[Apple-Crop] Prune dormat newly planted trees?

[David Doud]

Hello Doug - - 

I’m surprised no one has jumped into this yet - 

I'll take a swing at  it, be assured others will hold different opinions - 

So - I think all would agree that different varieties have different growth habits and so respond in differing fashion to manipulation - so, ‘one size fits all’ doesn’t totally apply - that said, fruiting spurs develop on two year old wood - if you remove all the 1 year old wood you push fruiting back a year - - 

When your trees were dug they lost a percentage of their roots - it’s generally appropriate to reduce the top to ‘balance’ the shoot/root ratio - 

Remove any limbs/twigs that are too low for your system - - and also any with poor crotch angles that cannot be compensated for by spreaders/tying/etc

Then it’s a matter of evaluation - is there a manipulation or would no manipulation result in blooming/fruiting spurs next year in the ‘sweet volume’ where you want to see fruit? - - here’s where the difference between Golden Delicious and Fuji (for example) is huge - Goldens will develop spurs on two year old wood near the trunk while Fuji is much less likely to - - managing these situations is why horticulturalists make the big $$$

Anyway - for a ‘one size fits all’ recommendation, after the above, remove the 2-4 largest branches - consider bending the ones you leave if they reach into the next tree’s space or into the drive road - 

regards  -

David Doud - once stayed in a Holiday Inn Express...
1/2” green, rain, mud, bah - 



> On Apr 3, 2017, at 9:58 AM, Doug Nelson <Doug.Nelson at nelsonmultimedia.com> wrote:
> 
> Good Morning,
> 
> I am a new apple grower. I expanded my orchard from 500 trees to 5000 trees this spring. Most of the 4500 new trees I have just finished planting are still dormant.
> 
> I am growing tall spindle on B9 and M9 root stocks on 5 wire trellis system. 
> 
> Many of the trees have feathers that are too big for the tall spindle system.
> 
> Should I do a late pruning of these branches that are too big while the plants are still dormant or wait till next winter?
> 
> The internet says conflicting things.  I think it would be smart to remove branches so the trees dont waste a years growth. 
> 
> I plan on notching these trees every 4th bud two weeks before full bloom. 
> 
> -- 
> Doug Nelson
> 
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