On 30 Jun 2005 06:33:57 -0700, "Jones" wrote:

Greetings,

Two years ago, I planted several varieties of pear and apple trees in a
small orchard on my property, in central Va.

This year, several of the pears and apples have grown to heights of 10
to 12' tall and put on a good show of blooms, which have subsequently
turned into all manner of pears and apples.

My problem is this : the fruit is weighing down the branches
substantially. I have read that I should prune off the fruit to one
every 4 to 6 inches. But, as I had not expected fruit this year anyway,
I am considering just removing all of the fruit (I am not certain that
some of the branches could hold even one FULL grown apple or pear.)

But, before I take any drastic measures, I thought I would post to this
group to see if any helpful advice might be available.


If you do not want fruit why did you plant them?

You can do as you wish. Removing the fruit will not harm the tree, in
fact the tree will have more energy to devote to foliage and root
development. If you have not dealt with fungal and insect pests by
now the fruit is likely to be full of unsavory critters and blemishes
anyway.

However, you may want to remove most of the fruit and let some
develop. It is up to you.

Certainly any branch that cannot support fruit should have the fruit
removed before damage occurs.

JMHO

John