4 fruit trees-no fruit

[HGrep]

Hi everyone,

This Spring I bought a peach, cherry & apricot tree & a Chester thornless blackberry. They were all leafy & healthy looking & the peach tree was starting to fruit. I planted all in the ground & amended the soil & all get ~6 hours of sun. I believe I am watering correctly.

The peach tree has some fruit (1 peach per branch) but their growth seems to have been stunted & they remain small & green.
The cherry & apricot have no fruit at all. Leaves got a little browned on the edges recently but it was extremely hot for a few days. Before this the leaves on both looked good. (The cherry tree has one major branch straight up about 15 feet with small branches as well, if that means anything. I always felt it looks a little odd-but don't know if that matters.)
The blackberry has one cane about 3 feet and a few shorter canes. Only one of the shorter canes bore fruit but they, like the peaches, are stunted & remain green. No flowers anywhere else.
The fig tree looks great but it remains to be seen if the figs will ripen.
The only thing I can think is the original soil is very sandy and maybe the roots aren't growing through past where the soil has been amended. But I am new to this, so unsure if this is a possible issue. Otherwise, I just cant figure out what is wrong. I would prefer not to move them but, if so, I really don't want to make a second mistake. Any ideas? I appreciate any help. I really thought I would be eating some great fruit this year, but alas, I just bought a bunch of apricots from the local supermarket

[applestar]

Most likely you just have to be patient.

Only tree that could have a problem I think is the Cherry since cherries often need a 2nd different tree as cross pollinator. What variety is it?

This spring was late for many of us and there could have been a late frost that blasted the blossoms too.

I think for the most part, they all just need to set down roots and get established. Blackberry generally fruit on side branches that grow from previous year's canes, so all the new canes that are growing this year should bear fruits next summer (and you'll see many more new canes grow next year, too).

Concentrate on keeping them watered this year -- don't let them get drought stressed -- and keep them mulched past the drip line. Water deeply once a week rather than a little bit every day which may not be soaking down to where the roots are.

[ReptileAddiction]

I agree with apple star. You just need to be patient. I even recommend to all of my customers that they pull off any fruit the trees try to produce the first year. If you do this then the trees will get established a lot faster and come next year you will get much more fruit.

[HGrep]

Thanks you guys. I really wasn't sure what was going on. The cherry tree is supposed to be self pollinating ( I forgot the name at the moment-it is a white cherry). Hopefully next year we'll get some good produce. I appreciate the advice.

[mattie g]

This spring was late for many of us and there could have been a late frost that blasted the blossoms too.

I think this was the issue I had with my peach and plum this year. I had tons of blossoms on both, but only ended up with a few plums and probably a dozen peaches...and each of those has either dropped, died off, or otherwise disappeared. We had a cold snap well after the trees blossomed, and my guess is that that cold really zapped them.

[DDMcKenna]

I'm pretty sure this doesn't apply to your situation but we have had a tangerine tree for over fifteen years and we bought a lemon tree five years ago. Sandy soil like you'd expect in Florida so when we bought the lemon tree, my wife bought some kind of tree fertilizer for the both of them.

The tangerine tree produced hundreds of tangerines every year until we fertilized it. Then, for two years, it had bright green leaves but no blossoms. I don't know if that had anything to do with it but for the prior ten years, we never did anything at all for the tree. So we quit doing anything for it and finally last year, it had maybe a hundred tangerines and the lemon tree finally produced a dozen lemons.

The one exception is winter. This last year, I didn't have to do it but on prior years, when the temps would fall below freezing at night, I strung those small Christmas lights, (the tiny ones that were popular before LED lights), in the tree and put a sheet over it to block the wind. I think most important was wrapping the trunk of the tree to keep it from freezing. Other than that, it gets watered twice a week by the sprinklers watering the grass and that's it. I got the feeling the fertilizer somehow made it too healthy or did something to prevent it from going through some natural cycle but I really don't know why it did what it did for sure.

[ElizabethB]

HGrep - you do not want the trees expending energy on fruit production the first year. All of the plant's energy needs to go to the production of an extensive root system. Where did you purchase your trees and are they suitable for your region? Fruit tree varieties are EXTREMELY region specific.

If you post the varieties I will be happy to do some research for you.

Good luck

[ReptileAddiction]

DD- It sounds like the trees got to much nitrogen. Do you know what the percentage of nitrogen in the fertilizer was (the first number). With fruit trees it should be the lowest number.