How to prune an apple tree
The editor shares with everyone the experience of pruning apple trees and the techniques for pruning and green plant maintenance. It's some very useful knowledge, so it's recommended to save it for later reference!
Starting from December each year, it is necessary to carry out the winter shaping and pruning of various fruit trees. How to correctly shape and prune apple trees? This article offers some suggestions on the current issues of apple tree shaping and pruning.
(1) Orchard pruning should be adapted to local conditions without blindly following trends
As early as the 1950s, when China was in a period of rapid development of apples, in the 1970s and 1980s, determining the tree shape was the primary issue to be resolved. Fruit tree workers from various apple-producing areas in the country, based on surveys and experimental research, proposed many tree shapes, such as small curved semi-circular, cruciform, three-stemmed open center, two-layered open center, main trunk, and scattered layered shapes. As for which tree shape is better, each has examples of high yields. After several years of debate and research, a consensus was reached that any tree shape can yield high and quality fruit, but they all share common characteristics: "low trunk and short crown, fewer main branches and more lateral ones, reasonable arrangement of fruiting branch groups, and full use of supporting branches." Simply put, there are few large branches and many small ones, "looking bright from afar and bustling up close." These consensus principles are still the ones we should seriously follow.
However, due to different soil and climate conditions, varying fertilization and irrigation conditions, different management levels, and varying original tree shapes, it is inappropriate to present one's own perceived best tree shape for thousands of households to imitate and make major changes. High-level managers can understand the characteristics of new tree shapes without causing losses, while low-level ones may make major cuts, imitating mechanically. In the end, the tree shape may look better, but yield drops significantly, and profitability is out of the question. Some orchards, after reshaping, may see a slight decrease in yield but an increase in the proportion of high-quality fruit, thus improving profitability. On the other hand, some orchards are left with damaged trees and sparse branches, close to being destroyed, with no yield and even worse quality. Therefore, it is said that orchards should be observed and studied seriously, solving problems as they arise, without blindly following trends. If there are no problems, continue to follow the original plan step by step.
(2) Tree shapes change with different periods
Tree shape cultivation is a dynamic process, meaning that in production, the tree shape is not constant and should change with the growth of the tree age and the expansion of the canopy. This is not only an improvement in production technology but also a deepening understanding of the objective world and meeting the changing market demands.
Generally speaking, under normal tree growth conditions, during the early fruiting stage (before 7-8 years old), the main trunk shape, also known as the free spindle shape, can be adopted, with more small main branches arranged on the upright central leader, up to 12-15. After entering the full fruiting stage, it is gradually transformed into a scattered layered shape, which involves having three main branches at 80-100 cm above the trunk, two main branches at 100-120 cm on the three main branches as the second layer, with the middle branches compressed into supporting branches, one main branch left at 50 cm on the second layer, and another one above 50 cm as the fourth layer. The whole tree has 3-2-1-1 main branches, totaling 7, with a tree height of 300-350 cm. After another 7-8 years, depending on the lighting conditions, it is gradually transformed into a two-layer open center shape with 5 main branches or an open center shape with 3 main branches. If a planting method with wide row spacing and narrow plant spacing is used, after the full fruiting stage, it is transformed into a fan shape with 2-2-1-1, and then into a 2-2 two-layer open center shape or a 2-main branch open center shape. This planting method is beneficial for inter-row mechanical tillage.
It is important to coordinate winter shaping and pruning techniques with summer pruning, and it must be carried out on the basis of strengthened fertilization and irrigation management, along with a series of summer management practices such as pest control.
The above is the complete content on how to prune apple trees and the techniques for pruning and management. Green plant enthusiasts may find it useful for reference.