How to prune a wax apple tree? Detailed explanation of the key pruning techniques
Wax apple, also known as water rose apple, Malay apple, and water pomegranate, is a tropical fruit that is currently very popular in the market. In China, wax apple is mainly grown in the Taiwan region, but it is also partly grown in Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Hainan and other places, and the results have been quite good. To improve the yield and quality of wax apple, we need to prune the wax apple trees scientifically. So how should wax apple trees be pruned? Let's learn about it together below.
1. Pruning principles
If we want wax apple trees to enter the fruiting stage as early as possible and bear more fruit, then scientific pruning is needed. When pruning, we generally follow certain pruning principles so that the yield of wax apple can be guaranteed. The main principles of pruning are generally low trunk, short canopy, few large branches, many small branches, knowing the right measure, and appropriate light or heavy pruning. In plain terms, this means shortening the length of the trunk and lowering the height of the canopy; the primary branches on the trunk should not be too many, and the spatial structure of the secondary, tertiary and other branches should be reasonably distributed; young trees and wax apple trees with poor growth should mainly be lightly pruned, while vigorous trees and old trees should be heavily pruned, reasonably regulating tree vigor.
2. Pruning methods
Wax apple trees need to be pruned according to certain methods, and the pruning methods for fruit trees are generally similar. The main pruning methods are heading back, thinning out, renewal pruning, bud removal and shoot promotion, girdling, branch bending, branch twisting, etc. Heading back means cutting off part of a branch; thinning out mainly means pruning away old branches, diseased and pest-infested branches, weak branches, crowded branches, water sprouts, and messy branches; renewal pruning mainly means pruning aged trees; bud removal and shoot promotion means removing newly sprouted tender buds to promote the growth of branches and leaves in all directions; girdling means making a ring cut on the lower part of the trunk to promote fruit set; branch bending is mainly to adjust the distance between branches and improve light exposure.
3. Pruning young trees
The young tree period generally refers to the period from after planting until before fruiting. Pruning wax apple during the young tree period is mainly to form a complete tree shape. After planting, according to the growth of the wax apple tree, we should first keep the primary trunk. When the wax apple tree grows to about one meter, remove the terminal bud to promote the growth of the secondary trunk, and then continue progressively until a complete open tree shape is formed. Before the young tree shape has formed and it has not yet entered the fruiting stage, we still need to prune it appropriately. At this time, the main task is to prune away newly sprouted branches and water sprouts, mainly cultivating fruiting mother branches.
4. Pruning fruiting trees
For fruiting wax apple trees, we mainly carry out reasonable pruning and shaping to expand the canopy, renew fruiting branches, promote flowering and fruiting, and thereby increase yield. For wax apple trees in the fruiting stage, we generally need to prune three times each year, namely spring pruning, summer pruning and winter pruning. Pruning during this period mainly removes diseased and pest-infested branches, dead branches, old branches, crowded branches, water sprouts, upright branches, drooping branches, crossing branches, weak branches, etc. One more thing to note is that spring pruning must be done early, preferably when the branches and leaves are budding; summer pruning cannot be done during the flowering period; winter pruning should also be done early, as this helps the wax apple tree overwinter safely.
The pruning techniques for wax apple are basically consistent with general fruit tree pruning, so many methods can be used in common. But when pruning, what we need to pay attention to is grasping the timing of pruning.