tasty, maturing fruit that will ripen on the tree. For more tips about summer pruning and pruning in general check out our previous articles.
If you have an Edible Question like Greg’s email us or leave a comment below and your question could be featured in an upcoming week.