Reply To: Thinning a Jupiter Apple Tree

[Paul Clarke]

Thanks to both of you for the advice.
Since my Post, I read on a website that Jupiter apples grow to a big size (if I remember right), and I also found a photo of my tree in late August 2009 with big apples on it. When I ate them they were approximately 9 cm from one side to the other, as opposed to approximately 7 cm which they have generally been since 2009. I remember pruning the tree in the winter, and it is possible that someone else did some thinning too in June 2009 – it is hard to remember. I seem to remember the apples being sweeter than usual at some time, and it may have been then. This seems to tally with what you say above, Charles.
Can you tell me if yours grow to this larger size? I cannot tell for certain from your photo.
Lastly, I was watching a video on YouTube on apple thinning by a woman in America. At the end, she mentioned picking up the fruitlets from the ground because they attract pests. I would think that they nourish the tree, and that they stop all the bugs going for the good fruit, but maybe she was growing for commerce. Do you bother to pick them up?