why dose my apple tree have no crops?
By Bossno2
I have 2 apple trees for 4 years and always had a good crop but this year they have not fruited. There is zero apples on one and only a hand full on the other. What could be the cause? The plants seem to be healthy in every other way.
On plant
coxpippin apple tree
4 Jun, 2009
Answers
Right, sorry, this could be long!
How old are the trees? If young, the roots are probably still establishing themselves. So, the recent cold weather would affect them quite badly. Carol Klein from her "grow your own fruit" book states that new fruit trees should have the blossom removed for the first year to allow the roots to establish.
If your 2 trees had lots of fruit the first year, this would confirm that root theory.
Chicken manure pellets are an excellent source of nitrogen for apple trees and should be applied every spring.
Have the trees blossomed this year? If not, it's been got by the cold, usually frost or wind.
If it has, lack of bees could be a problem. In which case, I would plant some bee loving plants (see one of my blogs on this) nearby to encourage them.
I do hope next year provides a more fruitful year for you.
Also, I was going to say, if the trees were old, it could be that they are coming to the end of their natural life. Sometimes a very prolific fruiting will literally kill them, sadly.
The other problem is that you need 2 different sorts of apple trees to pollinate each other too. They need to blossom at the same time for bees to cross pollinate them. This is also quoted from Carol's book. Hth!
You could try your local library for a copy of the book, or even if there are any books on fruit trees in particular.
4 Jun, 2009
Welcome to goy!
This winter was the coldest for 18 years, so it could be that, especially if they are in pots.
There does usually have to be 2 trees blossoming at the same time to pollinate each other. I can't properly tell without more info.
4 Jun, 2009