Time to Thin Your Fruit
Suzanne Fellows
The removal of fruit may seem counterintuitive, but it will actually give you a better crop and will help prevent biennial bearing (producing fruit every other year). Thinning will help prevent limb damage, improve size of the remaining fruit and discourage early fruit drop. June is a good time to thin out your fruit set on your apples, pears and stone fruit. Your tree will naturally drop fruit but it is also a good idea to do more before the fruit gets too big. Thin the fruit in the clusters (like apples and pears) and thin between the fruit (for peaches, nectarines, plums and pluots). For apples or pears, thin to 1-2 fruit per cluster. Nectarines, peaches, plums, pluots, pluerries and apriums can be thinned to one fruit every six inches and thin any fruit growing in pairs. Pick up any aborted fruit on the ground and if there are no signs of disease, you can add it to your compost pile or worm bin or your chickens might enjoy a fruit salad. If you have not fertilized your fruit trees, it is not too late to do so this season.
