Why Your Apple Tree Doesn’t Produce Fruit: Problems and Solutions

It’s fall time, the perfect season for homemade apple pies and warm apple cider. However, you find yourself having a problem. Where are all your apples? You have an apple tree that has reached maturity and has produced fruit in the past, but where are they now? Don’t fret. This can happen to many trees and the solution is usually simple. There could be a couple of different reasons why your apple tree doesn’t have fruit. Here is a list of the most common problems and how you can fix them.

Frost Damage

Late frosts can kill apple tree blossoms. This is very unfortunate because it can be hard to know when a late frost might come. Blossoms that are killed by a late frost will not produce fruit that year. You’ll have to wait until next year to get anything. However, there are things you can do to prevent frost from killing your blossoms. Pay close attention to the weather so you know when a late frost is coming. Then prepare a way to keep your blossoms warm. You can use heaters, or covers to keep your tree nice and toasty.

Over Fertilization

Over fertilization will cause the tree to have a surplus of nutrients will actually inhibit fruit growth. Trees that are over fertilized will focus all of their energy on growing more wood instead of growing fruit. A lot of people think that they don’t fertilize their apple trees, but fertilizer that is applied to the grass around the tree will be absorbed. This can lead to over fertilization. Don’t apply any fertilizer within 5 feet of the tree. This will help the tree to concentrate on growing fruit instead of wood.

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Over or Under Pruning 

This could be the reason why your apple tree doesn’t have fruit. Good pruning is key to fruit production. There has to be a perfect balance. Too much pruning will over stimulate the tree causing it to create more wood and not enough fruit. Not enough pruning will cause the tree to become unruly and the branches to become too long. Find a balance right in the middle. The perfect pruning job will let the tree grow delicious fruit. 

Not Enough Water

This is a simple problem with a simple solution. An apple tree that does not receive enough water will not produce fruit. It does not have enough water to produce anything. Even if it does produce fruit, they will be small and sour. All you need to do is make sure that you’re giving your apple tree enough water to produce fruit. Be careful not to overwater. This should solve your problem.

Summing Up

There are lots of solutions that you can try if your apple tree isn’t producing fruit. Don’t give up, you can still make plenty of delicious things with all the apples you’re going to grow. Some problems might take a couple of years to fix, while others can be fixed the very next year. Just be patient and you’ll have the apples you’ve always wanted. 

Image Source: Pixabay