[3759allen]

i have cherries, plum, peach and apricot tree's that are all 3 years old (brought as bare root maiden whip 2 years ago). 2 different cherry varieties and one tree of each of the others.

they all had lots of flowers this year (cold weather probably didn't help with pollination) and got small fruits to start with, one of the cherries had lots of fruit. now they have pretty much all dropped any fruit they had.

i have always had trouble with leaf curl on the peach, apricots and plum. and have also had black fly problem with the cherries, lady birds have got rid of the black fly this year but the tree's took a hammering before the ladybirds got stuck in. i am going to try and cover them this winter to limit the leaf curl.

is the leaf curl and black fly the reason why the fruit has dropped? maybe the tree is putting all it's energy into recovering rather than fruit?

or is it likely to be a pollination issue?

[BabbyAnn]

it could simply be lack of pollination when the flowers were out - we did have very changeable weather from drop in temperature, rain (snow!) and so on.  Bees don't fly when its wet or too cold ....

[Trikidiki]

Plums, apricots and peaches don't usually produce fruitlets unless they are pollinated. I would put it down to the trees doing a 'June Drop' as they realise they cannot support the fruit. That could be due to drought  or stress from the two problems you had.

The cherries could well be lack of pollination or the same as above.

Are the cherries compatible pollinators?

Also three year old trees are still quite young to fruit successfully.

[Kate and her Ducks]

I agree, most likely June drop and although all the other points made above might be the reason it is so pronounced, it is also not usual for trees to set fruit as young as 3 years old. Be patient, they will settle.

[3759allen]

thanks for the replies.

patience is not really my thing.

hopefully try and get the pest and disease problem decreased next year and try pollinating with a paint brush.

at what age should the tree's be able to set fruit successfully?

the cherries are compatible and all the varieties are self pollinators, but i am looking to try and extend the rows and put more varieties in to help pollinate.

[Trikidiki]

Fecundity (I've always wanted to use that word) can vary depending on many factors. Climate, soil, rootstock to name a few.