How to prune fruit trees?

Fruit tree pruning is already a commonplace topic, but most fruit farmers are still careless about pruning techniques. They fail to grasp the key points and have unclear purposes. They only know how to prune, but not the tasks, cannot distinguish right from wrong, do not observe pruning reactions, and just prune back and forth every year and grow branches every year, going back and forth over and over again. In fact, fruit tree pruning is not that complicated. So how do you prune the branches and leaves of fruit trees? Let’s take a look below.

1. Around a Center

Adhering to a principle and cultivating a reasonable tree shape is the key to making the fruit trees bear fruit early, bear good fruit, and produce high yields and high quality.

2. Resolving Two Contradictions

1. Problems with inter-row operations

In order to increase the yield, most fruit farmers keep the main branches too low and too long, and the rows are too dense, which affects the operation and management. In response to the main problems and clarifying the pruning goals, first open the operation path, retract the fruiting branches, and control the crown width. Secondly, the main trunk needs to be raised so that the minimum height is maintained at more than 1 meter and the tree height is controlled at about 3 meters. For densely planted gardens, the tree height is required to be lower.

2. The problem of strong top and weak bottom

The problem of fruit trees being strong on the top and weak on the bottom is a prominent problem that occurs during the shaping of young trees. This is caused by cherishing branches and not wanting to cut off excess branches. The tree is umbrella-shaped, which affects light, and the lower fruiting branches are thin and weak, resulting in poor differentiation of flower buds. When dealing with an umbrella-shaped tree that is strong on top and weak on the bottom, first remove the overlord branches, large branches and main branches facing south, and then replace the top with weak branches to solve the light problem.

Cherries , apples, pears, plums , and apricots can all be cultivated into a free spindle type. After pruning, the free spindle type has about 8-12 main branches distributed on the trunk, the spacing between permanent skeleton branches is 40-60CM, and the spacing between fruiting branch groups on the skeleton is about 20CM. The branches at the top of the tree are 40-50CM long, the permanent branches in the middle are 60-80CM long, and the first layer of permanent skeleton branches are retained at about 90-130CM. After pruning, a complete free spindle-shaped tree is formed, like a pine cone . The first layer of permanent skeleton is long, the second layer of skeleton is slightly longer, and the third layer of skeleton is the smallest. The tree shape cultivated by pruning in this way fundamentally solves the disadvantages of unreasonable tree structure, so that the tree growth body develops evenly from top to bottom, with sufficient light, good ventilation and light transmission conditions, high quality of flower buds, and high yield and quality.

3. Adjusting the three balances

1. Balance between vegetative growth and reproductive growth

A year with a relatively large number of flowers is called a big year, and a year with relatively few flowers is called a small year. In a big year, you can increase the amount of pruning, shorten a part appropriately, open a small valve, and release a small amount of water. For branches with a relatively large number of flowers, they should be retracted to reduce the number of flowers. In a small year for fruit trees, that is, the number of flowers is relatively small, when pruning, try to retain the flower branches and flower buds, lightly block and slowly shrink, take the strong and keep the weak, thin out the branches and let them grow for a long time, and slowly release good quality flower buds.

2. Balance between the interior and the exterior

For perennial fruit-bearing trees or large branches, prevent the problem of the fruiting part being strong on the outside and weak on the inside from moving outward and the inner part being bare; control the upright growth of the branches on the back of the inner part to form a bare zone at the back; large and medium-sized fruit-bearing branches should maintain a balance in front and back growth; small fruit-bearing branches should be retracted appropriately and promptly to raise the angle.

3. Balance between upper and lower parts

During the pruning process, it is necessary to control the strength of the upper part and the weakness of the lower part, and prevent the crown from being weak at the lower part and strong at the upper part, so that the fruit trees can maintain a healthy development state throughout the growth and development process. Solve the problem of achieving high quality and high yield.

4. Use four pruning methods

Different pruning methods are used for trees of different ages, different tree vigor, different branch group types, and different utilized spaces.

1. Ease of use

After pulling, twisting and turning the branches of young trees or the branches of the current year, the spring pruning methods such as pulling branches and carving buds, and topping to promote sprouting are mostly used. Experienced fruit farmers say that one slow pruning, two slow pruning years after years, and three years of slow pruning will result in a bumper yield, and the branches with vigorous growth are most suitable for slow pruning.

2. Shorten

It is mainly used in the young shaping stage and when the number of branches is insufficient. In order to fill the space, short pruning is adopted to grow more new branches. Secondly, it is used when the growth is relatively weak and the number of flowers is relatively large, so as to shorten the plants and reduce nutrient consumption and promote concentrated nutrient supply.

3. Thinning branches

First, thin out diseased and insect-infested branches, back branches, upright branches, and leggy branches; second, thin out overcrowded fruiting branch groups, select the best ones, and choose fruiting branch groups with fuller flower buds, keeping the spacing at about 20CM; third, thin out the current year's branches and parallel branches at the top of the branch group to keep the branch group extending in a single axis; fourth, thin out large branches and overbearing branches in inappropriate positions.

4. Retraction

Generally, it is used to prune back branches with weaker growth and larger number of flowers. Permanent skeleton branches with vigorous growth should be pruned back lightly or not at all. The branches can be stretched and released for a long time, and the valve can be closed a little to slow down the nutrient exchange to weaken the branches and divert the flow of nutrients, so that the branches will turn from strong to weak and grow healthily.

That’s it