What are the latest pruning methods for dragon fruit?
Dragon fruit is a very delicious fruit, and during the growth of the fruit tree, pruning can promote an increase in the number of dragon fruit set and speed up ripening. Tip pruning and pruning of miscellaneous branches are essential, and after pruning, attention should be paid to the control of temperature and light, so when is the best time to prune dragon fruit? What techniques are there for pruning? Follow the editor to learn about it.
I. When to prune dragon fruit
1. Pruning at the seedling stage
After the plant survives after planting, it will climb and grow along the cement pillar. At this time, the seedling will sprout side branches. One upward-growing branch should be retained, and all the other branches should be cut off. This helps the nutrient supply for the branch to climb upward and grow quickly.
2. Pruning during the growth period
When the plant grows to 1.5 m, it can be allowed to produce more than 3 naturally drooping branches. After the branches mature, these drooping branches have the potential to flower and bear fruit. The branches on the upper and middle parts of the dragon fruit, especially the drooping branches, have a relatively high rate of flowering and fruiting, while the branches on the middle and lower parts do not have a high rate of flowering and fruiting, so drooping branches have a relatively large impact on the yield of dragon fruit.
3. Fruiting branches
Two-thirds of the branches of each plant can be arranged as fruiting branches. In addition, branches can easily have flower buds and flowers removed, reducing their growth angle, inhibiting their reproductive growth, promoting their vegetative growth, and cultivating them into strong fruiting branches, laying the foundation for high yield in the coming year. Some plants have a large fruit set, and the possibility of high yield the next year is relatively low, so a large number of strong branches can be formed at the base, and the pruning method of thinning the weak and keeping the strong can be used to promote the formation of strong vegetative branches.
II. How to prune dragon fruit
1. Pruning of young trees
Pruning of young trees is mainly for shaping, mainly using the method of pinching, to promote more branching. When the seedling is taller than the cement pillar, pinch it to make the main trunk sprout several branches, promoting the formation of fruiting branches as soon as possible. When the plant enters the flower bud differentiation stage in spring, in order to prevent the branches from growing excessively, all tender buds should be removed, and nutrients should be stored in the old branches, which is beneficial for flowering.
2. Pruning of mature trees
After the plant enters the full production period, old branches that have already fruited and are perpendicular to the ground surface should be cut off, because they carry out little photosynthesis and consume too much nutrients, which is not conducive to nutrient accumulation and the formation of fruiting branches in the coming year. During the flowering and fruiting period, excess vegetative branches can also be cut off to reduce nutrient consumption and promote sunlight exposure.
The above is an introduction to how dragon fruit should be pruned. I hope it can help you. If you want to learn more related knowledge, please follow us.