Thinning a Jupiter Apple Tree

[Paul Clarke]

I just discovered this website and forum by looking at Google Images of Jupiter Apple Trees. We have a Jupiter which we planted in 2002/3. I was away for the next three years, and did not take an interest in it until 2008, when I pruned it lightly in the winter, and have done since, mainly to keep it to a certain size. It is now 3.5 meters high and 4 meters wide, and has been at least this size for the last four years.
In 2011 it yielded a huge crop – I gave over five hundred apples away, I must have eaten about ninety myself, and there must have been some which were damaged by insects. The following year of 2012 it yielded only five! In 2013 there was an abundant crop. Following all this, I realized how important thinning must be, and so I thinned it for the first time in July 2014 – I know it should be done in June. The crop this year looks comparable to that of 2013. I want to know how much I should thin it.
I have found out that Jupiter is a crossing of Cox’s Orange Pippin and Starking Delicious, and I noticed that the Question posted by Rhys a month ago about thinning apples concerns the Cox’s Orange Pippin.

[Paul Clarke]

I just want to update my Post: the abundant crops of 2013 and 2014 were not as big as the very abundant crop of 2011. Knowing more about all this now, I would say that in 2011 it was excessive, and that it exhausted the tree.
Also, there is damage to the trunk and two of the main branches. I remember this from 2007, and it may go further back than that. I decided not to mention this above, but now I feel that apple tree owners may be interested to know, in case it has any bearing on the 2012 crop of only five apples.
I showed photos of the damage to a nursery in 2011. They were not sure, but they thought that it is not canker, although it does look awful. They said that it need not be cut down.
I wondered if it was caused by rubbing against the stake when it was planted, though that does not really explain the damage further up the tree. I think I heard that if it spreads around the whole trunk, the tree will die.

[charles]

Hello Paul and thanks for this interesting story.
Yes fruit benefits from thinning, no doubt about it, even gooseberries. Fruit is sweeter as well as plants cropping more regularly.
The difficulty is to thin one’s fruit enough, you need to imagine them full size when thinning and late June to mid July is best time for apples. It sounds like you know that now, well done for working it out.
As for the bark damage, it does sound like canker, but of so the branches often die within perhaps a year, and are best cut off below the damaged area. Easier said than done if the trunk has canker.
Happy harvesting this year!

[Rhys]

Paul

I thinned my tree pretty vigorously – leaving about 15 – 200 single fruit. I probably removed 400 – 500 small fruit from bunches. It’s looks pretty good and hopefully all the fruit left will grow well.

[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?

[charles]

Yes they grew and grow large Paul, the tree is on M25 and in good, weed free soil which helps too. Its the largest apple I grow.
Sometimes I collect the thinnings, sometimes not, I don’t think it matters.

[Paul Clarke]

That is useful to know, thanks. Sorry not to reply sooner. I will see if I can find out what M our tree is on.

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