Kiwifruit Tree Pruning Methods and Key Techniques
Kiwifruit has benefits such as beautifying the skin, detoxifying and cleansing the intestines, and preventing depression, and is loved by many people. As demand for kiwifruit increases, more and more people are growing kiwifruit. So what are the pruning methods for kiwifruit trees?
1. Pruning Time
Pruning generally begins 7-10 days after leaf fall and ends one month before the bleeding period, roughly corresponding to December to January. The timing of pruning is extremely important: too early and nutrient return has not yet finished, too late and it easily affects bleeding. In addition, you should also take into account local climate characteristics and choose the time when pruning wounds heal most easily to carry out pruning.
2. Pruning and Training
For young trees, the amount of pruning is relatively small; the main goal is to develop the trellis shape you want, with the pruning principle of letting branches first cover the trellis surface and expand the canopy. However, not all branches should be kept; diseased, pest-damaged and thin, weak branches are best cut off. For mature trees, you must maintain the tree's framework structure well, ensuring fruiting capacity while also keeping a strong tree vigor. The main task of winter pruning is to select fruiting branches, ensure the number and quality of retained buds, and distribute them evenly over the trellis surface.
Be careful to prune away some branches and leaves that are growing too vigorously, those with pests, diseases or disorders, thin and weak branches and leaves, branches and leaves growing shaded in the lower layers, and branches and leaves growing beyond the trellis surface. These branches and leaves all need to be cut off completely.
3. Pay Attention to Bud Retention
Leave 1.5-2 fruiting mother branches per sq m, and 30-35 fruiting buds, with each fruiting mother branch retaining 15-25 buds, or cut the fruiting mother branch to half the row-spacing length. Reasonable bud retention can ensure the quality of flower buds the following year and reduce unnecessary nutrient waste.
4. Tying Branches and Vines
After pruning branches and leaves, the branches and vines also need to be tied. The quality of tying branches and vines directly affects plant growth; in areas prone to freeze damage, the tying time can be set around early February. Relying on pruning alone makes it very difficult to distribute branches evenly, and as they grow, branches may grow in all directions. The principle of tying is to distribute branches as evenly as possible from inside to outside; branches and vines on the same wire should be tied at equal intervals, and branches on different wires should be distributed in an alternating pattern. When tying, avoid excessive crossing and overlapping, avoid tearing the branches, and tie each branch with 1-2 ties.
Pruning branches and leaves of kiwifruit is a very important step, as it allows kiwifruit nutrients to be better allocated and is more conducive to the growth of kiwifruit.