Considerations to Meet Your Ideal Crop Load

Remember the three rules of thinning:

Your Market

It is important to understand your market to grow the best fruit possible.

Questions to Ask Yourself

• Who am I selling these apples to?
  • Packer, Pick-Your-Own, On-farm
• What size of apple does my customer want?
• Would a larger size be better economically for me?
  • Is volume more important or is size/quality?
  • What is the size to volume ratio that works for me?

Questions to Ask Your Packer

• What was my pack out last season?
  • What were my grade-outs?
  • What was the most common reason for these grade-outs?
    • Was it sizing? Were my apples too big or too small?
    • Was it quality? What were the issues seen in the apples?
• What are the specifics for each variety this season? What are you looking for?
  • What are your standards for colour?
  • Is there an optimal size for best pack out?
  • What is the maximum size?

Your Target

Tools to Meet Your Target

Simplifying your approach is the best way to get down to your target. For each block and each variety, you should determine how many apples per tree you want and share this information with your employees. Implementing all of the following pointers to get to your target crop load would aid with decision-making:

• Base your crop load on target size
  • See Table 1
• Calculating how many apples per branch/per distance
• Utilize additional practical tools for hand thinning
  • i.e. equilifruit disk, crop load calculator, young apple thinning gauge

Table 1. Effect of Fruit Size in Relation to Crop Load

Your Moment

Nibble Thinning

Nibble thinning at each moment possible. For additional information on nibble thinning please refer to the What the Crop?! Apple Update: May 17, 2024 – ONfruit.