Dealing with a Glut of Apples

An apple tree does not crop little and often like a courgette or runner bean. Most of a mature tree's crop sets in the same few weeks of blossom and becomes ready within the same narrow window in autumn, so a heavy crop arrives almost all at once. Thin the crop straight after June dropA tree's natural shedding of some immature fruit in early summer, thinning its own crop rather than a sign of a problem. Full definition →, grow varieties that ripen at different times, and have a plan for the surplus: eating early varieties soon, storing late ones, and freezing, cooking or sharing the rest.

The biennial bearing problem

A tree that carries a heavy crop one year has few resources left for flower buds, so the following year's blossom and crop are thin. Without a crop to support in the light year, the tree makes tremendous blossom the next, and the cycle repeats. It is most likely to start where a tree is starved or short of moisture and cannot carry a heavy crop, or when frost destroys the blossom one spring. Some varieties are naturally biennialA plant that completes its life cycle over two years: growth in year one, then flowering, seeding and dying in year two. Full definition →, including 'Blenheim Orange', 'Bramley's Seedling' and 'Laxton's Superb', though almost any apple or pear can fall into the pattern. Thinning lessens the demand on the tree so it can develop fruit buds for the following year. The biennial bearing page covers the bud- and flower-thinning options. For site choice and rootstockThe root system and lower stem a fruit tree is grafted onto, chosen to control the tree's eventual size rather than for its own fruit. Full definition → see the apple growing guide.

June drop, then thinning

Apples, pears, plums and cherries naturally shed some immature fruit in early summer. The fruitlets fall over a short period, which can look alarming but usually leaves a good crop on the tree. Planned thinning is done straight after June drop, and should be finished by mid-July (RHS). Spring comes later in much of Scotland, so judge by when the June drop finishes and how crowded the clusters are rather than by the calendar. Experienced growers thin earlier for the greatest gain in fruit size, but if you are less experienced, wait until June drop has finished.

A good crop usually remains after June drop, but if fruit is still crowded in clusters, thin it. Cooking apples are thinned harder than dessert apples to obtain larger fruits, to one fruit every 15 to 23cm. Dessert apples can be thinned less severely, to one or two fruits every 10 to 15cm. Leave one fruit per cluster, the strongest and best shaped, and remove misshapen, blemished or poorly positioned fruit along with the king fruit at the centre of the cluster, which is sometimes abnormally shaped. Use secateurs, long scissors or a firm tug between thumb and forefinger. Thinning also improves fruit size and quality and lessens the risk of branches breaking under a heavy crop.

Spreading one glut into several

Because a tree's crop becomes ready in one narrow window, the way to avoid a single overwhelming picking day is to have more than one window across the garden. Varieties differ in harvest time and storage potential.

*Varieties in the same or a neighbouring pollination group flower together and can pollinate each other, so you need a compatible tree nearby, and trees should not go where late frosts collect (RHS). Apart from Egremont Russet, which is partly self-fertile, none of these is self-fertile. Edward VII flowers very late, so it escapes frosts but needs a late-flowering partner, such as a crab apple. James Grieve was raised in Scotland. Emneth Early gives heavy crops, often every other year, so thin it. The best apple varieties for Scotland has the full comparison.

Picking and keeping

To pick an apple, cup it in your hand, lift gently and give a slight twist. A ripe apple comes away easily with its stalk; one that resists needs longer. Pick what is ready over a few visits rather than clearing a branch in one go. Early-season apples are bred to be eaten soon after picking and will not keep past a couple of weeks even when handled well, and only later-maturing varieties keep into winter.: see storing apples and pears for winter.

Windfalls and surplus fruit

Brown rot spreads in fruit from wounds, especially those made by birds, codling moth and scab, and affected fruit either falls or hangs on the tree mummified. Remove rotten and infected fruit promptly and dispose of it carefully, and net the tree if birds are a problem. Windfalls that are bruised or split will not keep: use them first. Clear fallen fruit promptly, because it tends to draw wasps and gives rot and overwinteringKeeping a plant alive and intact through the cold months, whether left outdoors, moved under cover, or stored dormant. Full definition → pests a way in.

To freeze apples, choose full-flavoured, crisp, firm fruit, then peel, core and slice it. A syrup pack in cold 40 per cent syrup suits uncooked desserts, with 1/2 teaspoon (1,500mg) of ascorbic acid per quart (about a litre) of syrup to prevent browning, and a sugar or dry pack suits pies. Treated slices can be frozen on a tray first and then packed into containers. For a preserve that uses a good weight of fruit, try apple chutney. Sound fruit you cannot use is worth passing to neighbours or a local community larder.

Common questions

Sources