It's supposed to be a "bad year for apples" yet I have masses of fruitlets on my trees - how are yours looking?

[comfortmewithapples]

I'm in London, so it's possible our weather is different.

Would love to know whether other MNers' trees are looking worse or better for fruit this year. One of mine looks the best yet.

[loopsngeorge]

First year in our new house so not sure how the trees compare to last year but we have two with quite a lot of little apples on. But unfortunately one of them has suddenly come down with some kind of fungus that has made lots of the branches wilt and shrivel. Have cut off the affected ones and am going to try spraying it and hope for the best. Maybe it's been caused by all this rain....

[comfortmewithapples]

Oh, not sure what that fungus is, loops. Cutting off the affected ones solunds a good plan.

I'm glad yours have got a lot of little apples on, like mine.

I thought apple trees liked rain?

[Pancakeflipper]

nothing showing yet but ours tend to appear in August and fall on my head early September.

[comfortmewithapples]

The teeny ones fall on your head in June, usually, pancake. As part of the June drop. Go and stand under the tree now, see if anything happens.

[Grumpla]

Definitely not as good as last year here in East Anglia

By this time last year I had masses and masses of fruitlets, I had to thin them out they looked like grapes! Must have ended up with well over 15 buckets of fruit from my one (mature but not enormous!) tree.

This year there are about two piddly fruitlets on each branch in the place of last years ten! So I guess it will only be a couple of big crumbles and a few batches of chutney plus whatever we can eat. They are delicious apples but don't keep for more than about 5 minutes.

However my coddling moth monitoring trap thingy has only caught a couple of the buggers so hopefully that means fewer maggots this year.

[Pancakeflipper]

I am not going out now Comfort, the bats might get me.

[comfortmewithapples]

Oh, sorry to hear that, Grumpla. Not good in East Anglia, then.

Any other reports?

(OK, Pancake, I'll let you off for tonight. )

[Ohyoubadbadkitten]

Dds tree has two teeny apples only :( last year there was loads. In southern England.

[ItWasThePenguins]

Have little bits growing. We had loads last year, but moved in in august, so not sure how it looked this time of year.

[comfortmewithapples]

Oh, interesting. I wonder if my trees are more the exception than the rule? Or if London is different?

[GnomeDePlume]

East Midlands. We have a few apples on our trees - not many though.

Peach trees are looking good (so far)

Plum trees - I have 2 plums

The orchard I planted last year has no fruit whatsoever (I live in perpetual hope!).

So....

This year I are be mostly making peach jelly (if I'm lucky)

[comfortmewithapples]

I got leaf curl on my little peach tree and it died. It's supposed to be a great year for plums!

[Grumpla]

Plums eh? I know a good spot for wild plums. Maybe that will compensate!

[GnomeDePlume]

Do tell Grumpla!

I have precisely 2 plums!

I have two trees!

[comfortmewithapples]

I used to have a plum tree but the wasps got all the plums before I did. Then the tree rotted and became dangerous, so it was chopped down.

I have cherries hanging over from next door, but never know when they're ripe enough to eat.

[hellyd]

a bad fruit year here too (staffordshire)
Apple tree doesn't appear to have fruited at all
plum tree flowered like mad but during the really cold spell in april so has set virtually no fruit
and the pear hasn't flowered either but i only planted it this spring so i'll let it off
strawberrys are doing well though!

[comfortmewithapples]

It looks pretty bad for apples and pears round the country, then.

I do wonder if London apple and pear trees have fared better - or is it just mine that are fruiting like mad?