June drop occurs eight weeks after flowering and will continue into July. Young fruitlets are shed naturally by the trees due to issues such as poor pollination or in this instance poor weather conditions after flowering began. Thinning would normally then take place by hand, but this year it is being held back so that too many fruits are not removed.
Southeastfarmer.net quoted Nigel Stewart, technical director at AC Goatham & Son, as saying: “This is incredibly frustrating after what promised to be a perfect start to the season. The prolonged cold and cloudy weather which was experienced in many parts of the South East during the early spring is the cause of this excessive June drop. … It is hoped that our harvest will be of a similar size to the 2017/18 season, but we are still evaluating the crop and it could be lower.”
