North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Dennis Norton" <dmnorton@royaloakfarmorchard.com>]

Doreen,

We have the exact same honeycrisp on same root stock plantd in the same year 
and are training to vertical axe.  We remove all fruit on 1 year old wood at 
second leaf and hand thin remaining fruit to 6" apart.  At 3rd leaf we let 
them completely fruit.  They hold up to the weight of the fruit just fine.

Dennis Norton
Royal Oak Farm Orchard
http://www.royaloakfarmorchard.com
http://www.theorchardkeeper.blogspot.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Doreen Howard" <gardendiva@charter.net>
To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Saturday, May 20, 2006 10:50 PM
Subject: [NAFEX] Honeycrisp Questions


> My Honeycrisp on Bud 9 is in its third season in the ground--planted April 
> 2004.  It's only 4 feet tall, and the scaffold branches, though well 
> formed, are not very thick--about 1/2 inch in diameter.  This tree 
> flowered and every blossom set fruit.  There was plenty of pollen due to a 
> neighbor's Jonathan, my two crabapples and a Pixie Crunch all flowering at 
> the same time.  Obviously, I'll have to thin, but can I leave any apples 
> to mature on such a small tree?  Or will the weight of developing fruit 
> adversely affect the immature scaffold branches?
>
> Also, have you found Honeycrisp to be a tip bearer?  All the flower 
> clusters were on branch tips that were not pruned in March.
> Doreen Howard