Apple tree issues

[Smiles Jr.]

One of my apple trees is shedding it's apples. The area under one of my Johnathan apple trees is covered with apples the size of walnuts. This has never happened in my orchard. Has anyone ever heard of this? What to do - what to do.

 

[digitS']

I don't have an explanation for you, Smiles. Still, I can bump this back to the top so that it can be seen more easily.

From just a layman's view, I have seen what I took to be a "water mold" in crab apples that has caused fruit drop. Apparently, there are a number of fungi that attack apples.

I have a peach that looks like it might be dying of fire blight. This has happened before . . . I read up a little on the problem: here (click) from the University of Wisconsin. They have information on apple problems . . . but offered almost hope on fire blight.

Steve

 

[897tgigvib]

Smiles, how does the bark on your apple tree look?

Do you see any physical damage anywhere at all on the tree's bark?

Does any of the bark look orangish or extra pale?

Did anyone use weed and feed fertilizer anywhere near your tree?

Were any neighbors spraying weed killer nearby?

Here's one I suspect: Last year did that tree produce a huge bumper crop? Some Apple trees get "tired" after a year they make a large apple crop.

Do many of the apples on the ground have bird pecked holes, maybe along with some leaves on the ground? Might've had a flock of birds...

Is your neighborhood pollinator tree doing well, still there?

 

[897tgigvib]

I'm looking it up...

If nothing else is wrong, you have what they call back east, "June Drop".

The tree is giving itself a rest, naturally pruning itself.

The cure for trees doing a 2 year cycle of great production followed by june drop the next year, is by thinning manually the crop on your trees. Ya get nicer, bigger, more selected apples this way, and more evenly distributed by the years.

Remember, apple trees are bark sensitive, so when ya thin them, careful with the tree. The thinned apples might not snap right off so snip them if they won't snap.

Hopefully that's all it is!!! She's just tired. She'll be fine, but next year thin her apples pretty good. She'll give you a smaller crop of better apples.

 

[Smiles Jr.]

Thanks for the responses.

marshallsmyth - I do not see any bark damage, at least anything out of the ordinary. No spraying in the area. I'm a beekeeper so I'm very adamant about no spraying on our little farm. And our closest neighbor is 1/4 mile away. No unusual indications on the fruit itself and no unusual leaf drop. I did have an excellent harvest last year though. You could be correct when you say "she may be tired". This tree is about 12 yrs old and has been a very good producer since it's 3rd year. I took a very close look this morning and I would guess that 90% or more of the apples have dropped.

One thing that could be the culprit . . . I increased the size of our pond in January. This increase took out 5 of the 12 trees in this tree's immediate area. Maybe "she's tired AND scared".

 

[lesa]

I've had that happen, at different stages of apple development. Sometimes late in the season. No harm seems to come to the tree- just disappointing to me!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I think Marshall hit it with June Drop, which can be at different times, not just June. The apple tree sets more fruits than it needs so it thins itself once the season stabilizes. The first ones to go are the ones that were poorly pollinated. The ones with one or two seeds will drop in favor of the ones with four or five seeds. Were your bees active when the trees were in bloom?

I had another scary thought. It's not likely since you got so much fruit to set to start with but I'll mention it. Apple trees need to be pollinated with different apple varieties and that pollinating tree needs to be in bloom at the same time. When you built your pond and took out all those trees, did you possibly take out the ones that were pollinating the others? Or maybe did you damage the roots of your trees? Or is the pond holding water and keeping the ground too wet under the apple tree? The pond seems to be the thing that is different, so I'm trying to think around that.

Some drop, and some times a lot of drop, is normal. I've noticed too that, barring a late frost, apple trees seem to really produce well after a hard winter. That probably has to do with their requirement for "cold days". Maybe your winter was not that cold this year?

 

[Smiles Jr.]

I think you guys have hit on some great ideas. Some that I never would have even thought of. The bees were having a good time in the remaining apple trees while they were in full bloom but I didn't think that the trees that were removed may have some effect on pollination. Hmmmmm.

It's certainly not the end of the world here . . . I have never noticed such a complete fruit drop in years past.

 

[ninnymary]

smiles, this is interesting. I have a plum tree that has also lost about 95% of it's fruit. When I bought it last year it had about 12 plums on it. This year it produced zillions! I had never seen anything like it. I expected some fruit drop but never the amount it's dropped. They were tiny and turning yellow, which I assumed, I was watering it too much. Haven't watered it in over a week and I'm scared to! I don't want any more fruit to fall off, although there still is plenty for such a small tree.

Mary

 

[897tgigvib]

Yep, not only June drop, but you may have taken out her favorite pollinator.

She'll be ok.

Just a guess, but was at least one of the trees you removed one of the Macintosh variety types?

Oh, you do bees. Btw, bees adore Dolgo Crabapples! Plus ya get crabapple pies supreme from dolgo crabapples!

Also, putting in that pond might have raised your water table. Maybe?