How to Prune a Plum Tree? A Detailed Guide to the Correct Pruning Methods

Plums taste sweet and sour, with crisp flesh, and are extremely delicious. The plum is also a particularly nutritious fruit, not only able to delay aging but also having effects such as promoting digestion and promoting diuresis and lowering blood pressure, making it highly sought after by people. Many places like to grow plum trees, so how should plum trees be trained and pruned?

How to Prune a Plum Tree

1. Young trees that have just begun fruiting: After the branches of the plum tree sprout, they grow very quickly and can grow continuously 2 to 3 times. First, the canopy must be expanded; second, the tree must bear fruit. In addition, the plum tree bears fruit on short fruit branches and bouquet-like fruit branches. Use gentle growth and long-shoot training, and make the branches uniformly droop to moderate the growth vigor and encourage the formation of more short fruit branches and bouquet-like fruit branches. On the main branches, leave one long branch every 30 cm. When too dense, thin out some branches to facilitate ventilation and light penetration. For vigorous new shoots, pinch the tips in time or use heading cuts to control growth, encouraging the production of more short fruit branches or bouquet fruit branches.

2. Full fruiting period: As the amount of fruit increases, branch growth becomes moderated because the fruit weighs down the branches. For winter pruning, mainly thin out, try to leave one branch every 30 cm, then encourage them to droop; after moderating, more flowers and short fruit branches form. Cut off overly dense branches, diseased and pest-infested branches, and crossing branches from the base. When there is a large space, keep a portion and carry out heading cuts so that the space is not left empty and likewise bears fruit. In the full fruiting period, where there are already large numbers of fruiting branch groups, cut off the weak ones and keep the robust ones; cut off old branches and keep newly grown branches. Heavily prune bouquet-like fruit branches to stimulate the growth of better fruiting branches. For long branches several years old that occupy a large space, flower formation on them has already decreased, so they should be heavily renewed by pruning to stimulate the growth of new long branches and form better, young and vigorous fruiting branches.

Summer Pruning Methods

Summer pruning refers to pruning during the growing season, generally carried out from mid-June to early July, and the following methods can be used.

1. Pinching. During the growing period, remove the growing point of the branch; the specific time should be determined according to the variety, cultivation conditions and purpose.

2. Twisting shoots. Twist and injure the tip of a new shoot but do not twist it off; generally, any vigorous water sprout with useful value can be treated this way to inhibit growth. Twisting shoots should be done when the new shoot has grown long enough, and the injured part should be at the semi-lignified point.

3. Girdling. Carry out when new shoots are close to stopping growth; remove a ring of bark from the trunk or large branches of a vigorous tree, with the width of the removed bark about 1/10 of the diameter of the shoot being girdled, giving an obvious flower-promoting effect.

4. Bending branches. Hold the middle and lower part of the branch with the hand and repeatedly pinch and grip it so that the branch tissue is damaged and it grows horizontally or obliquely.

For each summer pruning measure, the correct time and the target (young trees or non-fruiting vigorous trees) must be mastered; during summer pruning, remove water sprouts, suckers and dead branches.

Distribution Range of the Plum Tree

Produced in Liaoning, Jilin, Shaanxi, Gansu, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Hunan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi and Taiwan, China. It grows in hillside thickets, sparse mountain-valley forests, and places such as watersides, ditch bottoms and roadsides. Altitude 400-2600 m. It is cultivated in every province of China and in various places around the world, and is one of the important temperate fruit trees.

Pest and Disease Control

Plum trees must be protected against bacterial shot hole disease, which can be sprayed with fungicides such as carbendazim and thiram. The most important pest and disease problem is the white-spotted flower chafer; it likes to eat fruit with wounds, so special attention must be paid to controlling the white-spotted flower chafer. There are 3 methods for controlling the white-spotted flower chafer:

1. Sunflower trap-killing method

In the orchard, using the method of scattered planting of individual plants, plant 8 to 10 sunflowers per mu; use the fragrance of sunflowers to attract them, and every morning cover a sunflower flower head with a bag and tap it so that adult beetles fall into the bag, then kill them in a concentrated way.

2. Fruit vinegar liquid trap-killing method

Use the white-spotted flower chafer's preference for fruit vinegar liquid to trap and kill it. Preparation method of the fruit vinegar liquid: 1 part fallen fruit, 1 part edible vinegar, 2 parts edible sugar, 0.5 part water. Chop the fallen fruit, mix with vinegar, sugar and water, then boil into a porridge-like consistency, put it into a wide-mouth bottle (half a bottle is enough), then add half a bottle of 500-fold diluted dichlorvos and mix evenly. During the peak occurrence period of adult white-spotted flower chafers, hang 1 bottle every 20 to 30 m in the orchard, at a height of 1.2 to 1.5 m above the ground. The bottle should be close to the branches and trunk, and the dead white-spotted flower chafers should be removed every morning.

3. Using insects to attract insects method

In the orchard, according to the standard of hanging 6 to 8 beer bottles per mu, hang the beer bottles at a height of about 1.5 m above the ground, catch 2 or 3 live adult white-spotted flower chafers and put them into the beer bottles, and other adults will be attracted to fly into the bottles.

Through the above content, I believe everyone now knows the pruning methods for plum trees. Timely pruning of plum trees can make them healthier and more flourishing and prolong their lifespan. Plum trees not only have a certain economic value, but also have very high ornamental value! When plum trees bloom, pure white small flowers bloom together, spectacular and beautiful!