Thinning Fruit

As soon as your tree sets fruit, it is time to start thinning. This is a difficult task for most gardeners because, "Why would you pull fruit off a tree if the goal is to produce more of it?"

There are three reasons to thin fruit from your fruit trees. First, it reduces the weight on branches that cannot support it. Second, it spaces out fruit to allow more air flow and fewer hiding places for pests like earwigs, coddling moth, and caterpillars. Third, it allows the tree to develop more blossoms for next year's fruit.

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It is not uncommon for branches to fail under heavy fruit loads. If you are tying branches together or propping up branches that are laying on the ground, then your tree needs additional pruning and/or more fruit thinning. If your tree needs more pruning, please take a moment to read through this Free 9 Part Fruit Tree Pruning Course...

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Fruit trees have been bred to produce large fruit and will grow more fruit than their branches can support. As discussed in our pruning course, pruning the canopy of your fruit tree every year will help it develop a good structure so that it can support a heavy fruit load, but it will also allow your fruit tree to collect more sunlight and direct that energy into the fruit that it produces. A well pruned fruit tree will have larger, heavier fruit and less fruit will fall from the tree prematurely. To make sure branches do not fail under heavy loads, it is important to thin the fruit.

Most fruit trees will grow fruit in clusters. When these clusters of fruit are touching each other, it creates an excellent place for bugs to hide from predators like birds and beneficial insects. The inside of fruit clusters will also remain dark and damp after wet weather, which will allow for fungal diseases to take hold. When you thin fruit and space it out, you are allowing for good air flow and eliminating harborage locations for pests.

Pear, Apple, and Quince produce fruit on small branches called spurs. When these spurs are developing fruit, they are not developing the buds that will bloom and produce fruit next year. This is why some trees will only produce every other year. By thinning the fruit on each spur and removing all of the fruit from some of the spurs, you can stop the alternating cycle and get fruit each and every year.

Thinning fruit will allow you to get fruit every year with fewer pests, and minimize the risk of branch failure. So, why would you pull fruit from your tree if the goal is to get more fruit? The answer is to get more fruit!

Thanks for Reading! If you would like to learn more about the care and pruning of fruit trees, please browse our 100+ fruit tree articles here, join our Backyard Fruit Growers Facebook Group, and take our free Fruit Tree Pruning Course. Also, please subscribe to our Fruit Pruning YouTube Channel.