Key Management Techniques for Jujube Orchards in Late Autumn and Early Winter (Part Four)

Step Four: Winter pruning. Pruning jujube trees can rationalize the tree structure, improve ventilation and light penetration conditions in the canopy and nutrient distribution within the tree, thereby achieving the goals of early fruiting, high yield, stable production, and high quality in jujube trees. Pruning jujube trees in the early fruiting stage: pruning at this stage should focus on thinning, renewal pruning, heading back, and training, carried out according to the "four keep, five remove" principle. The "four keep" means: keep peripheral jujube heads; keep jujube heads on scaffold branches; keep robust, well-developed jujube heads with growth potential; keep jujube heads with numerous secondary branches and fruiting spurs and strong fruiting capacity. The "five remove" means: remove drooping branches and weak branches; remove thin, weak oblique branches and overlapping branches; remove diseased, pest-infested branches and dead branches; remove improperly positioned and poorly developed water sprouts; remove whorled branches, crossing branches, twin branches, and water sprouts.