Fruit Trees with no fruit

[jrm]

Hoping some of the knowledgeable folks on this forum can help me out. 

Two seasons ago, I had several fruit trees planted to start a small "orchard." Plum, pear, apple plus some blueberries. We made sure to plant a few of each for those that needed cross-pollination. The entire area has been fenced in.

Last year we saw some fruit. Very little, but we didn't expect any until this year (due to when the trees were originally planted). Still, almost all the trees had something. There were also plenty of blueberries (considering the size of the plants).

Fast forward to this year. There is not a single fruit on the trees. Not a hint of anything... I thought I would see at least a small apple or pear.

There we a few blueberries, but they never grew to full size or ripened.

What is also odd are the several "wild" apple trees on my property. They normally have plenty of fruit growing (most of it higher than an animal such as a deer could get to). It may not be the best for eating, but there is usually plenty of it. This year, I literally found one small apple on one of the trees.

 

This is all in the northern catskill area. I realize the drought may have affected things, but this situation seems very strange. Any ideas?

 

Edited August 25, 2016 by jrm

[GreeneHunter]

Last year my 2 older Apple trees produced more apples than could be eaten this year not one apple !  There was a late frost / cold snap this year in the spring after the trees had already bud'ed (spelling ?) and hence no fruit !

[growalot]

We had a few mild days in late winter that popped the buds...then got hit with late frosts and freezes .. that took out many peoples apples ,peaches pears, ect ect... we did well on many apples but nothing else in stone fruit..but we are high altitude...low lying areas got hit much worse..cold air falls ,warm rises Now as far as the blue berry bushes...They are shallow rooted acid loving plants...they do not handle drought well...I had great blue berries but I have mulch...I use a well rotted pine /bark mulch

[jrm]

I forgot about that late frost. 

So this would be considered "normal" or expected due to this season's environmental factors?

[growalot]

Yes with the hybrid and some wilds...but many wild apples are biannual producers  like red oaks are...wild plums can be as well as some pear trees...depends on what you have.

[jrm]

Thanks for the info. I was born with a red (opposite of green) thumb so all this is new to me.

 

Edited August 25, 2016 by jrm

[Curmudgeon]

2 hours ago, jrm said:

I forgot about that late frost. 

So this would be considered "normal" or expected due to this season's environmental factors?

In Otsego County we did not get a late frost, we got a HARD FREEZE in early April - single digits. Any fruit buds that had swelled from the warm winter and early spring were killed. No pears. Apples are scarce but there are some depending on the elevation. The higher trees have more apples. I think they may have been delayed so had less damage. The blueberry crop was good. 

[Doc]

2 hours ago, growalot said:

We had a few mild days in late winter that popped the buds...then got hit with late frosts and freezes .. that took out many peoples apples ,peaches pears, ect ect... we did well on many apples but nothing else in stone fruit..but we are high altitude...low lying areas got hit much worse..cold air falls ,warm rises Now as far as the blue berry bushes...They are shallow rooted acid loving plants...they do not handle drought well...I had great blue berries but I have mulch...I use a well rotted pine /bark mulch

This is the answer! Eve some of the professional, well established, commercial orchardists have been warning that prices this year will be higher and yields will be impacted because of that flukey blossom forcing followed by hard frosts .... repeatedly this year.

If you live in a valley bottom, be prepared to have this become a regular occurrence even when winter/spring is normal. That's not to say that you cannot grow fruit in valleys, but be ready for mire than your share of harvests being ruined frosts at bloom time. As Growalot said frosts settle into valleys.

[Fletch]

Yea my apple trees have very little fruit this year after a branch breaking load last year. I actuall did not see a late frost here, it was close a few times but it must have been enough stress.

Edited August 25, 2016 by Fletch

[Cabin Fever]

I have 10 or so wild crabapple and pear trees on the property. All were loaded last year. Only one tree has a few apples this year.

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[cityboy]

We had a lot of apples last year. The cold snap after the warm snap killed this years crop. We have blueberries, but not as many as years past.

[jrm]

Regarding the altitude, what is considered high vs low? I'm not in the valley, but there are plenty of nearby areas which are higher.  I'm at about 2100 ft ASL. 

[grampy]

Same here. We were loaded with apples last year and due to the late freeze after a stretch of warm weather, it killed the buds. Very little crabapples too. Along with acorns, hickory nuts and beech nuts. Just a down year for mast. The deer will have to search a bit farther for food. That will be good for hunters!

[slickrockpack]

I wouldn't worry about the altitude I'm at 6,400 and change and the late frost whacked the apples here too at the neighbors place, there are a few wild recruit apples around 7,200' asl and they aren't doing anything either this year.

though the neighbors never had so many apricots in decades, so what's bad for one thing is good for another.

[Curmudgeon]

Altitude it relative to the area around you.

[growalot]

Curmudgeon is correct...also slope of land to position of Sun.

Edited August 26, 2016 by growalot

[gastrodoc]

Im at 1800ft in the Fingerlakes.  I have an old orchard with 15-20 mature apple and peach trees.  The last two years we had so much fruit we were begging people to take some.  This year all of my trees are bare. 

[growalot]

We are 1900 ft and I have apples that are loaded and some that were due are bare...I'll get some pics.

[LET EM GROW]

I have a couple dozen mature crab apple trees that normally produce a TON of apples. There is only a few apples per tree this year. Im thinking that late frost in May took its toll on the natural fruit in my area. Even my dozen or so blueberry bushes that normally produce thousands and thousands of berries, had very few berries this year. Kinda sad since the year was so dry and they are awesome early season ambush spots..

[philoshop]

Fruit-bearing plants, including nut trees, run in cycles. Weather and late frosts can have a significant impact, but even under ideal conditions they may or may not produce in a given year. It's Mother Nature, and it-is-what-it-is.