How to Prune Chestnut Trees in Summer? A Detailed Guide to the Latest Methods
Chestnut is a fruit with very high economic value; it can not only be eaten, but also used as a vegetable in cooking, and it also has certain medicinal effects. Its market in our country is relatively large, so more and more people are now growing chestnut trees. When growing chestnut trees, we should pay attention to doing a good job of summer pruning. So how exactly should it be done? Below, the editor brings you the summer pruning methods for chestnut trees. Let's take a look!
1. Pinching
For chestnut trees within 3 years after grafting, we should pinch them in summer, mainly to train the tree shape of the chestnut tree. Generally in mid-May, we should pinch the vigorously growing branches on the chestnut tree about three times. When the new shoots grow to 0.5 m, pinching can begin, removing about 2 cm of the tender tip at the top of the new shoot. Then, when the branches grow to 30 cm, carry out the second pinching, and finally after the Mid-Autumn Festival remove the newly grown autumn shoots. The main purpose of doing this is to dwarf the canopy, promote branch growth, advance the fruiting time, and increase yield.
2. Branch bending and angle opening
Young chestnut trees have a relatively strong apical growth advantage, so we should bend and open the angle of some upright-growing branches and auxiliary branches. When bending branches and opening the angle, the angle should be kept at about 65 degrees. In addition, on both sides of the branches, about every 30 cm, notch them above and below the buds, with the notch depth mainly reaching the xylem. This increases the number of branches, so that the treated branches can sprout thick new branches, and when fruiting the next year, it can avoid the phenomenon of bare branches.
3. Bud removal and male flower thinning
When the buds grow to the size of soybeans, about 5 plump buds should be selected and retained on the upper outer part of the developing branches on the plant. About 3 should be retained on the middle and lower parts, and then all excess buds should be removed. Based on the principles of removing large ones and keeping small ones, and removing lower ones and keeping upper ones, concentrate the nutrients and reduce the phenomenon of female flower abortion. Chestnut male flower inflorescences are relatively numerous, so the amount of pollen is also relatively large, resulting in excessive nutrient consumption. In order to increase the number of female flowers and the fruit-setting rate, when the male inflorescences grow to about 4 cm, all male flowers under the mixed inflorescences should be removed, retaining only about 10% of the male flowers.
4. Branch thinning and bur thinning
In summer, we should also promptly thin out some sprouting branches inside the canopy of the chestnut tree, mainly weak-growing and slender nutrient branches. Then we should do a good job of thinning burs, carrying out the first round in July. Retain about 3 burs on strongly growing branches, and about 2 on strong fruiting branches. If they are weak fruiting branches, then all should be thinned out. Then carry out a second thinning before the Mid-Autumn Festival, mainly to thin again the burs missed in the first round, with an average of about 2 burs retained per branch on each tree.
The above is a brief introduction to the summer pruning methods for chestnut trees. That is all for today's introduction. This article is for reference only, and we hope it can help everyone!