one apple tree biennial fruiting

[mrcharly]

Planted two apple trees march last year. A Stark on dwarf stock and a crab apple.

Both (for their size), produced surprising amounts of fruit last summer. About 10 apples of decent size from the stark (given it had 3 twig-like branches, that was surprising).
This summer, the crab apple is covered in fruit. The Stark has 3 very small apples.

Would have thought it was a late frosts killing the blossom but that wouldn't explain the crab apple fruiting so well.

Any ideas?

 

[bob_the_baker]

Some apples apple trees tend to be naturally bienneal. One of my favourite scrumping trees (some kind of feral cox) groans with hundreds of pounds of fruit one year and produces nothing at all the next and it is extremely consistent.
Frost can be a factor, as is the amount of rain during flowering, too much results on poor pollination, or amount of rain while forming the fruit, too little is the problem here.
To try and lessen the bienneal affect, deliberately pinch out some of the flowerbuds next year so that it does not crop so heavily.
In my experience crab apples tend to be hardier than their more cultivated cousins and less sensitive to things like British weather

 

[DanielCoffey]

You may also find they settle down as they get a bit older and the branches thicken up.

Oh, and the juxtapositioning of the two forum sigs above is hilarious!

 

[bob_the_baker]

Oh, and the juxtapositioning of the two forum sigs above is hilarious!

Lol. I see what you mean.