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How hard can you prune 2-3 year old apricot?
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Posted by dancerdeb 23 (My Page) on Sat, Jan 28, 12 at 16:58
I just read the advice to prune during Santa Ana's; that would be now. Our newish tree had tons of fruit last year - grew like crazy and branched out towards the sun, over our tiny grassy area. How hard can we prune to shape to encourage more vertical growth, or are we already too late for this year?
Thanks much. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: How hard can you prune 2-3 year old apricot?
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| In California it is recommended that Apricots be pruned in August to prevent Eutypa dieback, a serious problem with Apricots. Al |
RE: How hard can you prune 2-3 year old apricot?
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| I looked up Eutypa dieback would a pruning seal spray prevent that? Even in August there could be rain. |
RE: How hard can you prune 2-3 year old apricot?
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The issue is more "cold and wet" rather than "wet". I lost my 2-year-old Robada because I pruned in January---and it had grown to a healthy 7-8 feet tall the year before. I topped it to keep it at a more-manageable 5 feet, and by April the cut top was gurgling brown ooze that smelled just like old beer. It never leafed out again. :(
Now I summer-prune only for apricots. Carla in Sac |
RE: How hard can you prune 2-3 year old apricot?
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| I heard topping is bad for trees, instead maybe get a dwarf tree? |
re: topping
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Topping is bad for trees which have a columnar growth, such as pine trees.
Fruit trees are always severely pruned and trained to grow in certain directions their entire lives, so as to make fruit easier to pick, to keep trunks from getting sunburned, to improve fruiting, etc. Most commercial fruit trees are cut off at 2 feet immediately after planting, so as to force the trees to grow into a vase-like form. If you never "topped" a fruit tree, you would soon be picking apples at 25 feet in the air!(on seedling rootstock, anyway)
Carla in Sac
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RE: How hard can you prune 2-3 year old apricot?
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| Carla your experience with the foul smelling ooze sounds more like the bacterial disease "Slime Flux" Al |
RE: How hard can you prune 2-3 year old apricot?
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| So topping make fruit trees more like a bush then a tree? |
RE: How hard can you prune 2-3 year old apricot?
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| Most sources I have read recommend pruning in the summer. You should cut back about 20% of the new growth. This link gives more information. http://groworganic.com/organic-gardening/articles/reasons-for-summer-pruning-fruit-trees |
Here is a link that might be useful: What's Growing On?
RE: How hard can you prune 2-3 year old apricot?
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| No, tropicalthought, pruning, if done properly, produces an "open vase shape" tree that will bear more fruit and be healthier. It makes them look prettier too. The branches are produced low if you cut off the leader when the tree is young. Here are some photos. |
Here is a link that might be useful: images of pruned prunus
RE: How hard can you prune 2-3 year old apricot?
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| Ditto all the comments about pugging your fruit trees. All of mine have been topped to about 3 to 4 feet. I am growing them in an intensive planting system, which Dave Wilson promotes (no doubt to sell more trees, but it works for me, since I want small trees, small individual crops, lots of varieties). Here's a link to Dave Wilson Nursery's info about how to plant and prune fruit trees. It really works well for those of us with limited space, but would like to have maybe more than one peach, plum, nectarine or apricot tree. I have about 20 trees lining a walkway that leads down to the lower part of my yard. It's my little "Walk and Pick" orchard. All my trees will be kept at 8' and below, so I can just reach up and pick my fruit without using a ladder. And, if you look closely at your bare root fruit tree, you'll probably see it may already have been pugged or topped :-) Dave Wilson also has a great YouTube channel as well: http://www.davewilson.com/video/video_Index.html Patty S. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Dave Wilson Nursery: How to Plant a Fruit Tree
RE: How hard can you prune 2-3 year old apricot?
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- Posted by hoovb z9 Southern CA (My Page) on
Fri, Feb 3, 12 at 18:30
| I attended a talk by a Dave Wilson rep and it was very informative. This page from above site explains the method very well. Rather than having a huge amount of fruit all at once within a two or three week span, having a variety of small trees can give you modest amounts of fruit for months and months. |
Here is a link that might be useful: backyard orchard culture
RE: How hard can you prune 2-3 year old apricot?
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| That is a good guide, but still I would be too nervous to cut the tree myself. I don't have an apricot, but my friend has one. A mistake would ruin the tree if you were trying to top it. |
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