Any fruit tree requires care, and the plum is no exception. The health of the plant, its life span, and, of course, the size and quality of the crop depend on proper pruning.
Fruit-bearing plums can be cut in 2 periods: in autumn-starting from October and until the coldest, until the air temperature drops below -10°C, and in spring – from mid-March until the buds bloom. We always start with sanitary pruning.
Sanitary pruning
Remove dry, sick, broken shoots. Pay attention to the trunk — whether there are branches that depart at an acute angle, as in the photo below.
With a heavy load of fruits or, for example, snow, such branches easily break off, leaving serious lacerations. It can be difficult to heal them, it can take more than one season. Therefore, such branches need to be removed.
See if there is a similar situation inside the crown and in the upper part – at the central conductor. If there are approximately equal in thickness branches that diverge at an acute angle, then one of them should either be completely removed, or transferred to the side — a weaker and thinner one.
The ideal height of the stem (trunk from the ground to the first skeletal branch) is 50-70 cm. But it happens that in this part there are branches that lag behind in development and interfere with the maintenance of the tree. It is better to remove them, and this should be done with a cut “on the ring”. You can not leave the stump, as it can become a gateway for the penetration of diseases.
Forming
If necessary, lighten the crown. If you see that there are several parallel growing branches that shade one another, then you need to get rid of some of them. Still, with a strong thickening of the fruit on them will not be. Do not forget, in this case, too, you need to cut into a ring.
We look at the central conductor. If it has grown above 3-3. 5 m, then it is necessary to shorten it. Cut over the side branch, located as horizontally as possible. Thus, we limit the growth of the tree to certain sizes — so that it is convenient to work with it.
If the lateral skeletal branches of the tree have reached 1.5 m or more, then it is necessary to shorten them. Cut into a side thin twig, extending to the side or up. After finishing working with the cutting tool, cover the wounds on the tree, the diameter of which is more than 2.5 cm, garden brew.
In the process of trimming you can see the mummified fruits affected with brown rot or fruit rot. Such sources of diseases can not be left on the tree, do not be lazy to collect and destroy them. Take care of the fruit trees in your garden, and they will not remain in debt — they will thank you with a high-quality and abundant harvest.
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