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Posted on 2:28 PM by Wanto and filed under
By Dickson Kettle
The compost fruit grower with his desire to produce the best fruit (organically) has often the energy and the know-how to get the maximum out of a piece of land-with the minimum of labour. The following intensive systems of apple culture have been designed with the idea of producing superior 'extra select' apples, not only high in colour but rich in sugars also. It enables a man or woman to manage not only the land but the trees as well, without having to use tall ladders either for spraying or for picking.
The result of pruning the 3rd-year lateral back hard is that a new lateral growth will be formed from the short snag the following season so as to start 'the pruning cycle' all over again.
The 'Pillar' tree, therefore, it consists of a strong upright stem carrying a definite number of 3-year laterals which have just fruited-an equal number of 2-year laterals ready to carry the crop for the following year plus an indefinite number of 1-year laterals.
Any secondary growths that develop on these laterals are pruned back to within an inch of their point of origin in October. When the trees are 7 feet high, the main leader growing upwards should be cut back by half in May and from then onwards all growths developing at the top of the tree should be pruned back to within inch of their base each mid-May.
In addition, when the leaders of the side branches prove to be 18 inches away from the main stem, these should be cut back to within -A- inch of their base in May. The idea is to keep the trees compact and not too tall.
The leading shoot is pruned to build up the central stem and the lateral growths are pruned to carry the fruit. There should be a strong leading shoot at the top of the young tree and a varying number of laterals which have developed below this leader. The leading shoot is cut in half to just above a bud. The first lateral below the leading shoot is cut back to within 2 inch of the main stem. Only one of the remaining laterals is left unpruned. This should be of moderate length. The remainder are all cut back to within inch of the main stem.
The result of pruning the 3rd-year lateral back hard is that a new lateral growth will be formed from the short snag the following season so as to start 'the pruning cycle' all over again.
The 'Pillar' tree, therefore, it consists of a strong upright stem carrying a definite number of 3-year laterals which have just fruited-an equal number of 2-year laterals ready to carry the crop for the following year plus an indefinite number of 1-year laterals.
Any secondary growths that develop on these laterals are pruned back to within an inch of their point of origin in October. When the trees are 7 feet high, the main leader growing upwards should be cut back by half in May and from then onwards all growths developing at the top of the tree should be pruned back to within inch of their base each mid-May.
In addition, when the leaders of the side branches prove to be 18 inches away from the main stem, these should be cut back to within -A- inch of their base in May. The idea is to keep the trees compact and not too tall.
The leading shoot is pruned to build up the central stem and the lateral growths are pruned to carry the fruit. There should be a strong leading shoot at the top of the young tree and a varying number of laterals which have developed below this leader. The leading shoot is cut in half to just above a bud. The first lateral below the leading shoot is cut back to within 2 inch of the main stem. Only one of the remaining laterals is left unpruned. This should be of moderate length. The remainder are all cut back to within inch of the main stem.
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