Common Mistakes and Precautions in Winter Pruning of Kiwifruit

Kiwifruit trees are a widely distributed fruit tree in China, with a relatively large planting area. When growing kiwifruit trees, pruning is indispensable. Especially in winter, for the sake of the kiwifruit trees' flowering and fruiting the following year, winter pruning is very important. However, many fruit growers make many mistakes when winter pruning kiwifruit trees. So today, the editor brings you the winter pruning mistakes and precautions for kiwifruit trees. Let's take a look together!

1. Not leaving renewal shoots

When pruning, many fruit growers use the two methods of thinning and heading back, and they only keep fruiting mother branches, not paying attention to renewal shoots. As a result, the tree has only fruiting branches and no auxiliary nourishing branches, which affects the tree's accumulation, causes the tree to thicken slowly, and makes it prone to various diseases. Therefore, every year we must retain about half of the renewal shoots to rejuvenate the kiwifruit trees. The method for renewing branches is mainly renewal pruning, retaining about two buds. The cut should also appropriately retain root branches; root branches should mainly be short branches and must not be tipped, and if the root branches are relatively vigorous, then shorten them.

2. Using only strong vigorous branches as fruiting mother branches

Some fruit growers, especially novice fruit growers, only use strong vigorous branches as fruiting mother branches during winter pruning. This is actually also very unfavorable to the growth of kiwifruit trees. Because the germination rate of strong vigorous branches is very low, and some also do not have a very high fruiting branch rate, and they are prone to freezing damage, canker disease, and other diseases. So when cultivating fruiting mother branches, we should mainly use three types: old, middle-aged, and young branches. Taking moderate branches as an example, the method of selecting and retaining continuous fruiting can be used to select about one third of the fruiting mother branches. That is, at the uppermost fruit stalk of a strong vigorous branch, retain a few buds for cutting, so that it can bear fruit continuously.

3. Heading back only at plump buds

Heading back only at plump buds is also a winter pruning mistake that many people make. If you head back at a plump bud, then the apical dominance of the plump bud below the cut will be strengthened because of this, causing the roots to lack nutrients, thereby reducing the germination rate. This greatly affects tree vigor and leads to poor root development. If too much fruit is retained the following year, the fruit tree is also prone to premature aging. So under limited conditions, we should best extend as long as possible. Heading back can be carried out at the plump buds at the top. For small situations on the trellis surface, tying can be done at sparse branch areas to ensure sufficient space.

4. Precautions

When pruning, first of all, we must pay attention to pruning according to a standardized tree shape. We must not casually renew the scaffold branches and main canes. When branches are relatively sparse, for some branches that have already borne fruit, pruning should be carried out according to the branch group to occupy the trellis surface. Retain healthy and vigorous fruiting branches, and retain about 5 buds before the uppermost fruit stalk for cutting, to encourage continued fruiting. For short branches with large space and that have been topped, pruning is not necessary; let them sprout vigorous branches to improve space utilization.

The above is a brief introduction to the winter pruning mistakes and precautions for kiwifruit. That is all for today's introduction. This article is for reference only, and we hope it can help everyone!