[Sleepingpopman]

Morning everyone, hope somebody can shed some light on our problem.
We bought 3 patio fruit trees back in Oct' 2014 & we were told they were
2yr's old (green / red apple & a pear) in 2015 we had no green apples or
pears but we had about 5 big red apples at the base of the tree. This yr
both apple trees have been full of blossom followed by loads of fruit, (again
nothing on the pear but it looks very healthy) Our problem is that both
trees have started dropping some of the tiny fruits leaving the cherry sized
ones & some of the leaves on the green apple trees are turning yellow &
dropping off. After they had been in fruit for about 2 weeks I gave them a
feed of weak tom' feed as advised & they've had plenty of water thank's to
the recent weather.
We look forward to any help
Keith/Sharon 

[Trikidiki]

Don't worry about the shedding fruit. It is called the 'Spring Drop'. Top fruit trees do it to remove excess fruit that it decides it cannot support. Nothing to be worried about.

If there is plenty of fruit I would remove the 'King Fruit' from each cluster. It is the large one in the cluster and will take the lion's share of the nutrients. Better to leave two smaller similar sized fruits. Be quite ruthless with thinning the fruit, especially as you have young trees and in pots. Better to have a few decent fruit than lots of small ones that aren't any use. In the attached picture, the 'King Fruit' is the centre one, remove that and the two smaller fruits at the back leaving just the two evenly sized fruits at the front. By preference remove any blemished or distorted fruit first.

I'd continue with the feeding. The yellowing leaves may be a sign the tree is under stress from there being too much fruit. If you can also give it a dose of seaweed extract, either as a foliar feed or in the pot as there is a likelihood of a lack of trace elements in the soil.

If the pear is looking healthy, just be patient. Pears tend to be on more vigorous rootstocks and make take longer to reach maturity.

[Featherstone]

You mention you had fruit at the base of the tree. If you have shoots below the graft remove them.

[Yorkie]

What size pots are each tree in?

What compost are they in - multipurpose or soil based?

Have you fed them at all before the tomato fertiliser recently?

[Sleepingpopman]

Morning all.
Many thanks for the three replies to our question.
They are each in 18"x18" round plastic tubs planted originally
in multipurpose compost & topped up in early spring but I must
admit this recent feed has been the 1st we've given them.
Keith/Sharon

[Yorkie]

Part of the issue is that they will be hungry.  MP compost only has enough nutrients for about 6-8 weeks of growth.  I would advise feeding them with a balanced fertiliser regularly (e.g. seaweed extract) - don't overdose it though.  When the trees have shed their leaves I would repot them into John Innes number 2 or 3 compost, which has far more soil in it and therefore retains moisture and nutrients better.

18" is probably OK for now but they're probably likely to want bigger pots in the next couple of years max.

[Trikidiki]

Just being picky but standard seaweed extract isn't a balanced fertiliser. To get a balanced fertiliser, you would need to use a fortified seaweed extract that will have NPK added in known quantities.

That aside, I go along with Yorkie's advice regrding feed. They will be hungry if that is all they have been fed which would account for the yellowing leaves.

If the apples are on M27 rootstock they should be alright in 18"pots, though it is advisable to re-pot them, replacing some of the soil, every few years. If they are on more vigorous rootstocks and the pear which is likely to be on 'Quince C', the 'small' pots will help to restrict the overall tree growth.

Another issue you my get using just MPC is that they will become top heavy with a risk of them being blown over. A soil based compost will give them more stability.