Apples Fall From The Apple Tree Before Ripening: Why Do They Fall From The Tree Unripe? What If The Apple Tree Sheds The Fruit Before It Ripens?

2024 Author: Beatrice Philips | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-18 12:09

Many gardeners who grow apple trees on their site note that fruits from the tree sometimes fall too early. Very often this is due to improper care or illness. You can cope with this problem. The main thing is to determine what is the cause of this phenomenon.

Common Causes

There are several main reasons why fruits fall from a young tree before ripening

• Too frequent or infrequent watering . If the tree seems healthy, but the apples are crumbling from it, you need to pay attention to the peculiarities of caring for the plant. The most common cause of falling apples is a lack or excess of moisture in the soil.
• Lack of fertilizer . If the plant lacks some kind of dressing, its leaves begin to turn yellow, and the fruits dry up and fall off. Therefore, it is necessary to apply suitable fertilizers to the soil in a timely manner.
• High soil acidity . For an apple tree to thrive, it must grow in normal soil. If the soil is acidified for any reason, bacteria will multiply in it. In addition, the plant will feel worse.
• Influence of pests . There are many insects that can harm an apple tree. If the fruits fall from the tree too early, this may mean that a moth or aphid lives in the garden. If you do not get rid of these insects in time, they can ruin the entire crop.

If the fruits from the tree have fallen for more than a year in a row, then the plant is already too old. In this case, you should simply remove it from the site and replace it with a young one.

What should I do?

Having discovered an existing problem, you need to immediately start solving it.

Top dressing

To keep the apples from falling prematurely, the tree needs to be fed regularly. This must be done correctly. Top dressing must be applied to the entire trunk circle . To do this, several small grooves are pulled out around the tree. Fertilizer is poured into them. If the apple tree drops unripe fruits on the ground, it needs to be fed with a mixture of superphosphate and potassium. Granular fertilizers are usually dissolved in a container of warm liquid. The resulting solution is poured over the tree.

Besides, dry mineral fertilizers can be scattered directly around the trunk . After that, the soil must be carefully loosened, and then watered with warm water. Both methods work very well.

If the soil on the site is poor, you have to make additional fertilizing more often. Only in this case will the plant have enough nutrients for normal development and fruiting.

Pest control

If the apples fall off the tree unripe, there is a chance that the plant has been infested with a moth. This pest is very dangerous. It multiplies very quickly. Therefore, we must actively fight it. Having found these insects on the crown of a tree, the gardener should devote time to the following procedures.

• Cleansing the trunk circle . From the site you need to remove all fallen leaves, as well as broken branches. Further, this area must be disinfected. Infected leaves and branches must be burned or removed far outside the site.
• Treatment of wood with insecticides . You need to spray not only the crown, but also the bark. After all, caterpillars often hide under it. It is recommended to treat trees with special preparations either in the early morning or after sunset. Fruit growing on the selected tree should not be eaten for several weeks after spraying.
• Using special traps . This method of pest control is safer. After all, the fruits in this case remain intact. Such traps need to be fixed on the tree trunk as securely as possible. There should be no free space under them. Only in this case the insect will definitely fall into the trap. Trapping belts are usually attached at a height of one meter. Once a week, they are invariably examined, cleaned and, if necessary, changed.

Having solved the problem with the moth, you need to thoroughly clean the area, and also cut off the bark from the affected tree . In this case, there will be no risk of re-infection of the site with pests. In order not to waste time fighting insects, it is best to plant plants on the site that are resistant to the attacks of these pests. To prevent insects from attacking apple trees in summer, marigolds or dill can be planted next to the trees. In the near-stem circle, some varieties of tomatoes also develop well.

As a preventive measure, after harvesting, the site can be sprayed with a solution of copper sulfate or Bordeaux liquid.

Other ways to solve the problem

There are many ways to solve the problem of fallen apples

• Watering . Very often, the apple tree sheds its fruits even before they ripen due to the fact that the soil on which it grows is too dry or wet. As a rule, apple trees are fully watered only three times a year. The first time they do this even before they bloom. The second time the trees are watered after the formation of ovaries; the third time - before the onset of frost. The rest of the time, apple trees have enough moisture, which gets into the soil with rain. It is very important to water properly. Water cannot be poured directly under the root. This must be done carefully. The liquid should be absorbed immediately into the soil and not remain on the ground.
• Pruning trees . Very often apples fall from the tree, not ripe, due to the fact that the apple tree is too old. In order for it to develop better, you need to cut off excess shoots from it in time. Broken branches are removed by gardeners first. Shoots that have not borne fruit for a long time are also cut off. Regular thinning of the crown in spring and autumn also helps to achieve the best harvest. This is important not only for old trees, but also for young ones. If you do not cut the apple trees on time, the fruit will not only fall from the tree earlier, but also become smaller.
• Frost protection . Sometimes apples fall early from trees due to severe winter frosts. In this case, the fruits fall green. To avoid this, it is recommended to plant proven winter-hardy plants on the site. This is especially true for cold regions. Weak trees can be additionally treated with boric acid solution. To do this, 2 grams of the product are usually diluted in 10 liters of water. Watering trees with this solution is recommended in the fall. The same product should be used even if unpredictable frosts often occur in the region in spring.
• Deacidification of the soil . The problem with too high acidity of the soil is quite simple to solve. For this, you can use dolomite flour or slaked lime. Thoroughly milled eggshells also help in deoxidation. All these substances are applied to the soil in dry form. After that, the earth is carefully dug up and watered with warm water.
• Whitewashing of trunks . This procedure helps to solve several problems at once. Thanks to the whitewash, the bark on the trunk does not crack. In addition, the tree is not afraid of bright sunlight and frost. Timely whitewashing also saves the apple tree from pests that can hibernate under the bark. A solution with lime is used to treat the tree trunk. Whitewashing is carried out twice a year: in spring and autumn. This is always done after full cleaning of the site and cleaning the tree trunk from lichens.

In general, for plants to feel good, they need to provide comprehensive care.

Useful Tips

The advice of experts will help novice gardeners to solve problems with the harvest

• If apples fall from the tree in early June, don't worry about it . This is a natural way to get rid of excess fruit. The tree is simply trying to provide normal nutrition to the bulk of the fruit. Green fruits need to be picked on time so that they do not rot.
• Fallen fruits can be recycled . They make great cider, apple jam or puree. Only high-quality and undamaged apples can be used for the preparation of treats and drinks.
• If the summer is hot and it rains very rarely, it is recommended to mulch the soil around the apple tree . In this case, moisture in the ground will remain. It is worth remembering that there should be a small distance between the mulch and the tree trunk.
• Although it is recommended to regularly feed the trees, it is also not worth getting too carried away with fertilizers . Especially carefully you need to use products with nitrogen. They lead to the rapid growth of young shoots, as well as greenery. Because of this, the fruits get less nutrients, and they eventually fall to the ground.
• In order for the plants to ripen well and not fall from the trees, beneficial insects should be attracted to the site . This is very easy to do. It is enough to plant garden or wildflowers near the tree. Marigolds, daisies and bells grow well next to the apple tree.

Preventing unripe apples from falling off the tree is quite simple. The main thing is not to ignore the problem and pay sufficient attention to caring for the apple tree.