Fruit Trees & Orchard
Chill hours, pruning timing and fruiting problems, tuned to your region.
Fruit trees run on completely different logic to annual veg. The two things that catch people out most are chill hours (will a variety even fruit where you live) and pruning timing. Pick your region.
Chill hours: will it fruit here?
When to prune, by fruit type
Citrus care
Feed citrus twice a year, in late winter and again in late summer, with a complete citrus food, and water deeply in dry spells. Prune lightly after harvest in late winter to early spring, just to shape and open up the centre, removing no more than about a fifth of the canopy. Watch for citrus gall wasp (cut out lumpy galls before spring), leaf miner (silvery squiggles on new leaves) and scale.
Why won't my tree fruit?
The most common reasons, roughly in order:
- Too young. Many fruit trees take 3 to 5 years to bear. Patience first.
- Wrong chill for your region. A high-chill variety in a warm zone may never fruit. See the chill panel above.
- No pollination partner. Many apples, pears, plums and cherries need a second compatible variety nearby.
- Too much nitrogen. Lots of leafy growth and no fruit usually means over-feeding with high-nitrogen fertiliser.
- Bad weather at flowering. Cold, wet or very windy weather during bloom stops bees working and drops fruit set.
- Biennial bearing. Some trees (especially apples and citrus) crop heavily one year then rest the next. Thin fruit in the heavy year to even it out.
- Over-pruning. Cutting off the fruiting wood, or pruning at the wrong time, removes next season's crop.
- Fruit fly. Stung fruit drops early. See the Fruit Fly Tracker.
Chill figures are regional estimates to guide variety choice. Your own block can sit higher or lower depending on its microclimate.