How to prune apple trees

When to prune apple trees

Apple trees undergo four prunings a year. In winter, dense branches must be pruned in time, young trees must be pruned appropriately, and old trees must be pruned. After the flower buds appear, they should be thinned out in time.

After an apple tree is grafted, it usually takes about four years for it to bear fruit, so apple trees are usually cultivated by grafting. The apple branches are placed in wet sand to keep them warm and moist, and are turned over every half a month. In the spring of the second year, the branches are soaked in a rooting agent, and then the branches are inserted into the excavated soil and the rooting agent solution is inserted again every half a month.

Apple tree pruning

Pruning: Cut off part of the annual branches of the apple tree. Depending on the degree of pruning, it can be divided into light pruning, medium pruning, heavy pruning and extremely heavy pruning.

Thinning: Removing branches from the base of an apple tree is called thinning. It is generally used when the branches in the crown are dense, overlapping, crossed, or co-existing, or there are many groups of short fruit branches. Pruning diseased and insect-infested branches, useless branches, etc. is also a method of shearing.

Apple tree pruning grows fast

Spring pruning: From budding to flowering, apple trees are thinned out through bud coating, branch combing, contraction, bud carving, and ring stripping, which also includes the task of tearing branches.

Summer pruning: Apple trees use splaying, topping, girdling, thinning, ring cutting, twisting and other techniques to reduce potential tree damage, improve light exposure and promote crown expansion.

Autumn pruning: Apple trees need improved lighting conditions in autumn to promote flower bud differentiation, and improve cold resistance by pulling branches, thinning branches, growing branches too long, and dense branches. Excessively dense new shoots should also be cut off.

Apple tree pruning flowering

The flowering period of apples is generally from April to May. It is a cross-pollinated plant. If you want it to bloom more, you need to prune it in winter, establish a reasonable tree structure, alleviate the contradiction between nutrient distribution within the tree, regulate the relationship between vegetative growth and reproductive growth, and make the apple tree grow better.

Apple tree pruning results in more fruit

From December to January of the following year, the water content of apple trees is low and the fruit trees enter a hibernation period. They have a strong ability to resist wind drying, so this is the most suitable time for pruning. Weak trees and old trees should be pruned early.

Apple tree pruning precautions

Pay attention to the growth momentum of the apple tree. If the young trees grow vigorously, you should adopt pruning methods, such as expanding the angle of the branches and releasing them slowly, so that the vegetative growth turns to reproductive growth, and the trees bloom and bear more fruits.