Today we will talk about pruning plums, because this is one of the most important care measures, which also has a beneficial effect on yields.
Below I will show you how to properly prune throughout the different life cycles of a tree.
Spring and Fall Pruning Highlights
When starting pruning, it is important to keep in mind the growth shape of the tree that would be preferable for you. The second important point is to minimize the risks of contamination of plums with various diseases, the most common of which are gommosis or some types of rot.
In order not to reduce the immunity of the fruit tree and not to put the risk of these diseases, pruning is worth perform either at the very beginning of spring, while the processes of active sap flow have not yet begun, or wait until June.
You can start spring pruning only when the temperature on the street is at least five degrees with a plus sign.
Gardening equipment should be sterile and very sharp to do less damage to the branches.
All cut off sick and weak branches I take out of the site and be sure to burn them. Do not neglect this action, because diseased shoots can become a source of infection for other trees.
How to work with a young plum
Some inexperienced gardeners believe that young trees grow on their own and do not need to be pruned. This is a dangerous delusion. You will notice the result of this approach over the course of several years, and it will manifest itself with weak shoots and many tops that carry nothing but thickening of the crown. In addition, avoiding pruning will negatively affect yields and fruit quality.
In order to prevent such sad consequences, train yourself to form a tree from the very beginning, as soon as you have acquired a seedling.
Plums have a rather strong root system, thanks to which the seedlings are significantly extended upward already in the first year of life. If you follow all the care requirements, a young plum will develop healthy and bring a rich harvest:
- During the first few years, it is worth directing all your attention to the formation of the main skeletal branches. By the seventh year of life, it is time to cut out the conductors.
- In the future, it is necessary to support the formation of the crown, cut off the shoots that extend from the main trunk at an acute angle. It is equally important to maintain the priority of the central branches in relation to the forks.
For those already experienced in caring for fruit trees, it will be apparent that the principles of pruning plums are similar to those of pruning cherry trees. So, in the first years of life, a crown is formed by cutting off skeletal branches. After that, over the course of several years, it is worth directing efforts to shorten the young shoots, setting them the correct growth vector. Branches on which buds incapable of development are formed are also subject to pruning.
Pruning and caring for plums during fruiting
As soon as the fruit tree begins to bear fruit, pruning should take on a mandatory systematic character. The main task of pruning at this stage is to maintain shoot growth. Their condition now needs to be monitored very closely. Weak and diseased shoots must be urgently removed so that they simply do not take away strength and nutrients from viable ones. If the growth is weak, the skeletal branches can be pruned.
If the growth is about fifteen centimeters, plus death of the bark is observed - it's time for rejuvenating pruning. This procedure consists of trimming the branches of the skeleton above the bifurcation points.
In any case, when pruning, it is important to focus on the characteristics of a particular variety.
Many, especially beginners, gardeners are afraid to perform pruning, considering it a very difficult procedure. However, if you adhere to simple recommendations, pruning correctly will not be difficult, and grateful trees will respond with a rich harvest of juicy fruits.
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