How to do supplemental pruning of apple trees before flowering? Tutorial on the technical methods for supplemental pruning of apple trees before flowering

Apple is a fruit we often eat, and when growing apple trees, we need to do a good job of pruning. Ensure the normal growth of the apple tree and improve the fruiting rate of the apple tree. If supplemental pruning of apple trees is carried out before flowering, it is mainly to supplement winter pruning, in order to adjust the growth structure of the apple tree and the ratio of flower buds to leaf buds. So how should apple trees be supplementally pruned before flowering? Below, the editor brings you the pre-flowering supplemental pruning techniques for apple trees. Let's take a look together! 1. Pruning time When supplementally pruning apple trees before flowering, we must first determine the supplemental pruning time for the apple trees. The supplemental pruning time should preferably be within the period after the apple tree branches sprout and before flowering. The supplemental pruning time is very important, and you must pay attention to controlling it well, and it must not be too early or too late. If supplemental pruning is done too early, the flower buds and leaf buds are difficult to distinguish, and pruning is relatively difficult. If pruning is too late, the nutrient storage in the apple tree is relatively large, and supplemental pruning will have a great impact on tree vigor, so everyone must pay much attention. 2. Pruning methods First, we should thin out the plants on the outer part of the apple tree that are growing too densely. Branches that are too strong or too weak should not be retained. Keep the apple tree in a state of being numerous but not dense, and strong but not vigorous, control the load of the apple tree well, and improve air permeability. Then, for some fruit-bearing branches and auxiliary nurturing branches that were mistakenly left behind, pruning such as heading back and renewal pruning should be carried out to cultivate them into reserve branches. For auxiliary nurturing branches that were missed in pruning, if they have not flowered, then according to the surrounding space conditions, they should be appropriately thinned from the base, and at the same time this can also improve the light conditions of the apple tree. Then, for some retained branches that are too long, the growth advantage at the top of the branches should be weakened to avoid excessive vegetative growth of the branches. The branches can also be bent and twisted at the base to moderate the growth vigor of the branches and promote the growth of flower buds. Young trees should have self-terminating branches to encourage the production of short branches and cultivate them into branch groups. Under normal circumstances, middle and short branches will form in the same year. If the fruit cluster branch is a flower, then the main approach should be to retain strong ones. If there is no flower, then it should be renewal-pruned to break the cluster. If the growth is too vigorous, then heading back should be carried out at the latent buds at the base of the branch. Finally, for branches that have borne fruit for many consecutive years, they should be renewal-pruned back to the short branches and strong buds in the middle and rear parts to promote renewal. If there are weak short fruit branches, then the weak buds should be thinned out, and strong buds should be retained to promote renewal. All terminal buds produced by all middle and long branches in trees with a heavy crop year should be removed. Weak branches, flowers, and so on should also be thinned out to improve the nutrient level of the tree body and avoid excessive nutrient consumption.   The above is a brief introduction to the pre-flowering supplemental pruning techniques for apple trees. That is all for today's introduction. This article is for reference only, and I hope it can help everyone!