How to prune Schisandra chinensis? Detailed pruning methods
If you want stable and high yields from cultivated Schisandra chinensis, pruning is the key. The author has been cultivating Schisandra chinensis since 1997 and has summarized pruning methods through practice. They are written here for fellow farmers' reference.
1. Row orientation: For Schisandra chinensis cultivation, a north-south row orientation is best, providing good light and ventilation, laying the foundation for stable and high yields.
2. Trunk establishment: Schisandra chinensis seedlings grow vigorously in the summer of the year they are transplanted. Select and keep 3-4 strong side vine branches per plant and train them onto poles. One seedling gets two poles, and each pole carries two main vines. Remove the main stem of the original seedling. When each main vine branch grows to 50 cm long, pinch off the growing tip to establish the trunk, encouraging the buds below the cut to grow young branches (short fruiting branches, also called secondary shoots). When the young branches grow to 30 cm long, select one strong branch and do not pinch its tip, using it as an extended main vine branch. Pinch the tips of the remaining secondary shoots at 20 cm. In that year, only pinch the tips of secondary shoots; do not pinch the extended branch until the Beginning of Autumn.
3. Trellising: Liaodong Schisandra is a monoecious plant, and the number of female flowers is the key to yield. In cultivation management, pruning improves ventilation and light conditions on the trellis surface, enhances leaf photosynthetic efficiency, increases the number of female flowers, and ensures stable and high yields. Pruning builds a good framework for stable and high yields. Before sap flow in early spring, cut back each extended main vine branch from the previous year to 30 cm, and shorten each secondary shoot to 20 cm. If there are no secondary shoots, also cut the extended main vine branch at 50 cm from the ground to establish the trunk. When the new secondary shoots below the cut grow to 20 cm long, select and keep one secondary shoot without pinching its tip as the extended branch, and pinch the tips of all the rest at 20 cm, promoting thick main vine branches and plump flower buds on the secondary shoots. When the extended main vine branch grows to 50 cm high (including the original 30 cm), pinch its tip again, and pinch the remaining secondary shoots again at 30 cm, concentrating nutrients in the main vine branches and secondary shoots. This increases the number of female flowers and makes the flower buds fully mature and plump. The third time, around the Beginning of Autumn, pinch every growing tip, promoting early lignification of the branches to prevent frost damage and dieback of branches.
4. Cyclic renewal: During heavy fruiting, before sap flow in early spring, shorten all secondary shoots (that is, short fruiting branches) to 10-15 cm. During flowering and fruiting, new short fruiting branches can emerge at the junction of the base and the main vine branch. Select and keep strong ones in good positions as fruiting branches for the next year, and promptly remove the rest. When pruning the following year, cut off the old fruiting branches and use new fruiting branches for cyclic renewal. After that, basically all pruning follows this method. In addition, when a main vine branch has climbed past the pole but is not tall enough, the branch will droop down. Promptly cut it off at 10 cm from the top of the pole to prevent a "straw hat" effect that is unfavorable for light penetration.
During the vigorous summer growth period, promptly remove seedlings emerging from the ground from underground stems to prevent them from competing with the mother branches for nutrients. A large number of basal water sprouts will emerge at the base of the Schisandra chinensis plant; remove them while they are still small. If there is a gap in the plants nearby, you may select and keep one strong one and train it onto the trellis.
The main vine branches should not tangle with each other. Secondary shoots should always remain secondary shoots and should not become main vine branches on the trellis. If this happens, correct it promptly.
Schisandra chinensis can be pruned in spring, summer, and autumn, and timely summer pruning is the key to all three seasons. Without summer pruning, not only are stable and high yields out of the question, but you may even see flowers without fruit. Without summer pruning, the branches on the trellis surface compete for growth, becoming messy, tangled, and overly dense, which is unfavorable for flowering and pollination, and yields decline year by year.