Apricot Growing like an Octopus

Question from JoAnn:
Hi Pat, I live in Temecula and have a two year old Royal apricot which has had lots of fruit this summer, so much so that the branches are dragging. I just learned that I should have picked off many of the fruit to encourage bigger ones to ripen. It has grown long branches and I’ve tried to support them. I am wondering when I can prune this tree and how much.

Answer from Pat:
Yes, next year be sure to thin the fruit after it is about the size of an almond leaving just one fruit per node. Next year, however, you might not have such a huge crop because many apricot trees bear a huge crop every other year.

This year in August the only pruning you should do is to cut off any fresh water sprouts you find springing straight up like buggy whips from the scaffold branches. (If there are old ones that were left on by mistake and have grown thick and now bear fruit, you can head these back next winter and maybe remove one or two of them each year to gradually correct the tree’s shape.) After removing the new water sprouts, do not do any other pruning until next winter after all the leaves have dropped off.

When pruning deciduous fruits in winter refer to a good pruning book and, for apricots, keep these ideas in mind: Apricots bear partly on one-year-old wood and partly on spurs that continue to bear well for four or five years. Head back the older branches about one-fifth. You want to encourage about one-fifth of the old bearing wood to be replaced by new growth.

Now in summer study where the tree is bearing fruit. Perhaps make notes or make a sketch so you will remember. Look for spurs (short, twisted or stubby twigs that are bearing or did bear fruit. Do not cut any of this wood off, so it can bear again next year. Old worn out spurs usually fall off by themselves when they have fulfilled their life span.