"Billy" wrote in message
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In article ,
"Zootal" wrote:

"brooklyn1" wrote in message
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"Zootal" wrote in message
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wrote in message
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On May 5, 11:22 am, Pat Kiewicz wrote:
Zootal said:



My apple trees have very few blossoms on them this year. Last year
they
were loaded, this year next to nothing. I'm in the mid Wilammette
Valley,
Oregon. Anyone else in the Northwest observing this?

Some apple varieties have a strong tendency to develop a pattern of
alternate year bearing. Your big crop last year set you up for a
small
crop this year. Extra fruit thinning may be advisable next year, in
an
attempt to break the pattern.

--
Pat in Plymouth MI

"So, it was all a dream."
"No dear, this is the dream, you're still in the cell."

email valid but not regularly monitored

I that it has got a lot to do with the crop that you had last year
like pat said many apple varieties will have a good year and the a
bad, do you remember what happened the year before? if you can that
will give you a good picture as to consistency of your trees. So if
nothing else you can look forward to bumper crop again next year

http://www.my-garden-hammock.com

The year before was pretty sparse. I attributed that to some pruning I
had done during the winter. I guess if I get a bumper crop next year
I'll
have a much better idea if that is the case. It's a very old tree, but
it
has very large green/red striped apples that are quite good. Last year
we
got hundreds of apples from it. Literally hundreds of apples, omg it
was
loaded!

Since you now admit to pruning in winter then you've answered your
question.


I did not prune at all last winter, so pruning does not explain the lack
of
blossoms this year.

Dealing with Shelly is kinda like the "Magic Christian", where you dive
into crap in hopes of coming up with something of value. Rarely happens.

Biennial Bearing:
Occasionally certain fruit trees, such as apples, bear heavily one year
and sparsely the next. This is called biennial bearing. The buds of most
hardy fruit trees are set during the previous summer, and an especially
heavy crop one year may prevent adequate bud formation for the following
year. Biennial bearing is difficult to alter or correct. However, it is
possible to induce a return to normal yearly fruit production by early
and heavy thinning during the year in which the trees are producing
their large yield. Thirty to 40 healthy leaves are needed to produce
good quality fruit; within 30 days after bloom, thin to leave only four
to seven fruit per yard along the branches.
http://www.uri.edu/ce/factsheets/she...treesfail.html

It wasn't a particularly cold winter in the Wilammette Valley, was it?
Frozen buds and all that sort of thing? It was mild here in northern
California, so I'm presuming that it was the same there, only wetter.



The winter before last we got a foot of snow in April. And had a bumper
crop. This last winter was very mild, little ice, little frost, no snow. No
buds.

I'm good with the biennial bearing. I have a large pear tree that is
absolutely loaded with blossoms. I'm going to have to thin it because there
is no way a tree can support that much fruit. So I'll can pears instead of
apples this summer