36 JANUARY 15, 2016 Good Fruit Grower www.goodfruit.com
B
looms on apple trees in
September? That's what
some growers in Michigan
reported last fall — an odd-
ity, but not a major cause
for alarm, according to Michigan State
University Extension fruit educator Mark
Longstroth. Nonetheless,
growers can curb the inap-
propriately timed apple
blossoms.
Longstroth estimated
that autumn apple bloom-
ing occurs about every four
to five years in Michigan,
and it also occasionally
happens on plums, cherries
and other trees. Scattered
reports came primarily
from apple growers in the
southern part of the state
last fall, although he did hear of fall bloom
on cherry trees, too.
Fall blooms cut back on the follow-
ing year's yield, Longstroth said, but it's
probably not significant for a couple
of reasons: First, only some buds on a
tree will bloom early. Second, growers
will thin fruit after this spring's bloom
anyway.
Blooms
in the
fAll?
Growers can
curb ill-timed
blooms caused
by weather
patterns.
by Leslie Mertz
Fall blooming removes these buds from the
following season's apple harvest. Typically,
however, it does not reduce overall yield
much, if at all, according to Michigan State
University Extension fruit educator Mark
Longstroth. This fall apple bloom appeared
at an actively growing shoot tip, a highly
irregular location.
