Cornell University’s Dr. Terence Robinson, based on years of apple thinning research, has developed practical suggestions for New York growers to guide them in targeting optimum fruit sizes. For Gala apples, he has determined that optimum fruit size is around 113-count. That number is equivalent to 7 to 10.5 fruit per square centimeter of the trunk cross-sectional area, a number that was determined by normalizing years of thinning yield data and looking at the trunk diameter number instead of tons per acre. “We can produce larger Galas of 80-count in New York, but when we do, we reduce yield so […]