Why do fruit trees need pruning? Prune them this way for a bigger harvest

In rural areas, fruit trees planted around houses are mostly not pruned in time, but left to grow wild freely. So in rural villages, we often see some tall fruit trees, such as peach trees, pear trees, walnut trees, pomelo trees, and so on. And to eat the fruit from these trees, most of the time children or young people need to climb up to the treetops to pick it, or use a long bamboo pole to knock the fruit down from below.

These tall, leafy fruit trees actually bear no small amount of fruit; a single large tree bears at least several hundred jin, and some even over a thousand jin. So we often wonder, why do large-scale orchard planting bases insist on pruning their fruit trees? Let them grow into such big trees, and one tree is worth several. I believe most people who don't understand the reason will have this same question.

Actually, the growing environment of fruit trees scattered around our houses is not the same as that of fruit trees planted in orchards, and the purpose of planting them is different too. Fruit trees planted around houses serve first to green the environment and second for self-sufficiency, so people don't care much whether they bear a lot of fruit; as long as they grow lush and leafy and make the living environment beautiful, and on top of that you can eat fresh fruit you grew yourself, that's even better. In addition, because they are planted in scattered spots, there is no situation where branches and leaves affect each other's growth during the tree's growth, so no pruning is needed.

As for fruit trees planted in orchards, first, the purpose is to make them bear more fruit and achieve high yield, high efficiency and high income; second, these densely planted fruit trees, during their growth, will affect each other's growth if not pruned, thereby affecting fruiting, so they need to be pruned at several stages of their growth to keep a certain tree shape, so they can bear more fruit. Therefore pruning is needed at the following growth stages:

First, pruning is needed during the young tree stage. The purpose of pruning at this stage is to expand the tree canopy, increase the number of branches, and adjust the tree shape so it can carry out photosynthesis to a greater extent. A reasonable pruning at this stage can also improve the quantity and quality of the tree's fruit production, and enable it to bear fruit and be harvested earlier, unlike fruit trees planted around houses that have to wait several years before bearing fruit.

Second, pruning is needed during the full fruiting stage. At this stage, some weak branches, diseased branches and branches that affect the tree's photosynthesis are cut off, in order to let the tree body grow and develop better, maintain a good tree structure, balance the relationship between fruiting and growth, and thereby extend the number of years of the tree's full fruiting stage.

Third, pruning is needed during the old age stage. At this stage, branches that affect the tree's nutrient absorption and photosynthesis are promptly cut off, letting some strong branches absorb nutrients and grow better, which can keep the fruit yield of old trees at a relatively high level.

Therefore, at different growth stages of fruit trees, the trees need to be pruned; every year the trees should be observed, appropriate adjustments made to their growth in real time, and timely pruning carried out, so as not to affect their growth and fruiting. The general pruning principles adopted are “light pruning as the main approach, combining light and heavy; overall planning, combining long and short; prune according to the tree, shape according to the branch”. There are also quite a few specific methods, and judgment for pruning must be made after on-site analysis according to different tree species, different tree ages and different tree bodies, so here we can only roughly list a few common pruning methods:

Short pruning method: cut off part of a branch so that nutrients are concentrated and supplied to some strong branches, reducing nutrient consumption and keeping the light and ventilation conditions inside the canopy better.

Thinning method: cut off diseased branches, weak branches, dead branches, water sprouts, and branches that disrupt the tree's shape.

Pinching method: pinch off the tender buds to control the growth length of the tree's branches and balance the nutrient supply.

Branch bending method: use your hands to crush the inner phloem and xylem of some overly vigorous branches, causing slight damage to inhibit their growth and change their direction of extension.

Bending method: bend some straight-growing branches and tie them with rope, so that the bent parts are exposed and placed in a better growing environment.

In short, methods are fixed but people are flexible; as long as you master the corresponding technical essentials, it doesn't matter what method you adopt, but one thing to remember is that the pruning strategy must be made according to tree species, tree shape, tree age, etc., so that fruit trees can bear more fruit while still maintaining a certain tree shape and form.