These are fruitlets that were developing on the Hewes Virginia Crab--moments before I removed them. Sometimes apple trees will develop fruit in their first season in the orchard, though I was surprised to see the HVC produce so much. Still, when this happens it's generally a good idea to remove it so that the tree will put more energy into growing. When will the first real crop develop? Hard to say. We planted on Bud. 118 rootstock, which is supposed to come into bearing sooner than many other rootstocks that produce a larger tree--often 4-5 years if you're growing standard dessert fruit. The scion wood that we have grafted onto the rootstock is harder to predict simply because these trees have not been grown in the U.S. in quite some time, if ever. We're hoping for 4-6 years for our first decent crop.
