We’ve created a Fruit Thinning page for the brand new 2026 edition of our Pest & Disease Guide! Thinning is a simple and impactful technique for healthier trees and tastier fruit.
Fruit Thinning
Fruit Thinning is removing some developing fruitlets from trees so that fruits are more evenly spaced out along the branch.
Increase Quality of Fruits
Trees will generally produce the same poundage of fruit whether you thin or not, but thinning increases the size, flavor, nutrition, and juiciness of each fruit. The tree’s goal is to create a biodiverse next generation of fruit trees. Left to its own devices, the tree will produce a lot of little fruits, containing mostly seeds with a little bit of flesh with limited flavor and sweetness. Thinning funnels the tree’s energy into fewer fruits so each individual fruit receives a larger share of resources.
Reduce Pests & Diseases
This is a chance to look closely at developing fruit and remove any fruitlets showing signs of pest or disease, which can include eggs, developing larva, or disease spores. Thinning can slow the spread of diseases by minimizing fruit to fruit contact. Creating space between the fruits for sunlight and airflow can dry things out faster.
Prevent Broken Branches
If the tree is not structurally strong, the weight of the fruit load can break branches. Thinning can help distribute weight and prevent broken branches.
Prevent Alternate Bearing Cycle
Most fruit trees are alternate bearing: carrying a heavy fruit load one year, followed by a minimal fruit load the next. Thinning can decrease the pendulum swing, steadying harvest year to year.
How To Thin
When?
May or June. Ideally when fruitlets are ¾ – 1” in diameter.
Plants That Don’t Need Thinning:
Cherries, figs, juneberries, hardy almonds, jujubes, mulberries, paw paws, persimmons,
as well as all berries.
Young Trees:
Remove all fruitlets for the first 1-3 years to allow trees to establish.
Collect thinned fruitlets in buckets and remove from the orchard.
Dropping fruitlets on the ground will allow lifecycles of pests and diseases to continue
Thin for spacing along each branch
Pome fruits grow in clusters:
> Thin each cluster down to the biggest, healthiest looking fruitlet, leaving one every 5” or so on the branch.
Stone fruit:
> Plums and apricots: 3-5”
> Peaches and nectarines: 6-8”
Remove fruits with pest or disease damage.
Keep the biggest and healthiest looking fruits.
Be careful not to damage fruiting spurs.
Use pruners to cut off or hold the base of the spur with one hand, while pulling, twisting, or flicking off unwanted fruits with the other.
This POP Blog Post prepared by Sharon Appiah using content from the 2026 POP Pest and Disease Guide.
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