How to prune pepper trees in winter (pruning and management methods for pepper trees in autumn and winter)

1. Winter pruning time

The winter pruning time for pepper is generally from leaf fall to early spring buds . Among them, the best time is in late autumn and early winter and late winter and early spring, that is, avoiding freezing and cold weather.

2. Winter pruning method

Zanthoxylum bungeanum is a small deciduous tree. Its trunk is not high, and its branches are randomly shaped, but it has a strong ability to branch and grow, and has many sharp thorns. When pruning in winter, it is best to prune it for disease and insect prevention, lighting and ventilation, and shaping and dwarfing.

1. Pruning to prevent diseases and insects

Sichuan pepper has a special spicy flavor and has strong disinfection, sterilization, disease and insect prevention capabilities, and is generally not easily attacked by diseases and pests.

However, it is not ruled out that weather, human negligence or management errors may cause the occurrence of pests and diseases, such as common root rot, rust, cotton budworm, etc.

Therefore, when pruning in winter, it is advisable to cut off diseased branches, weak branches and dry branches as much as possible to prevent them from growing and spreading in the spring. Then, it is necessary to scrape off the rotten skin and diseased skin on the branches and trunks, and give appropriate disinfection and protection.

2. Light path pruning

Light path pruning is what people often call pruning for the convenience of lighting and ventilation. It is the process of pruning dense branches, parallel branches, cross branches, and inner branches.

Its main purpose is to allow the branches and leaves to receive light evenly, so as to promote photosynthesis and enhance the tree's vigor. At the same time, it can achieve the purpose of sparse ventilation and repel pests and diseases. When pruning, just cut off the base of the branch and apply disinfectant and protective material.

3. Plastic surgery

Shaping and pruning refers to the process of shortening, reducing, and slowing down the strong, overly long, and new branches of Zanthoxylum bungeanum in order to adjust the tree structure, balance the tree vigor, and beautify the crown.

Because Zanthoxylum bungeanum is a small tree, its trunk is not tall, but its stems and branches are thorny. Therefore, when pruning, people usually prune or pull branches to shape them by retaining 3 to 4 main branches, so that they grow in a happy shape and cultivate branch groups.

In this way, the purpose of lighting, ventilation, disease and insect prevention can be achieved, it is also beneficial to promote light action, enhance tree vigor, ensure fruit quality, and at the same time, facilitate picking.

4. Dwarfing pruning

The Zanthoxylum bungeanum tree is a small deciduous tree or shrub. Its trunk generally does not grow very tall. However, due to its strong ability to grow stems and branches, it is often not pruned in time, causing the branches to be too high, which brings great inconvenience to picking.

Therefore, during winter pruning, it is advisable to use methods such as shortening, reducing, and pulling branches to dwarf the tree trunk so that it grows into a dwarf tree shape that can not only ensure fruit quality, promote high yields, but also facilitate picking.

3. Garden Cleaning

Cleaning the pepper garden is a continuation of the winter pruning of pepper trees. It seems to have nothing to do with pruning, but it is inextricably linked. It is a major task that must be completed carefully during the pruning process.

1. Incineration

Burning is one of the most brutal, simple and effective ways to clean a garden.

When the prickly ash is pruned, the next step is to burn the pruned branches, scraped diseased and rotten bark, dead leaves, broken branches, weeds, etc. under the tree to prevent the recurrence of diseases and pests.

2. Spraying

When the burning is over, the next step is to clean up the garden and spray pesticides. After pruning, there will inevitably be some "slippery fish" lingering in the tree trunks and soil, waiting for the opportunity to come back.

Therefore, spraying disinfectant and insect repellent solutions after burning and clearing the garden is also necessary. When spraying, spray the tree trunk first, then the tree foot and the surrounding environment.

3. Whitewash

Whitewashing is a maintenance method for killing bacteria and repelling insects on trees and for reflecting heat preservation. When the burning and spraying are finished, the trunk of the pepper tree can be whitewashed with lime slurry. When whitewashing, try to choose sunny weather to do it.