What are the summer pruning methods for sweet cherry trees?
What summer pruning methods are there for sweet cherry trees? Please give an introduction to the pruning methods. Summer pruning of sweet cherry is best done after harvest, while the branches have not yet fully lignified. The main methods include branch bending, pinching, shoot tipping, branch thinning, and girdling. 1. Branch bending. Winter pruning alone cannot solve the tree's ventilation and light conditions in one go...
What summer pruning methods are there for sweet cherry trees? Please give an introduction to the pruning methods
Summer pruning of sweet cherry is best done after harvest, while the branches have not yet fully lignified. The main methods include branch bending, pinching, shoot tipping, branch thinning, and girdling.
1. Branch bending. Winter pruning alone cannot solve the tree's ventilation and light conditions in one go. If the angle is overly emphasized during winter pruning of some large trees, cutting them out becomes necessary, causing unnecessary damage to the tree. In summer, branch bending can solve problems that winter pruning cannot, reducing the amount of branch thinning. When branches are bent at this time, the tree's response is relatively mild and water sprouts are less likely to emerge on the upper side. The bending angle for main branches and lateral branches should be 60-70 degrees, while other branches can be bent to 80-90 degrees.
2. Pinching and shoot tipping. Pinching means removing the tender tip of a new shoot before it hardens. Pinching young, vigorous sweet cherry trees controls excessive shoot growth, increases branching orders and shoot numbers, promotes the conversion of shoot types, and speeds up canopy expansion. It can save nutrients, promote flower bud formation, and improve fruit yield and quality. Shoot tipping means cutting off part of a new shoot, mainly done when the new shoot can no longer be pinched or when expanding the canopy. Because the pruning severity of shoot tipping is greater than that of pinching, its effect is also stronger.
3. Branch thinning. Summer branch thinning is generally carried out after fruit harvest. Its purpose is to remove overly dense, overly vigorous perennial large branches that seriously affect light, so as to improve ventilation and light conditions inside the canopy, balance tree vigor, and allow wounds to heal easily after harvest.
4. Girdling. Girdling sweet cherry trees can promote flower bud formation, increase fruit set rate and fruit quality, with particularly obvious effects on improving flesh firmness and sugar content. However, after girdling a sweet cherry tree, the wound heals slowly. Be careful that the girdling width does not exceed 0.5 cm. Also, because sweet cherry tree vigor varies, especially in trees with little organic fertilizer applied, gummosis is likely to occur. Therefore, it should be used with caution in production, and only applied after gaining some experience.
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