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["Mark Dorogi" <mddorogi@comcast.net>]

I have very heavy fruit set this year in my apples.  Almost all of them are loaded.  I’m bagging the apples now and thinning as I go.  It sure takes a while, but it does seem relaxing.

 

I’m worked on the Cox’s Orange Pippen today.  What a load of apples; I’ve never seen so many.  Question:  How many apples can a dwarf tree produce?  This tree is around 10 years old, a solid 10’ tall and wide, well branched, not sure what rootstock, and I’ve put in 200 baggies and expect to put in at least another 100 more, perhaps 150 more.  I am thinning each cluster to one apple and trying to keep an average spacing of around 6”.  I’ve probably removed 500 apples.

 

Just wondering if a dwarf tree like this can actually produce 300 or 400 apples or if I should be thinning more aggressively.  Last year, it didn’t set any fruit.

 

And, how many average sized apples are in a bushel? 

 

I see no bug damage yet.  It’s warm out now, so I’ve been watching out for curculio. I’ll probably go out and smack the trees a few times before bed, to knock any out.  It is supposed to get cooler overnight though, low 50’s, and the next few nights it is predicted to be in the 30’s.  I might even be able to get the baggies on before the bugs really get going.

 

 

     

Mark

SE Michigan