The Latest Apricot Tree Pruning Techniques and Methods Tutorial
Apricot trees are extremely fond of light. Regardless of whether the natural round-headed form, the natural open-center form or the delayed open-center form is adopted, the main branches should not be too numerous, but the spacing between tiers should be large, so that sunlight can penetrate into the inner canopy, improving ventilation conditions and increasing light energy utilization. Reasonable pruning can enable young trees to rapidly expand their canopy, increase the number of branches, bear fruit early and achieve high yields in the early years; in the full bearing period, it achieves consecutive years of high and stable yields, and extends the number of years of the full bearing period.
Bud removal
Bud removal means that after sprouting in spring, young buds or young shoots that are in unsuitable positions or too numerous and crowded are promptly removed, so as to reduce nutrient consumption and allow the retained branches to obtain sufficient nutrients and light. This method is mostly used on young trees. The earlier the bud removal is done, the better; the length of the young shoots should preferably not exceed 3-5 cm. At this time the shoots are not yet lignified and can be removed by hand, and the wounds caused also heal easily. When old trees are renewed, many useless small shoots tend to sprout near pruning and saw cuts, and these should also be removed early.
Branch bending
The young trees of some cultivars tend to produce some vigorously growing upright branches, causing the canopy to be non-spreading. For such branches, after sap flow begins and before bud break, a rope can be used to pull them to a certain angle, so as to moderate their vigor, promote the production of fruiting branches and bring fruiting earlier. The bending angle should not be too large; 45-50 degrees is preferable. If the angle is too large or the branch is pulled flat, upright vigorous shoots will again develop on the upper side, and they will still grow vigorously and affect flower formation and fruiting.
For such upright vigorous branches, if they are left unpruned and not bent, some fruiting branches can also form on the front (upper) part, but after fruiting, the lower part tends to become bare, reducing the fruiting positions and affecting yield and quality.
Pinching
Pinching means removing the young tender tip portion of new shoots. Water sprouts, renewal shoots, extension shoots and upright moderately vigorous shoots on the upper side that sprout in suitable positions within the canopy and under good light conditions can all be pinched. The best time for pinching is when the new shoots are about 40 cm long. However, the extension shoots of main and lateral branches at all levels and the shoots replacing extension shoots may be left unpinched; if the aim is to increase the angle and increase the branch order, they may also be pinched, but the number of pinchings should not be too many, lest the branches fail to become well developed.
About 10 days after new shoots are pinched, branches can develop on the lower part, and they can also reach lignification. However, if pinching is done more than 3 times, and the branches do not grow well developed, it may cause freezing injury, or the tree vigor may be weakened due to excessive branches.
During pruning, attention should be paid to light conditions. Only with sufficient light can enough nutrients be produced to meet the needs of growth and prevent the inner canopy from becoming bare and the fruiting positions from moving outward. Therefore, the tree structure should be small at the top and large at the bottom, and the branch distribution should be sparse outside and dense inside, sparse at the top and dense at the bottom, sparse in large branches and dense in small branches, so as to achieve the desired results.