...i had pruned several apple trees at late dormant season because they were overgrown with a huge amount of water shoots.
...i knew that pruning at that time would stimulate more growth; but i wanted to stimulate fruit growth.
...so the result is a lot of fruit; and a lot of new water shoots.
javascript:emoticon(':?:')...so, my question is: should i prune much of these shoots now while the fruit is green and growing; or wait til july, when pruning them off will not stimulate new growth.
...i know that it's best for the fruit to have exposure to sunlight; but the way it is now is that the fruit is mostly shaded by the water shoots.
...but my conundrum is also knowing that all the leaves of the shoots are bringing energy to the tree and fruit.
...so i am reluctant to prune away all these energy producing shoots.
...i put pictures up on photobucket so you can get a good visual of what the situation is.
...here's the link:
[url]https://s694.photobucket.com/albums/vv304/jkavana/recent%20garden%20pics/?action=view¤t=P1010131_resize.jpg[/url]
...thanks in advance for good advice. javascript:emoticon('