When is the best time to prune sour jujube?

The effect of pruning jujube

When the jujube seedlings grow to 30 cm in height, you need to pay attention to field management. First, the buds on the top should be removed. At the same time, the jujube trees need to be pruned to ensure adequate nutritional balance.

Pruning time of sour jujube

It is generally best to prune the sour jujube from mid-November of the current year to early March of the following year, with January and February being the best time. Pruning at this time can restore the tree's vigor more quickly.

How many times should the sour jujube be pruned?

The sour jujube can be pruned once, mainly in summer. The first is bud carving, which involves carving the 3rd and 4th buds on the main trunk to stimulate the germination of the main buds. The second is pinching. When the central branch grows 8 secondary branches, the top bud can be pinched off, and the remaining jujube heads can be pinched when they grow 7 to 8 secondary branches. Bud carving is required when the number of branches is insufficient. In July and August, the jujube heads are pulled to open the branches.

Propagation of sour jujube by pruning

Cuttings are collected in mid-April, before the jujube sprouts, the superior jujube plants are pruned, so that the jujube branches grown in the current year can be obtained. Cuttings are collected in early July when the base and middle parts of the new branches after pruning are lignified and the tops are semi-lignified.

How to prune sour jujube

The main methods of pruning sour jujube include shorting and pruning to remove diseased and insect-infested branches, useless branches, overlapping branches and overly long branches. During this period, the good fruit-bearing branches cut off during winter pruning are used and stored for grafting next year. If conditions permit, re-pruning can be carried out in late March to remove useless branches that were not cut off during winter pruning.

Precautions for pruning sour jujube

1. Crown control: When the crown height and crown width exceed the shaping requirements and affect the operation, timely processing is required. First, the head should be dropped, and then the main branches of each layer should be retracted to prevent the fruiting part from moving outward and the upper part from being strong and the lower part from being weak, which will affect the light.

2. Thinning branches: Remove upright, crossed, overlapping, diseased and insect-infested branches between each layer of branches in the crown to increase ventilation and light transmittance and reduce the occurrence of diseases and pests.

3. Branch group cultivation and renewal: The principles of fruiting branch group cultivation and renewal are timely cultivation, full utilization, timely renewal, rejuvenation of tree vigor, and increase of yield. Renewal should be done every 5 to 6 years.