How to prune apple trees in summer? A full analysis of methods and techniques
How to prune apple trees in summer? Please give guidance. Summer pruning of apple fruit trees is also called growth-period pruning. Pruning during the growth period cuts off branches with leaves, which has a relatively large impact on fruit tree growth, so it should be kept as light as possible. In addition, summer pruning is auxiliary work to winter pruning. It promptly keeps the superior and removes the inferior among newly sprouted shoots, regulates the growth and development of the retained new shoots, and corrects their growth posture and direction. In this way, winter pruning can avoid heavy cutting and chopping, which would cause more damage to the tree body. The specific pruning techniques include the following:
How to prune apple trees in summer? Please give guidance
Summer pruning of apple fruit trees is also called growth-period pruning. Pruning during the growth period cuts off branches with leaves, which has a relatively large impact on fruit tree growth, so it should be kept as light as possible. In addition, summer pruning is auxiliary work to winter pruning. It promptly keeps the superior and removes the inferior among newly sprouted shoots, regulates the growth and development of the retained new shoots, and corrects their growth posture and direction. In this way, winter pruning can avoid heavy cutting and chopping, which would cause more damage to the tree body. The specific pruning techniques include the following:
Notching: Notching, also called eye injury, means that before fruit trees sprout in spring, at 0.2-0.3 cm above (or below) a branch or bud, a crescent-shaped cut is made with a knife or shears, reaching deep into the xylem. When a cut is made above a bud or branch, part of the nutrients and water cannot rise past the wound and instead flows into the bud or branch, thereby promoting vigorous growth; conversely, when the operation is performed below a bud or branch, the purpose is exactly the opposite, and it can reduce its growth vigor. Notching has a significant effect on increasing the number of branches in young vigorous trees.
Removing sprouts: Removing useless or harmful branches from spring to early summer is called removing sprouts. The methods of removing sprouts are as follows: 1. After a water sprout or large branch is cut off, many suckers cluster near the cut; they should be removed when they first sprout. 2. When a young tree is being trained, sprouting branches that hinder the growth of the trunk or the extension shoots of scaffold branches should be removed as early as possible to favor the growth of the trunk or scaffold branches. 3. When there are too many new shoots serving as side branches or produced by side branches, part of the sprouting branches should be removed to avoid dense growth. 4. For fruit trees that bear fruit on short fruiting branches, if short branches are too densely grown, they often restrain each other, so the buds on the short branches cannot fully differentiate into flower buds. Therefore, weak and small sprouting branches should be thinned out so that the retained short branches can develop into fruiting branches. Removing sprouts mainly reduces useless consumption of nutrients and ensures the growth of useful branches and buds as well as ventilation and light penetration in the canopy. For buds that sprout excessively on the back after branch bending, they can be wiped off every 20-30 cm. Sometimes, to protect overly large pruning or saw cuts, 1-2 relatively flat and slanting buds can be selected and retained from the sprouted suckers, and all the rest wiped off.
Multiple ring notching: To prevent bareness, before sprouting, treat branches with relatively strong vigor. That is, at places where branches are needed, use a ringing knife or pruning shears to make a ring cut reaching deep into the xylem; a ring cut can also be made every 15-20 cm. This method can promote the growth of a large number of medium and long branches and prevent the occurrence of bare pole branches.
Girdling: Also called ring bark removal, it means removing a ring of bark at 3-5 cm from the base of a branch, with the peeling width about 1/8-1/10 of the diameter at the peeled site of the branch being peeled. The widest must not be greater than 1 cm, and the narrowest must not be less than 1 mm. It is more suitable if it can heal within 20-30 days after peeling. For relatively wide peeling openings, plastic film or kraft paper can be used for wrapping, and the wrapping should be removed after 5 days. It is mainly used on vigorous branches of young vigorous trees; thin and weak branches are not suitable for girdling. When girdling the trunk, scaffold branches, large auxiliary branches, and branch groups, it should be handled according to circumstances. Because girdling intercepts the downward transport of assimilates produced by leaves, root growth is affected; in turn, the absorption capacity of roots weakens, which in turn slows and weakens the growth of new shoots. Therefore, when applying girdling, fertilizer and water must be increased so that branches grow robustly. To improve the effect of girdling, foliar fertilizer spraying can be carried out on girdled branches.
Pinching: Removing the young tender tip of a new shoot during the growing season is called pinching. To control growth, pinching new shoots is beneficial for nutrient accumulation and flower bud formation, increases the fruit-setting rate, and promotes fruit enlargement. Pinching can promote vigorous branches to increase branching order and achieve the purpose of moderating growth vigor. From May to June, pinching vigorous shoots 2-3 times consecutively is beneficial for cultivating branch groups and promoting flower formation; pinching competing branches and upright branches can strengthen the growth of extension shoots and cultivate robust branch groups; pinching at the base of autumn shoots in early August can form 2-3 secondary shoot flower buds at the junction of spring and autumn shoots; when extension shoots grow to 60 cm, pinching can use secondary branches to expand the canopy and accelerate formation; in the canopy of trees in the early fruiting stage, for relatively vigorous vegetative branches growing in the inner canopy, pinching can promote branching to form fruiting branch groups, thereby increasing fruiting.
Twisting shoots: From late May to early to mid-June, for upright branches on the back, competing branches, densely crowded branches, etc., at 5-6 cm from the base of the new shoot, at the semi-lignified part, hold it with the hand and first twist it 90°, then twist it 180° obliquely downward, making it droop, and fix it at the branch fork. After twisting, the vegetative growth vigor of the branch is checked, nutrients accumulate locally, and there is an effect of promoting short branches and promoting flower buds. After twisting, the twisted part should remain round and smooth, with no splitting or breaking, and the leaves should not be damaged.
Branch bending: It can be divided into spring branch bending and summer branch bending. The purpose of branch bending is to correct the extension angle and direction of large branches. Different branch bending times achieve different effects. For spring branch bending of young vigorous trees, carry it out after sap flow and before sprouting. The main purpose is to open the angle, promote sprouting, and prevent bareness. For scaffold branches, after branch bending, the base angle is required to be 45-50 degrees, the waist angle 60-70 degrees, and auxiliary branches should be bent to a horizontal state. There should be padding at the junction of branch and rope, and the tying site should be loose. While bending branches to open the angle, attention should be paid to adjusting the extension direction of the branches. The method of branch bending from late June to early to mid-July is the same as spring branch bending. Its main purpose is to strengthen flower bud differentiation, solve canopy ventilation and light penetration, improve fruit quality, and improve coloring.
Click to get more apple tree planting techniques
Click to get more fruit planting techniques