How do you prune Schisandra chinensis? First, understand its growth habits

After wild Schisandra chinensis is cultivated artificially in farmland, in order to control tree vigor, avoid excessive overlap of branches and leaves, and prevent branches from tangling with each other, it should be pruned reasonably according to the growth habits of Schisandra chinensis. This makes the fruiting branches evenly distributed on the trellis surface, improves ventilation and light penetration, improves the field microclimate, enhances disease resistance, reduces nutrient consumption, promotes flower bud differentiation, and increases yield.

1. Heading back

In the same year of sowing, Schisandra chinensis can grow to about 20 cm, and tall ones can reach more than 30 cm. Regardless of whether the seedling is tall or short, large or small, there should be 2 to 4 plump buds at the base, with a length of about 0.5 cm. After transplanting, the basal buds sprout first in spring, grow vigorously, and most can form main vines. The upper buds are shriveled and small, sprout late, and grow weakly, and generally cannot form main vines. Therefore, after transplanting, the plants should be headed back, cutting off the upper stems and leaving only 4 to 5 buds at the base, concentrating nutrients, promoting early and rapid growth of the basal buds, and forming main vines.

2. Selecting vines

After heading back and transplanting, the basal buds sprout and unfold leaves in late April and early May. The general pattern is that basal buds sprout early, grow quickly, grow vigorously, become strong, and form new shoots early. When the new shoots grow to about 50 cm, select and retain two healthy new shoots as main vines. The principle for selecting new shoots as main vines is: first choose the ones with vigorous growth, and on the basis of vigorous growth, then choose those with lower node positions, and remove all the rest. This not only ensures the vigor of the main vines, but also concentrates nutrients to supply the main vines and promotes their growth.

3. Pinching

After transplanting Schisandra chinensis, with good soil fertility, sufficient fertilizer and water, and a high level of management, it can grow to more than 2 m in the same year. When the main vine grows to about 2 m, pinch it to control tree vigor, promote thickening of the main vine, and promote flower bud differentiation, so as to ensure the yield in the second year after planting. Do not pinch too early, to avoid having many male flowers and few female flowers, which reduces yield. After pinching, vigorous plants can produce lateral branches from top to bottom, which develop into fruiting branches, laying the foundation for entering the full fruiting period.

4. Removing tillers

The underground stems of Schisandra chinensis are thick and strong, growing horizontally in the soil layer below 6 cm from the surface, with buds at every node. The roots of Schisandra chinensis that are more than 2 years old can sprout many aboveground buds from the nodes of the underground stems, forming a clumping appearance. These aboveground buds sprout more than 5 days earlier than the main stem in spring, and also grow faster than the main stem, absorbing large amounts of nutrients and water, affecting the growth of the main vines, so they should be cut off in time to avoid nutrient consumption and promote the growth of the main vines and fruiting branches. This can also ensure good ventilation for the main vines and reduce disease incidence.

5. Summer pruning

Schisandra chinensis is a monoecious plant with unisexual flowers. The distribution pattern of male and female flowers on the plant is: the lower part of the main vine and the lateral branches on the lower part of the main vine have many male flowers and very few female flowers. The middle and upper parts of the main vine and the lateral branches on the middle and upper parts of the main vine have many female flowers and few male flowers. On a single lateral branch, the rear end near the main vine also has more male flowers and fewer female flowers. When pruning, do not keep lateral branches at 30 cm from the ground; cut them all off to reduce nutrient consumption, ensure ventilation near the ground, and promote the growth of fruiting branches in the middle and upper parts.

In the first two years after transplanting, the fruiting branches selected and retained on the main vines should not be too dense. The distance between fruiting branches should preferably be about 10 cm. Those that are too dense should be cut off, so that the fruiting branches are arranged alternately on the main vines.

Every year, many new shoots can be produced on the fruiting branches. When the new shoots near the rear end of the main stem grow to about 5 leaves, most of them stop growing and are capped, while the new shoots at the middle and front ends are longer. Schisandra chinensis bears fruit on 2-year-old branches, so a certain number of current-year branches must be cultivated. When the current-year new shoots grow to about 15 cm, select and retain one vigorous new shoot with no pests or diseases at the middle and rear ends as the fruiting branch for the next year, and pinch all the rest after leaving 5 to 6 leaves, to promote the growth of the selected fruiting branch. When the selected fruiting branch grows to 40 to 45 cm, pinch it to promote flower bud differentiation on the selected fruiting branch. When fruiting branches become tangled with each other, they should be separated manually to avoid affecting flower bud differentiation and manual management due to tangling.

6. Winter pruning

The time is from early November to late March of the following year. If winter pruning is too late, the tree will bleed sap, affecting tree vigor. Dead branches, weak branches, diseased branches, and aboveground stems sprouting from the roots should be cut off, and overly dense fruiting branches should be thinned out. In order to control the length of fruiting branches and avoid pruning year after year, cut off the previous year's fruiting branch 2 cm before the fruiting branch selected and retained for the next year, so that the selected fruiting branch for the next year is in the apical dominant position. On a single fruiting branch, the rear end has more male flowers than the front end, and the middle and front ends have more female flowers than the rear end. The fruiting branch should not be cut too short. The selected fruiting branch for the next year should be kept 30 cm from the base, and the front end should be cut off to ensure enough flower buds to bear fruit, so as to obtain the ideal yield.