I swear I did not cut down the apple tree!

August 26, 2012 12:18 PM

How can I improve backyard fruit tree fruit?

I have an old Gravenstein apple tree and an Italian plum tree in my PNW backyard. Both produce a good amount of fruit most years, but if I leave it on the tree long enough to get ripe, it tends to get damaged / cracked / moldy at the stem and down to the core (both apples & plums). That is, most of the fruit looks OK, but there are blemishes on the top where leaves touch, there's often a crack around the stem, and when there is a crack, the center is often crufty or moldy. The rest of the fruit is usually OK (at least, I haven't died from eating it!) but it would be nice not to have to clean it up and pare off the ugly bits before serving.

Is there some trick fruit farmers know to get sound, tree-ripened fruit? Or am I simply too accustomed to the over-pesticided, picked-before-ripe fodder available from the local Whole Paycheck?

posted by spacewrench to home & garden (4 answers total)

It's about watering. Splitting and cracks in fruit typically mean there has been fluctuations in the watering cycle (heavy watering then no watering).
Around the time the fruit begins to ripen is the most important time to watch out for this. What's your tree's watering cycle like? If not on a watering system (dry farming), a heavy rain at the ripening stage might also cause it. Once they split...they're more open to bugs and disease.
posted by artdrectr at 1:18 PM on August 26, 2012 [2 favorites]

I don't water anything. It seems like we had a long, cold, wet spring followed by a mostly mild, dry summer, but the local rain gage data says we got rain up until July 1. I guess that could be the "heavy rain at the ripening stage"?

If I get the heavy rain, can I prevent splitting by continuing to water moderately? Or is it a better idea to provide at least some water all season?
posted by spacewrench at 2:56 PM on August 26, 2012

As I understand it, commercial fruit orchards are heavily managed with pesticides, chemicals to control things like rot & fungus, and so on. When we planted a few fruit trees, the instructions were, "Find out from your local extension office what the schedule is for spraying this type of fruit tree and follow it to a T."

I didn't ever find out the protocol or follow it even to A or B let alone T but our fruit is always covered with various blemishes and insect infestations and we just go ahead & eat it anyway (extra protein . . . ).

So, there is probably something to be said for the "follow the protocol" approach because not following doesn't really work that well.
posted by flug at 9:02 PM on August 26, 2012

Or is it a better idea to provide at least some water all season?

At least after flowering, then begin providing a steady drink. A deep watering every week should be good, though most apples prefer a slightly arid condition. Will offset any summer rains. Besides watering: mulching all inside under the canopy perimeter is important and will help retain the moisture. Don't let fruit rot on the ground, move it out. Cut out diseased fruit/branches.
About the plum, it's probably more susceptible/fragile than the apples, so I'd bet it too could benefit.
posted by artdrectr at 10:51 PM on August 27, 2012