Plucking fruit off young fruit trees?

Question

I planted some apples and other fruit trees (plum, peaches, apricot, pears, cherries), and they are grafted on dwarf or semi-dwarf rootstock (or else are naturally semidwarf?).

I'm getting close to the time for actually getting fruit. This year I strongly suspect an almond tree, apple tree, and maybe a pear and peach might produce fruit this year.

After reading this answer, I was wondering:

• Should I pluck the fruit off to help it get established?

• Do I pluck off the blossoms, or wait until the blossoms turn into fruit before plucking?

• Should I pluck off ALL the fruit, or just pluck off, e.g, 25% of the fruit?

Answer 1

Personally, I'd enjoy the blossom and fruit, ie leave them alone. The critical thing to aiding establishment of any tree is to keep the area around the trunk vegetation free. No weeds, no grass, nothing. Aim for a one metre clear circle with the tree in the middle. Mulch the circle if you like, but keep it vegetation free.