How to Prune a Wax Apple Tree? Latest Pruning Techniques and Methods Tutorial
The wax apple, also known as water rose apple, Malay apple, and water pomegranate, is a tropical fruit that is currently very popular in the market. In China, wax apples are mainly grown in the Taiwan region, but they are also partially cultivated in Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Hainan, and other places, and the cultivation results are also quite good. In order to improve the yield and quality of wax apples, we need to carry out scientific pruning of wax apple trees. So how should wax apple trees be pruned? Let's learn about it together below.
1. Pruning Principles
If we want wax apple trees to enter the fruiting stage as early as possible and bear more fruit, then scientific pruning is needed. When pruning, we generally need to follow certain pruning principles so as to ensure the yield of wax apples. The main principles of pruning are generally low trunk, short canopy, few large branches, many small branches, proper judgment, and suitable severity. In plain terms, this means shortening the length of the trunk and lowering the height of the canopy; the primary branches on the trunk should not be too many, and the spatial structure of the secondary and tertiary branches and all branch levels should be reasonably distributed; young trees and poorly growing wax apple trees should mainly be lightly pruned, while vigorous trees and old trees should be heavily pruned, reasonably regulating tree vigor.
2. Pruning Methods
Wax apple trees need to be pruned according to certain methods, and the pruning methods for fruit trees in general are more or less the same. The main pruning methods are heading back, thinning out, renewal pruning, bud rubbing and shoot promoting, girdling, branch bending, and branch twisting. Heading back means cutting off part of a branch; thinning out mainly means pruning away old branches, diseased and pest-infested branches, weak branches, dense branches, water sprouts, and messy branches; renewal pruning mainly means pruning aging trees; bud rubbing and shoot promoting means removing newly sprouted tender buds to promote the growth of branches and leaves in all directions; girdling means making a ring cut on the lower part of the trunk to catalyze fruit setting; branch bending is mainly to adjust the distance between branches and improve light exposure.
3. Pruning Young Trees
The young tree period generally refers to the period from after planting until before fruiting. The pruning of wax apple during the young tree period is mainly to form a complete tree shape. After planting, according to the growth of the wax apple tree, we should first retain one primary trunk. When the wax apple tree grows to about one meter, remove the terminal bud to promote the growth of the secondary trunk, and then proceed step by step until a complete open tree shape is formed. Before the young tree shape has formed and it has entered the fruiting stage, we still need to carry out proper pruning. At this time, the main task is to prune away newly sprouted branches and water sprouts, mainly cultivating fruit-bearing mother branches.
4. Pruning Fruiting Trees
For fruiting wax apple trees, we mainly carry out reasonable pruning and shaping to expand the canopy, renew fruiting branches, promote flowering and fruiting, and play a role in increasing yield. For wax apple trees in the fruiting stage, we generally need to prune three times each year, namely spring pruning, summer pruning, and winter pruning. Pruning during this period mainly removes diseased and pest-infested branches, dead branches, old branches, dense branches, water sprouts, upright branches, drooping branches, crossing branches, weak branches, and so on. One more thing to note is that spring pruning must be done early, preferably when branches and leaves are sprouting; summer pruning must not be done during the flowering period; winter pruning should also be done early, as this helps the wax apple tree overwinter safely.
The pruning techniques for wax apples are actually basically consistent with general fruit tree pruning, so many methods can be used in common. But when pruning, what we need to pay attention to is grasping the timing of pruning.