Last season's heavy crop was certainly one to remember, and with that comes the expectation of limited return bloom the next year. That's the case with the Sweet Sixteen and a few other varieties but on the whole there was decent bloom orchard-wide here in northern New Hampshire this spring. And the pollination weather was divine as witnessed by plenty of bumblebees and blue orchard bees leading the charge. Josh Karp across the river in Vermont reported "tons of honeybees" working the bloom in his trees. Nevertheless, there's very poor fruit set on a number of varieties in both orchards. Telling you that there's no need to thin is an understatement.
Which leads me to start this conversation about blossom strength and other nuanced factors that make a crop happen. The bloom period was relatively fast since it was rather warm. Josh wonders if, due to the heat, the pollen was viable for only a very short period of time (as phenology raced forward)...and the bees couldn't get to all the flowers in time. It's very unlikely either of us experienced bud damage during one of the spring freeze events as the trees didn't commit up this way until the proper time. It's almost like the trees put out a bunch of blossoms and then just changed their mind . . .
Nutrients come into play here. Still, a long history of soil investment coupled with the fact that this is the year I used the MicroPak formulation from Advancing Eco Agriculture (AEA) at pink, petal fall, and first cover makes me think those bases are covered. MicroPak contains boron, zinc, manganese, copper, cobalt, molybdenum, and sulfur in a form which can be readily absorbed by plants. This was applied with the holistic core recipe, which also includes nutrient support in the form of seaweed and fatty acids.
My thoughts fall more along the lines that this year's bloom was already tired out of the starting gate. Last year, with perfect conditions and the commitment of a bumper crop, these exceedingly healthy trees found enough energy for flower bud formation but not quite the full monty to carry through and become pollinated. This played out differently several years back when the return bloom after a heavy-cropping year came in "blossom clusters" with only one or two flowers per cluster (as opposed to the normal five). Questions must be asked. Was it the warm weather this season, as Josh thinks? Was it the abundance of last season and thus subdued energy this season? I don't know but would sure love to hear some speculation and insights from others about this blossom reversal!
Lost Nation OrchardZone 4b in New Hampshire