At this time of year, we still get the occasional question about a fruiting tree or shrub. Often, the question goes something like this:
“I’ve had this plant for [x number of years] and it has never produced any fruit at all. What am I doing wrong?”
If it is planted in a poorly-suited location or incorrectly pruned, it’s possible that a fruit tree won’t reliably produce any fruit. As well, late frosts can damage their flowers and reduce the amount of fruit they produce significantly.
A lot of the time however, it comes down to pollination. Many fruiting trees and shrubs are considered self-sterile. This means that they will not reliably produce fruit unless another compatible plant is planted nearby; furthermore, these plants often need bees or other beneficial pollinators to help ensure pollen makes it from the male to the female flowers. Plants that fall into this category include:
- Apples
- Blueberries
- Sweet Cherries (most types)
- Cranberries
- Elderberries
- Hardy Kiwi
- Haskap/Honeyberries
- Hazelnuts
- Paw Paws
- Pears
- Plums
- Quince
If you have just one of these types of plants and they aren’t producing anything (or very little), this could be the problem. You’ll need to find another compatible variety to plant nearby to ensure that cross-pollination occurs. At Van Luyk’s, we do our absolute best to ensure that all of our customers are equipped with the information they need to ensure successful fruit production. Give us a call or e-mail us and we’ll be happy to help troubleshoot your fruit tree issues.
If you’re looking into a fruit tree purchase, and you don’t want to fuss with cross-pollination, we offer plenty of nursery stock that is self-fertile, including:
- Apricots
- Sour Cherries
- Chokeberries
- Currants
- Hardy Figs
- Goji Berries
- Gooseberries
- Grapes
- Hops
- Horseradish (the roots are harvested)
- Mulberries
- Nectarines
- Peaches
- Raspberries
- Rhubarb (the stalks are harvested)
- Saskatoon Berries
- Strawberries
It is important to note that some of the above plants (like Gojis) will have higher yields if cross-pollination occurs, even though they will produce some fruit on their own.
A few other notes to keep in mind concerning fruit tree pollination:
- European and Japanese Plums are incompatible as pollinators. You need to make sure you pick two different European or two different Japanese plums.
- Sour cherries cannot pollinate sweet cherries and vice versa.
- We bring in a selection of 3, 4, and 5-in-1 fruit trees. These special trees have multiple grafted branches where each branch is a different type of the same fruit. This all but guarantees cross-pollination will successfully occur — a 4-in-1 apple could have Empire, Gala, Golden Delicious and Sweet Sixteen all on the same tree.
Most importantly, if you’re not sure what the needs of your fruiting plants are, contact our knowledgeable staff — we can help walk you through any difficulty you’re experiencing with them!
For more information on fruit and fruit trees, consult our Fruit and Fruit Trees Knowledge Base.