Looking for suggestions on pruning this Tikal Sapodilla

[TonyinCC]

I planted this tree about 6 months ago into the ground, I got a reduced price since it had some damage to trunk about 3 feet off the ground. It has been slowly healing over, if I leave it alone in a year or so it should be healed up. It has replaced most of its leaves since planting and actively growing from the tips. It has been blooming almost continuously but not setting fruit yet.
  I am more concerned about the leggy growth habit. I am wondering if the tree will put out vigorous growth if it is cut back severely. I tipped the growth at the top of the tree hoping to get more branching but nothing happened in over a month so I just took off about 3 feet from the top before taking this picture. It seems like there are no visible buds on older wood and I am afraid to hack away at existing branches unless I am told it will be ok. Was thinking about cutting most of the branches back about halfway or more, hoping to get more branching to fill the empty spaces, but after no regrowth from tipping the top, am now unsure.
 Would I be better off just cutting back the main trunk to below the damaged area at around 3 foot height? If it is better than having a top heavy tree in the future I am patient enough to amputate the top half of the tree....
Tree is now about 9 feet tall.

[gnappi]

My Makok was also fast to flower, but it was also slow to fruit. Patience is the operative word waiting for fruit.

As far as your leggy situation goes, I see lots of branches that will if trimmed fatten up the canopy nicely. I'd start by chopping those and tip pruning some of the most long branches (and short ones) to promote branching. If you keep those lower branches, when it does fruit the saps will wind up in the dirt.

For me I never allow branching less than 4'-5' or so in order for me to be able to move freely around and under it.

So you know, I don't let trunk wounds of any kind go unattended, I spray some tar type pruning sealer on it, and it works for me.

 

[johnb51]

I would get rid of all the low branches.  With Alano the branches grow horizontally, filling out very nicely.  I would think Tikal would do the same.

[bsbullie]

I would get rid of all the low branches.  With Alano the branches grow horizontally, filling out very nicely.  I would think Tikal would do the same.

Nope, Alano has a different growth habit.  A Tikal will not grow in the same fashion.

[johnb51]

I would get rid of all the low branches.  With Alano the branches grow horizontally, filling out very nicely.  I would think Tikal would do the same.

Nope, Alano has a different growth habit.  A Tikal will not grow in the same fashion.

OK, so what do you suggest?

[Finca La Isla]

I don't think it looks so bad.  If you have recently cut a good amount off the top I would wait a while, be patient.  When you quickly remove a lot of foliage you can cause root die-back or at least a dormancy in the roots.  Take it a step at a time with  a slow growing tree.  It probably makes sense to remove the lower branches but, for now, their foliage can help give the strength to bud out where you want.
Make sure the damaged trunk section is healing nicely.
Peter

[bsbullie]

I would get rid of all the low branches.  With Alano the branches grow horizontally, filling out very nicely.  I would think Tikal would do the same.

Nope, Alano has a different growth habit.  A Tikal will not grow in the same fashion.

OK, so what do you suggest?

I agree with Peter.  It doesn't look too bad.  Maybe do some minor tip pruning methodically to promote brancing when and where needed but adequate water and fertilizer and time fir it to fill out and mature.  I would not prune those lower branches of mf at this time.  Maybe as the tree matures they could be trimmed up or possibly removed but not at this time.

[TonyinCC]

So when you guys are talking about tip pruning you mean JUST the actual growing tip? The tree will still be leggy and mostly empty even if there is branching from where the tips are now, at least for a while. The branches have a very willowy growth habit. Ideally I would like to prune all the main branches back to about a foot of length if feasible, just unsure if I will get growth out of them after pruning. Maybe one at a time over a period of time to leave enough foliage on the tree.
 Almost all the branches would be bare if I pruned them back just a couple inches, since almost all the leaves are very near the tips.
When I first pruned the top couple feet of the tree, I cut all those branches back a few inches to a foot leaving bare tips, and nothing grew back from them even though it was at the peak of the rainy season. I gave it almost a month and then took 3 feet off the top of the tree.
Also, the trunk damage at about 3 feet was about one third to one half of the diameter deep,  I worry about the tree getting too top heavy and very vulnerable to wind breakage in a storm, that is why I was considering a drastic amputation. It is healing over well, in 2 more years it should not be an issue but it will snap at that point if I get a bad storm before then.
If I didn't have the lower trunk damage and risk of losing the whole top, I would probably let the tree umbrella out with frequent detail pruning from 5-6 feet high. If I do the drastic amputation, as long as I get regrowth, in 2 years I will at least have the chance to select branches to get a more bushy but very strong tree. Usually I am pretty confident pruning trees and have good instincts in that regard but I admit this tree still has me baffled as to the best course of action.

[achetadomestica]

If you are concerned about a weak area 3 feet up you could stake the tree with a sturdy pole to insure the tree
has time to heal. I have 9 sapodillas and they are challenging. Two of them are silas woods rejects that were 5 dollars each
because the graft was so bad. One of those I whacked the top off and now it has low even branches. I think you have
mentioned Fruitscapes before. They have some older trees you could look at and ask them specifically if they have an
older Tikal. Two knowledgable people have said slow down give the tree a chance to fill out after the 3 feet has been taken off.
A month is not a long time for a sapodilla. I agree I think the tree looks fine. I wish a couple of mine looked that good.
By the way I picked a huge Haysa today, the biggest ever. A couple days I wonder if I will be able to eat the whole thing
at once. I can't wait.

[TonyinCC]

Thanks to all for their help. I guess I will be conservative and just mostly leave the tree alone for now.  Just need one more question clarified. When tip pruning sapodillas on hardened older branches, is it just the tiny growing tip, or the whole terminal leaf cluster that gets pruned?
 This is one of those Fruitscapes trees....  They did have one older Sapodilla tree that got broken off at about 4 feet and had put out nice growth near the broken top afterwards, but it was not a Tikal.
That was the tree that gave me the drastic amputation idea, it looks like it will be a really nice tree in a few years.  I guess managing my Tikal tree like that can still be a plan B if we get hit by a really bad storm that even staking won't protect.....

[achetadomestica]

I meant to look at the sapodillas in Fruitscapes orchards that have been in the ground for a long time. They have
so many cool things but I have seen sapodillas that are around 20 feet there. Just to give you an idea what
a full grown tree will look like. I remember seeing very round full trees and also some taller more leggy trees.
I am not sure how large a tikal will get? I thought it was described as one of the dwarf trees? Hopefully if you
see mature trees it will help you with your pruning down the road?

[Finca La Isla]

With sapodillas and Mamey we just pinch the very tip, leaving the dense cluster of leaves that are directly below it.
Peter

[TonyinCC]

I did look at the obviously untouched mature trees in the ground and that is what made me think drastic pruning early on this particular tree would be a good idea. Tikal seems to be one of the lankier cultivars if left unpruned. There is no place in my yard for a 20 foot tree holding a dozen fruit.
I will be patient but will likely be making a lot of heading cuts on new lanky growth to thicken branches and encourage them to branch more.. The tree will have to behave itself or die trying...... I also planted 3 gal Tikal and Hasya trees at the same time, it will be very interesting to see how trees shaped from an early age compare a few years from now to a lanky older tree that has gone through rehab.
For now I think l willl just pinch the growing tips by hand to try to encourage branching.