Introduction
The best way to assess the optimum fruit set is to use at least three years historical cropping and grading information to calculate the average number of fruits per kilogram and from the yield data then calculate the average numbers of fruits per tree.
- By adding a number for fruit dropped at harvest (approximately 5%) the number of fruits left after thinning can be arrived at.
- In modern intensive orchards on M9 there is rarely a significant June drop but this will have to be taken into account on old or vigorous Cox orchards with a history of variable cropping.
- Thin to specified numbers of fruits per tree.
- Thin to specified numbers of fruits per flower cluster.