Detailed Explanation of the Key Points of Honeysuckle Training and Pruning Techniques

Training and Pruning 1) Training: Training can give the tree a good three-dimensional structure, with clear primary and secondary parts, a reasonable allocation of branch groups at all levels, and occupation of the maximum flowering space, making the tree assume the ideal "umbrella-tower shape." To facilitate picking and management, tree height and crown width should be controlled at about 1.3 m. Training is generally completed in 2-3 years. Training of cutting-propagated plants: After the new buds have just sprouted, keep 2-3 plump buds at the base of the plant, remove all the rest, and cut off the old branch 1-2 cm above the plump buds. When the new shoot grows to 30 cm, keep one upright, vigorous branch and head it back at 15-20 cm. As growth speeds up in summer, after the main trunk produces secondary buds, remove all the lower buds, and keep 3-4 plump buds at appropriate distances on the upper and middle parts to cultivate main branches. When the main branches grow to 20 cm, pinch off the growing tips to inhibit height growth, and cultivate 3-4 lateral branches on the main branches, which can grow to 8-10 cm in the same year; after flowering mother branches are arranged on the lateral branches the following year, the crown shape can basically be formed. With strengthened water and fertilizer management, after 3 years the main trunk reaches 15-20 cm in height and 3-4 cm in thickness, and both crown width and tree height reach more than 1 m. 2) Pruning: Honeysuckle pruning is divided into winter pruning and summer pruning; winter pruning can be heavy, while summer pruning should be light. Four methods are used: heading back, thinning, renewal pruning and long-cane training. Pruning of mature clumps is mainly winter pruning, and the essentials are to remove the weak and keep the strong, remove the crooked and keep the straight, and thin out overlapping branches, etc.; the number of mother branches should also be determined according to water and fertilizer conditions; summer pruning is carried out after each flush of flower buds is picked. Middle-aged flower clumps are mainly pruned by heading back the outer parts and thinning weak branches, while old flower clumps also require renewal pruning, using the method of pinching upright water sprouts to cultivate new main trunks, carry out renewal and rejuvenation, maintain the vigorous vitality of the flower clumps, and achieve the goal of high yields year after year. Pruning principles: shape the main trunk, prune vigorous branches lightly, prune weak branches heavily, cut out dead branches entirely, prune every branch, and prune again after flowering. Winter pruning: It should not be done too early, because honeysuckle is a semi-evergreen shrub; in early winter the tree still retains most of its leaves, and in wind-sheltered, sunny places in mountain gullies the leaves can remain without withering through the winter. To make full use of light energy and allow the tree to store more nutrients, winter pruning is best carried out from late December each year until before new buds sprout in early spring of the following year. Winter pruning mainly cuts off branches growing from the main trunk and retains a small number of mother branches on the main branches that can flower the next year. Young plants can only have 3-5 vigorous branches selected, and their upper tips cut off at 3-6 cm. Honeysuckle plants enter the budding stage when the daily average temperature is around 5°C, and new shoots begin to grow, so winter pruning should not be too late. If winter pruning is too late, it consumes nutrients and easily loses the nutrients stored in the tree body, affecting tree vigor. Summer pruning: Honeysuckle enters the mature stage after four years and enters the full-flowering stage after 4-5 years. When planted on plains, four flushes of flowers can be harvested a year; water and fertilizer must be guaranteed, and pruning is the key: it is carried out after each flush of flower buds is picked, and summer pruning is mainly heading back, with thinning as a supplement. The severity of heading back should be determined according to the growth vigor of the branches, and especially according to the degree of sprouting of the axillary buds on the new shoots. Most new shoots sprout earlier at the 2nd-6th stem nodes; when pruning, 3-5 internodes can be retained, while water sprouts and long vigorous branches should be heavily headed back to the shriveled buds, so that the branches of the whole tree basically sprout uniformly; otherwise, water sprouts and long vigorous branches sprout early and short fruit branches sprout late, causing inconsistency in the bud stage and non-concentrated flowering period. In early winter and early spring, adventitious buds often form at the base of the main trunk and at the forks of the skeletal branches of honeysuckle, clustered in groups of several or a dozen. Such sprouts growing on the middle and lower parts of the plant should be removed before sprouting in early spring each year; if not removed in time, such sprouts often develop into water sprouts and long fruit branches, wasting nutrients and affecting tree shape and tree vigor. 3) Pruning methods Heading back: Cutting off part of a branch is called heading back. Honeysuckle heading back is mostly heavy heading back, that is, cutting off 1/2-2/3 of the branch. The severity of heading back can be determined according to the quality and position of the branch. In winter pruning, 1-year-old new shoots retain 3-4 internodes, and in summer pruning they retain 4-5 internodes. Thinning: Cutting off 1-year-old branches or perennial branches from the base is called thinning. Honeysuckle has strong sprouting and branching ability and a large number of branches. The amount pruned should be determined according to the requirements of tree vigor development. It generally accounts for 15%-30% of the plant. Diseased and pest-infested branches, dried branches, slender branches, crossing branches, twining branches, overlapping branches, etc., should be thinned out; thinning branches has a certain effect on improving light conditions, moderating tree vigor, and promoting the formation of fruit branches. However, thinning should not be too heavy; if too heavy, it will produce large numbers of water sprouts and affect yield. Renewal pruning: Heading back perennial branches is called renewal pruning. The general method of renewal pruning is to cut off the terminal branch at the fork of the flowering mother branch. In order to rejuvenate tree vigor, renew skeletal branches, control crown width and plant height, and prevent the bud-bearing parts from moving outward, renewal pruning must be carried out; only in this way can branches at all levels be continuously renewed and tree vigor remain vigorous. Long-cane training: That is, not pruning 1-year-old branches, allowing the branches to extend and thicken in growth so as to expand the crown; this is called long-cane training. Because there is no cut with long-cane training, there is no inhibitory effect on the buds, so it can reduce apical dominance, moderate the growth vigor of the branches, cause growth to stop early, help nutrient accumulation, and accelerate branch growth. Long-cane training is limited to the training of young trees and the cultivation of skeletal branches. 4) Pruning effect: After pruning there is an obvious yield-increasing effect. In pruned honeysuckle plants, the flowering parts increase, the flower-bearing area enlarges, and the flowering capacity strengthens, so the number of buds is greater and the yield is higher. According to experiments, the yield can generally be increased by more than 10%.