When is the best time to prune peppers?

Pruning of pepper

Sichuan pepper can be pruned vigorously, which can make the autumn shoots grow strong and more fruiting branches, achieving the goals of high yield and high quality, and the overall plant shape will also be more beautiful.

Pepper pruning time

The pruning methods of Chinese prickly ash trees are different for different varieties, ages, and vigors. Pay attention to combining thinning and shrinking, removing the weak and keeping the strong, thinning out the weak buds and keeping the strong buds. Generally, no pruning is done. Young trees and vigorous fruit-bearing trees can be pruned in autumn, and weak trees and old trees can be pruned in spring.

How to prune peppercorns

1. The harvesting time of Sichuan pepper is from June to early July. At this time, pruning is needed. Cut short the strong buds of 3 to 10 cm, cut off diseased and weak branches, thin branches, dry branches, overlapping branches, crossed branches, and dense branches, effectively promoting the growth of latent branches.

2. In July, shorten or thin out overgrown branches at 15 cm from the fruiting branches, and retain 5-15 auxiliary branches. After harvesting dried Sichuan pepper in August, mainly remove diseased and insect-infested branches, dry branches, overlapping branches, crossed branches, densely grown branches, and weak branches, and retain auxiliary branches and renewal branches.

3. The pruning methods of Sichuan pepper include thinning branches, pruning, bud removal or tip removal. The winter pruning time is from October to April of the following year. You can use pruning methods such as pulling branches, pressing branches, pinching, tip removal and retracting to cut off diseased and insect-infested branches, crossed branches, overlapping branches, drooping branches, shaded branches and other ineffective branches.

4. When the fruiting branches with good growth grow to more than 100 cm, pull them moderately. Start pinching and pulling the branches in January or February of the following year. Check them frequently afterwards. Once the new branches are found to grow to 5-10 cm, they need to be pruned in time.

Tips for pruning peppercorns

After 1-3 years of maintenance, Sichuan pepper will enter the vegetative growth stage, which is an important period for the shaping of Sichuan pepper. We should grasp the annual pruning time and improve pruning techniques to lay a good foundation for increasing the sustained growth of Sichuan pepper yield.