Owner's comments
Plot 7
This tree must be a hardy tree considering the rough time it has had in the wind blown location it is in. I can't believe the bees managed to stay long enough in the blossom but they did. This poor tree nearly collapsed under the weight of the rapidly growing fruit it was bearing. I went away for a long weekend and returned to find almost all of it's branches pointing downwards and the trunk leaning to one side. I removed all of the fruit, nearly 40 apples over a period of two weeks to give it a chance to get used to the weight of the fruit and toughen up a bit. I don't know if selectively removing fruit near the tips to lessen the load will encourage a tree to develop stronger branches but this tree was going to snap if the fruit got any bigger. Three main branches were damaged but I supported them with canes and they seem to be healing. The tree also suffered mildew and bug attack and looks very shabby now. I will be very pleased if the tree survives through the winter to next year considering the damaged state that it is in.
