Your new fruit tree has started blossoming and producing fruit but the produce is much smaller than store bought fruit. You might think that you are doing something wrong but this is a natural occurrence. With a few techniques it is possible to grow larger fruit without adding chemicals. And keep in mind the larger fruit you see in grocery stores achieve that size through advances techniques professional growers use, many which are not safe.
photo credit: pizzodisevo

If you want to increase the size of the fruit grown in your backyard oasis take up the practice of “fruit thinning”. The reason this process works is that with less fruits one the tree, the tree has additional strength to put into each fruit, thus increasing the size of the remaining fruit. To take care of too many fruit, simply pick a third of the fruits extremely early on in the process.  I have done this for years and it does work.

I remove fruit in the middle of May in my Zone 5 climate and again in late June. June is the time when I remove damaged or deformed fruit, leaving the better fruits on the tree to mature. I remember when I first started thinning fruit I felt guilty. It was difficult to take off the small fruit, but it is better for the crop and tree.

On most fruit bearing trees, the success of each individual fruit depends on their spacing. When thinning use the rule of thumb to remove fruits within six to eight inches of each other. This will give the fruit room to grow and the tree the additional energy for providing the proper amount of nutrition that each fruit should get. Too much fruit on a tree is also a burden to the tree limbs and as the fruit grows the branched will bend and possibly break.

Small fruits can be caused by conditions out of your control. Cold and cloudy weather can stun the growth of fruit when it is first forming. A lack of water or certain nutrients will also create small fruit. And excessive pests and diseases can damage the growth and quality of your. If you notice these conditions early in the season, thin the fruit more than you normally would. You may have to remove as much as three fourths of the fruit to allow full nutrition to the remaining crop.
photo credit: pizzodisevo

Experience will help you decide how large your fruit should be one any one tree. Experiment with different techniques in thinning the tree, pruning and fruit tree health.

A trip to your local nursery may supply you with additional information for fruit tree care. Also your local Extension Office has pamphlets on hand to help you with orchards and fruit trees. They will be able to give you advice based on your region and specific tree.

I live in an apple producing area so there are many fruit farms I can go to and ask advice about my trees and harvest. Their advice and knowledge has helped my with my fruit trees. A healthy tree usually will produce a great crop of fresh, flavor packed fruit for years to come.

Technorati Tags: Backyard Garden, backyard oasis, fruit

This entry was posted on Friday, April 10th, 2009 at 10:51 am and is filed under backyard oasis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.