This may be helpful.

http://homeorchard.ucdavis.edu/

Thanks tgary for the link. Lots of good info! :)

Sandra

I am confused....along with your fruit trees.....

I know California is on a separate planet but it seems weird to me to think anything is blossoming....even there in Southern Cal. Here is what a Mr. Bob Hartmann said in response to a question about a William's Pride apple blossoming now in Seattle:

"I have had apple trees flower and fruit after summer pruning many times. In fact I have a Liberty tree in my espalier that has flower buds starting to open up right now. Go ahead and prune off the apple clusters so the tree doesnâÂÂt spend any more energy into putting out fruit that wonâÂÂt ripen. DonâÂÂt cut off the spur itself just the fruit. Of course at this time of the year it probably wonâÂÂt make any difference since they are about ready to go dormant now. That fruit bud wonâÂÂt flower next spring but it wonâÂÂt keep the other buds from flowering."

In other words, if I understand the situation, you do NOT want your tree flowering right now but could blossom or fruit thin now to save the energy for 2011 when the tree could blossom and produce more effectively.....and of course, do NOT cut off the spurs.

Other opinions/views/knowledge welcome.

Sandra,
The Cooperative Extension service is a nationwide educational network with the local (county), state and federal governments working with the land grant universities. Most of their information is unbiased and research based so it is always a good place to start accumulating some knowledge especially as it pertains to your local conditions.

I'm a relatively new member to the GardenWeb. There is a wealth of information here from some very experienced growers. I think that this Fruit Forum is an excellant place to get information concerning varities and information for specific problems such as pest control,etc.

A couple of years ago I stopped and talked to an elderly (75 year old) that has an apple orchard (200 plus) trees about what products he used for spraying. He recommended Immidan 70% WP for insects and Rally 40 WP for a fungicide.
I have had good results with both. If I had known about this Fruit Forum years ago the good people here would have saved me hundreds of dollars that I wasted buying Fruit Tree Spray manufactured by Bonide. Inform yourself as to when to use copper, lime/sulphur and horticultural oil if you decide you will have to have some sort of spray program in order to harvest some useable fruit.

You might call(or better yet, stop by if you have the time) your county extension if you have concerns about your trees blooming out of season. Hope your efforts are fruitful.

Gary

Yes, apples need to be thinned.

You will get small apples if you don't thin, but worse, trees that aren't thinned sometimes skip the crop the next year and only fruit every other year.

"Indian summer" is at full speed right now and will continue probably through November. It was 100 degrees today and I'm about a mile from the coast. Crazy!

I will add a personal trip to the local extension office as I have lots of questions. :)

Thanks everyone for your inputs.

Sandra

Don't worry about the apples that are blossoming now; they won't get much bigger than marbles and then will dry up and fall off. It will not affect fruiting in the spring nor hurt the tree. Enjoy the free show.

Applenut

Thank you Applenut. I was hoping that some would actually develop into apples but, oh well... :)

Sandra