Managing crop load on young Envy plantings

2017 | Prepared by Sophie Folder (Pear Consulting), Nigel Bartels (Serve-Ag) and Ryan Hankin (Hansen Orchards) | Future Orchards® Tasmania trial report

This Future Orchards® trial investigated how crop load affects growth in young Envy™ apple trees in Tasmania. The work was carried out at Hansen Orchards in Grove, Huon Valley, on a second-leaf planting established in 2015.

The original treatment plan ranged from no fruit through increasing fruit numbers per unit of trunk cross-sectional area (TCA). Variable flowering and poor fruit set meant the planned treatments could not be imposed exactly at hand thinning, so the team assessed naturally occurring crop loads on 40 trees. Trees were grouped at approximately 0, 2, 4 and 6 fruit per cm² TCA, and measurements included TCA, crop load, central-leader growth and lateral-limb development.

The trial was designed around a key establishment question: how much fruit can a second-leaf Envy tree carry without compromising canopy development and future orchard performance? The report gives growers a useful framework for balancing early production against the need to fill canopy space quickly in young high-value plantings.