Fall Fruit Tree Task

The season for harvesting fruit from your trees may be over for another year, but there is one more vital task to do in fall that keeps your trees healthy and preserves next year's fruit.

Remove Rotten Fruit

Clearing away debris, fruits, and mummies ensures no pathogens or fungi can overwinter on or around the tree and infect your fruit trees next year.

Why Remove Fallen Fruit

Fruit falls from trees for many reasons, natural thinning, wind, lack of water, or pests, but leaving it causes diseases to overwinter and return the following year.

Expert on Fruit Rot

Susan Poizner, fruit tree expert and founder of Orchard People, says leaving leaves and fruits on the ground lets diseases overwinter and come back with a vengeance.

“If you leave the leaves and fruits on the ground, some diseases can overwinter and come back the following year. And sometimes they'll come back with a vengeance”

Mummies Risk

Mummies are dried fruits that succumbed to fungus, disease, or insects and pose the same risk as fallen fruit if not removed.

“Mummies are fruits that have dried on the plant, many of which succumbed to fungus, disease, or insects earlier in the year”

How to Remove Mummies

Scour the tree's canopy for mummies during fall when they stand out against bare branches and use a fruit picker or pole pruner to knock them off.

Compost Risks

Adding fallen or rotten fruit to home compost can let pathogens survive, especially if the pile doesn't get hot enough to kill them.

“The hope is that the pathogens or pests will somehow decompose in the compost, but that's not necessarily the case”

Hot Composting

A hot compost pile needs to reach 140°F to kill pathogens and diseases, requiring regular turning and the right ratio of brown and green ingredients.

“Matt Bunch claims an active compost pile needs to reach 140°F to kill most pathogens and diseases”

Move Potted Trees

When growing fruit trees in pots, move tender trees to a protected spot when nighttime temperatures drop to 50°F to overwinter them.