August 22 I drove buy my orchard and saw much fruit in my trees I planted for deer attractant. Did not have time to pick some and thought will be back in first week of September. Two weeks later, Sep2 I head over to orchard with picker and buckets ready to get my share. Round corner and have one of those WTH moments. Trees where 100% bare of fruit. First thought racoons where back but NO tree damage. I could tell deer where circling cages getting there fill and I was pis*ed. Set 11 DP from orchard to corn field ready for vengeance. Historically great locations for racoon harvest . To throw salt in the wounds, next day no traps had been messed with. My uncle was telling me that week of 100 degree weather caused his neighbor's apple tree to drop its fruit. Any of you notice apple drop from heat?
What happened to my apples?
- Thread starter BC Buck
- Start date
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
Our camp location hasn't had the heat some parts of the country have had, so no real apple drop from heat, thank God.
Birds and squirrels. I had a Macintosh that was going to have its first crop this fall. Not huge, maybe 3 dozen fruit. Went up to camp 2 weeks ago and they were all gone off that tree and several other varieties. No sign of coon damage. Then I noticed 3 blue jays flying around. Pretty certain they picked them clean.
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
Hornets and yellow jackets seem to gnaw into a fair amount of our apples and crabs. Birds will peck at them too - just enough to spoil them.
hunts_with_stick
5 year old buck +
How old are the trees? How do orchards keep the? Sheer volume of trees?
bigboreblr
5 year old buck +
Trees can drop apples early. heat stress can cause it, also too many apples growing on a tree can be an issue too at times.
Set a reminder on your phone to put up trail cameras.
Far as racoon traps go, someone on here said if the weather is too hot, the ants get to the mrshmallows in the hand grip traps. Once the ants are over them, the racoons avoid them. Might need to wait around fall early winter for payback. Squirrels are a orchard pest. Back in the early 2000's I got paid to shoot squirrels at an apple orchard. Got padi $25 a squirrel. I would come back with 40-50 of them in one day and just told them to pay me half price. They let me deer hunt there for free after picking season was over.
Make nice spots for hawks to perch in your orchard or foodplot. They take out squirrels and voles. I get a few trail cam pics of hawks with a vole or squirrels last 3 years since I put up a perch and trimmerd2 trees for a nice perch at the field edge.
Set a reminder on your phone to put up trail cameras.
Far as racoon traps go, someone on here said if the weather is too hot, the ants get to the mrshmallows in the hand grip traps. Once the ants are over them, the racoons avoid them. Might need to wait around fall early winter for payback. Squirrels are a orchard pest. Back in the early 2000's I got paid to shoot squirrels at an apple orchard. Got padi $25 a squirrel. I would come back with 40-50 of them in one day and just told them to pay me half price. They let me deer hunt there for free after picking season was over.
Make nice spots for hawks to perch in your orchard or foodplot. They take out squirrels and voles. I get a few trail cam pics of hawks with a vole or squirrels last 3 years since I put up a perch and trimmerd2 trees for a nice perch at the field edge.
hunts_with_stick
5 year old buck +
I use dry cat food as bait in the traps, works well
b116757
5 year old buck +
My McIntosh normally drops its fruit pretty quickly compared to many of my other trees and was likely done in a couple maybe three week period this year. My Liberty, Red Delicious and Enterprize are dropping apples here and there like they normally do. I’m not really a fan of red delicious apples but it’s one of my better deer trees CAR resistant and productive. I’d even plant a couple more of them on M111 or full size root stock.
bigboreblr
5 year old buck +
September is the drop time for many apple trees.
What varieties do you have? MY mess of 40 or so young trees at home have ripe times from late july to well into winter. LAte trees I have are sundance, galarina, all winter hangover, violi's, winter wildlife, A bit sooner ones are macun, enterprise, arkasas black, and franklin cder.
My trees are in zone 5/6 NY. Where are your trees? Some places in the US can vary by over a month with ripe / drop times. Alot of what a tree knows what to do is driven by soil temeprature. Areas more shaded, have more water table, or have shallow subsoil bases can affect times too.
What varieties do you have? MY mess of 40 or so young trees at home have ripe times from late july to well into winter. LAte trees I have are sundance, galarina, all winter hangover, violi's, winter wildlife, A bit sooner ones are macun, enterprise, arkasas black, and franklin cder.
My trees are in zone 5/6 NY. Where are your trees? Some places in the US can vary by over a month with ripe / drop times. Alot of what a tree knows what to do is driven by soil temeprature. Areas more shaded, have more water table, or have shallow subsoil bases can affect times too.
Most are Liberty and Enterprise and to drop 100% in two weeks would be something Iv never seen. My bet high temp and strong wind storm. Keefer's are still holding and trying to figure when need to pick to not have same results. Talking possibility of good rain Friday that might help them hold fruit.
BIGDHunting
Yearling... With promise
Glad I found this thread. Ours did the same thing. Oddly enough, at the same time as yours. One week they looked great and then on Aug 24th half the tree looked dead, and all the apples had fallen off. Same for the rest of our older apple trees yet, driving around the area there were still plenty of trees with apples still on them. Hoping it is nothing more than just the heat.
What area you see this. Did you get high winds also?
BIGDHunting
Yearling... With promise
This is zone 5b in NY. I don’t remember any high winds around that time.
