How to Easily Thin Apple, Pear, Peach, Plum, and Apricot Trees for BIG FRUIT! | Fruit Thinning 101

[@TheBusyGardener]

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[@Free_Falastin2024]

I've got my first coffee cherry after waiting 2.5 years from seed, and you better believe I'm not thinning one down to zero :D

[@seentheoutsidecurtain]

the video editing at 4:28 with the math joke was bloody EPIC mate. well done

[@TheBusyGardener]

That was such a crackup! My illustrious editor Evan knocked it out of the park with that. So good! 😂

[@Mrsquintero1]

Super helpful video! Thanks, Cameron!

[@TheBusyGardener]

You bet, Shelby! 🤗

[@AJsGreenThumbLLC]

OMG thank you so much for doing this video!! I was preparing to do a similar video and didn't want to throw a "word soup" to my viewers. It is so nerve-racking thinning fruit because it seems wasteful but I totally understand the benefit behind it. Thanks again and have a great day~

[@TheBusyGardener]

Thinning fruit (2nd only to thinning) is so tough for a beginner to do. I'll admit, it's hard for me to look down and see all that fruit on the ground!

[@TreasureFiend]

Awesome video with lots of great information, thank you so much for sharing.

[@TheBusyGardener]

+TreasureFiend Thanks for watching!

[@Yu3Yan24]

I really appreciate the visual walk through of what to look for and how to thin, thank you!

[@TheBusyGardener]

It's a tough thing to try, so glad I could help 🙌

[@michaelhardcorn4166]

First year to have peaches and apples. Trees are 4-6 yrs old so thinned a hand-width apart. Will see how it turns out! Can’t wait!

[@TheBusyGardener]

Nice work!!

[@angelbear_og]

I've watched David the Good prune newly planted fruit trees. Nothing frightens me anymore! 😁

[@TheBusyGardener]

Prune like you mean it, right? 😜

[@angelbear_og]

@@TheBusyGardener 😂

[@JoLuffiroSauce]

Wow! all the trees look so happy!! how old is all your trees? around what year do they start producing?

[@TheBusyGardener]

Most trees in the ground about 6 years. Production depends on the tree. My stone fruit we're producing in the first couple years while apples took longer

[@xunedenezelbor]

Thank you for the video, I'll apply your advices when my trees will be older (they've been planted this year and I have only ONE apple actually (because of late frost on the blooms). Next year I wish to plant lots for fruit trees in the back of the garden.

[@TheBusyGardener]

Looking forward to hearing more! Enjoy that apple when it's ready 😋

[@dianemcdaniel3233]

Funny and very informative, thanks! Any idea if I should use this method on citrus or subtropical fruits?

[@TheBusyGardener]

Hi Diane! Citrus and subtropicals generally thin themselves :). Another reason why I think they're so easy

[@TheBusyGardener]

To clarify, if you're experiencing (or in danger of) limb breakage, then remove some fruit or support the branch. But proactively removing fruit isn't necessary

[@PatsyRay1992]

First year that my tree was loaded with peaches. Came home from a short vacation to find my limbs laying on the ground. No breaks thankfully. Found your video - went out and thinned the fruit. It did feel like a waste but I also didn’t want my tree to get damaged. The limbs are still hanging low so I’ve supported them. Hopefully I intervened in time. Thanks for the info!!

[@TheBusyGardener]

You bet! It's so tough to do, but broken limbs set your tree back so much worse

[@tajkhan8613]

Very informative video 😊

[@TheBusyGardener]

Thanks for watching! 😊

[@silviuvarzaru9664]

Golden Delicious, second year now of growth, loads of flowers and then heavy fruit set. Thinned 90% and still got few on each branch to be able to push vegetative growth for next year. Fruit should not be in focus for first 3 years of tree life. It's also relaxing to thin.

[@TheBusyGardener]

Yes, yes, yes!

[@ToxicMasculinityClub]

Great video! I am a complete newbie, so please forgive me if this is a stupid question. But why not remove excess flowers before they even turn to fruit 🤔

[@sociopathmercenary]

Can you just pick off the blossoms or should you wait for fruiting?

[@TheBusyGardener]

Picking the blossoms off will also reduce the amount of fruit, but I stink strongly prefer waiting till Fruit is set. Then you can see which flowers actually set fruit, and can leave the larger fruit.

[@miketaylor3408]

My state extension office says every 4-6 inches in all directions, not just on each branch. Roughly your thumb to pinky while making the hang loose hand sign. I still have to prop up the branches. I thin much smaller on stone fruit than what’s in this video. They come off easier. I would never leave more than 1 per cluster of apple. And I usually have to thin a second time. I’ve never over thinned the first time in 12 years of growing. Thinning is the most annoying thing about growing fruit. Ten trees times 200-300 thinned fruits is 2000-3000 pulls or snips.

[@TheBusyGardener]

Yes! The thinning should have happened sooner/smaller for me but like often happens, I get delayed waiting to shoot it. It's hard to over thin!

[@rotcod2886]

I've never heard to keep more than one per cluster as well.

[@otakelblanchemanor0659]

Just learned some valuable information! Wish I had known it years ago for my pear tree...which is no longer with us. One of the many casualties of Hurricane Florence. But lost many a branch just from the sheer magnitude of fruit it produced ... And now that I think of it, she only fruited every other year. Thanks for all your videos on fruit trees. You have given me a the knowledge to start planting!

[@TheBusyGardener]

Weather wiping out trees is the worst! Thanks for watching

[@marcuspowell2510]

I had just thinned my apple tree for the first time. Looks like I did a pretty good job but saw some great tips for next time. Thanks!

[@TheBusyGardener]

Nice work Marcus!

[@leilanivevang9601]

Great informative !

[@timothycotta511]

It is always so hard to see the hundreds of thinned fruits in a bucket! Definitely worth thinning to get bigger fruit. I have a friend that just can’t do it, one day I’ll convince her.

[@TheBusyGardener]

It's so tough. Just like pruning. But her trees will thank her!

[@albongardens3199]

Great informative video!

[@TheBusyGardener]

Thanks!

[@troygoertz7393]

A little off topic but how do you protect the fruit from the birds? I for the life of me can’t keep them away.

[@TheBusyGardener]

Troy, did you see my bird video just posted??

[@russianlinguistinUK]

so helpful, thank you very much!

[@mariadelvalle8570]

Can I apply this to thinning my pomegranate tree?

[@TheBusyGardener]

Nope! Pomegranates generally don't need thinning to produce great fruit. They will (like citrus) self-thin as needed. 😃

[@loriarnold9011]

My apple trees are huge and it’s so difficult to get to it all. I’ve had to thin 2-3 times to get big apples.

[@TheBusyGardener]

Yeah, tall trees make that task so tough!

[@kathypaolucci6008]

This is our first year where our apple tree got apples. Branches are loaded with apples. How do I cut back?

[@TheBusyGardener]

Congrats! I'd thin the fruit nearest the ends of the branches, and that's where I'd focus my cuts too. Broken branches will ruin all future fruiting that the broken branch would have given.

[@pattyclarkson3]

Thank you!

[@TheBusyGardener]

👍

[@benjaminbroudy2982]

just the other day we started picking apricots from our first apricot tree that was just planted in January. these are the first fruits, and it is just awesome having homegrown apricots! Also, one tree we also planted at the beginning of this year is double delight nectarine!! any other tips on double delights? thanks for the great content!!

[@TheBusyGardener]

Awesome! Enjoy the fruit of your labor! Double Delight should be treated just like every other stone fruit.

[@NoferTrunions]

Old apple tree lost 75% of its canopy and I want to remove all fruit ASAP so most energy used for regrowth. Fruit are now about 1/2" and they DO NOT want to pull off. Entire blossoms will pull off but not sure if that's ideal. Getting individual fruit off will have to break/cut the stems somewhere (root, mid-span, at fruit). I could let fruit get bigger where it will pull off nicely but I don't want that regrowth energy wasted. What do you think?

[@TheBusyGardener]

If you're going to thin fruit to save tree energy, do it ASAP! Cut the apple stems vs pulling, as pulling will damage the precious fruiting spurs. Good luck!

[@nuclearscarab]

Another reason thinning is necessary is that fruit trees are bred to produce abundantly to increase the chances of a good fruit set, with the expectation that growers will thin excess fruit themselves.

[@TheBusyGardener]

Good point!

[@mattheffron391]

The way I was taught in CRFG was to remember the "handy rule of thumb": When the fruit is the size of your thumb, thin one fruit to the spacing about the length of your hand. (Width if you have large hands! 😉 )

[@margaretmarshall3645]

What does “the size of your thumb” mean? The width of your thumb?

[@charlenehoyer4724]

Never done it before. Lots of small apples

[@brianhay4024]

The length of this video could have been cut by two thirds.

[@TheBusyGardener]

Probably even more! 😂 That said, a drawn out pace is what some viewers are looking for. My IG is great for very compact videos

[@applehair995]

I wish the fruits picked out taste good enough to feed to animals like bears, monkeys, birds

[@TheBusyGardener]

I know. My chickens haven't been that impressed

[@Free_Falastin2024]

LOL Cam, you're the first Persian I've seen that can't do math on the spot.

[@TheBusyGardener]

Don't tell my dad... 😂

[@Mrbfgray]

Biggest time input on my peaches has been thinning by 80% plus...I need better ways. This vid doesn't help me, farmers carefully shake the trees. My larger peaches take maybe 4 hrs each to thin on at a time, unacceptable.

[@Kohanuitohu]

come on mate just tell us the technique not the BS

[@TheBusyGardener]

Should I make a TDLW version?

[@jillluce1851]

Thanks!

[@TheBusyGardener]

You bet! Thanks for the Super thanks!