June is the perfect time to thin fruits for the first time, when they are dime-to-nickel-sized. Use your fingers and gently tip the apple to the side and it should remove easily. Be careful not to break off the whole fruiting spear.
Thinning the young fruit on your apple tree will increase the size and sweetness of the crop and help aid in even ripeness of the apples on the tree. It will also reduce the stress on your tree and increase your chances of it bearing fruit every year.
Thin the tree to 1 apple per cluster or about 1 fruit every 4-6 inches. Keep the biggest apple in the cluster. If you have a choice, choose to keep the apple nearest to the main branches to prevent excess bending and breaking of the branches as they grow.
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