Author Topic: help pruning young cherimoya  (Read 4827 times)

Zafra

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help pruning young cherimoya
« on: October 08, 2017, 08:38:26 AM »
Hi all, I have a young (flowered this year for the first time) seedling cherimoya that grew straight up like a stick with all its leaves at the top. It can't stand up on its own it's so long and spindly, but I'm afraid to cut it back making it a leafless stick. Should I cut it? Will it survive? And if so, to what height? It's over 4 feet tall now, maybe close to 5. Thanks!

simon_grow

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Re: help pruning young cherimoya
« Reply #1 on: October 08, 2017, 10:26:48 AM »
Take a picture and post it here so we have a reference. As you found out, Cherimoya naturally grow very vertical and scaffold branches should be low to the ground so that secondary and tertiary branches will also be low. You want the canopy to be low in order to facilitate easier hand pollination and harvesting.

I usually top off my Cherimoya at around 18 inches from the ground in order to form the future scaffold branches. Our heat wave in SoCal just past and this should be the last heat wave for the year so you can probably prune now and not have to worry about sunburn.

Maybe Har or Frank can chime in as they are much more knowledgeable about Annonas than myself.

You must ask yourself what is the ultimate shape and size for this tree, not just now but 5-10 years from now. Much of the best fruit comes from thicker wood off of larger branches. Selecting fruiting sites or hand pollinating only within the dense canopy ensures your fruit will be protected from sunburn. By forming more branching structures lower down, you give yourself more fruiting sites in the future.

It is important to remember that fruiting wood is constantly moving outward as the trees mature but trees are living dynamic systems and we have the ability to perform annual maintenance and rejuvenation pruning in order to bring that fruiting wood back in.

Simon

Zafra

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Re: help pruning young cherimoya
« Reply #2 on: October 08, 2017, 10:35:14 AM »
I'll take a picture tomorrow and post it. My main concern is if I top it it won't bounce back, but I get the impression that probably isn't going to be a problem. So maybe 18" would be a good height. Thanks for the response!

spaugh

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Re: help pruning young cherimoya
« Reply #3 on: October 08, 2017, 10:39:24 AM »
He is in Venezuela so I guess its about to be spring and summer there.  Now is a good time to cut it.  It will come back, dont worry about that.  They branch right back out.

Edit:  had to look at where you are on a map.  Looks like northern hemisphere just barely.  So kind of always warm?  Do you get any cool weather there?
« Last Edit: October 08, 2017, 10:47:24 AM by spaugh »
Brad Spaugh

Zafra

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Re: help pruning young cherimoya
« Reply #4 on: October 08, 2017, 08:34:00 PM »
Yes we're just in the northern hemisphere. We're at about 900 meters above sea level (I think we're just barely high enough to be able to fruit cherimoya) so we can get cool nights especially in December and January. Other than that, always warm, often hot. We're going to transition from rainy season to dry around the end of the year.

Tomorrow I'll get a picture up here, see if that helps.
Thanks guys!
(btw I'm a she :) )

behlgarden

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Re: help pruning young cherimoya
« Reply #5 on: October 09, 2017, 10:21:43 AM »
Hi all, I have a young (flowered this year for the first time) seedling cherimoya that grew straight up like a stick with all its leaves at the top. It can't stand up on its own it's so long and spindly, but I'm afraid to cut it back making it a leafless stick. Should I cut it? Will it survive? And if so, to what height? It's over 4 feet tall now, maybe close to 5. Thanks!

Dont cut now as we are entering into winter. wait for it to go dormant and complete leaf drop, say March or so, defoliate completely in March if leaves dont drop. Then cut the trunk down to may be 24 inches tall max, it will get you multiple branching you are looking for without risking tree death. Cherimoyas are very forgiving in dormancy and can even be barerooted.

Zafra

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Re: help pruning young cherimoya
« Reply #6 on: October 09, 2017, 10:36:55 AM »
Ah ok! Looks like it's getting close to losing its leaves now, actually. So wait for that to happen and then cut it back before it starts pushing new ones, right?
Thanks!

JF

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Re: help pruning young cherimoya
« Reply #7 on: October 09, 2017, 11:21:55 AM »
Ah ok! Looks like it's getting close to losing its leaves now, actually. So wait for that to happen and then cut it back before it starts pushing new ones, right?
Thanks!

It looks ugly cause the sun has been beating on it all summer. As Behl said wait until March for you in the tropics prune maybe in February. I prune my moyas 3x a year to manage size: March, July and Sept

behlgarden

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Re: help pruning young cherimoya
« Reply #8 on: October 09, 2017, 11:40:14 AM »
Ah ok! Looks like it's getting close to losing its leaves now, actually. So wait for that to happen and then cut it back before it starts pushing new ones, right?
Thanks!

sorry I thought you were in Southern California, LOL. Yes, cut it now. your tree is going into dormancy now due to your weather being spring like now.

JF

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Re: help pruning young cherimoya
« Reply #9 on: October 09, 2017, 01:22:25 PM »
Ah ok! Looks like it's getting close to losing its leaves now, actually. So wait for that to happen and then cut it back before it starts pushing new ones, right?
Thanks!

sorry I thought you were in Southern California, LOL. Yes, cut it now. your tree is going into dormancy now due to your weather being spring like now.

No Behl. they are not in the Southern Hemisphere early February is fine

Zafra

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Re: help pruning young cherimoya
« Reply #10 on: October 09, 2017, 06:35:31 PM »
So, to clarify, cut back before or after the leaves drop?

shinzo

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Re: help pruning young cherimoya
« Reply #11 on: October 10, 2017, 04:26:24 AM »
So, to clarify, cut back before or after the leaves drop?
After. The new branches will grow from the spots left by the old leaves.

Zafra

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Re: help pruning young cherimoya
« Reply #12 on: October 10, 2017, 08:16:49 AM »
But there won't be any spots left by the old leaves after I cut it back. They're all at the top and I'll be cutting the top off.  ???

shinzo

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Re: help pruning young cherimoya
« Reply #13 on: October 10, 2017, 09:14:18 AM »
Can you take a picture of the plant so that the members can give you an accurate opinion on where and when you should make the cut?

Mark in Texas

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Re: help pruning young cherimoya
« Reply #14 on: October 10, 2017, 10:14:27 AM »
But there won't be any spots left by the old leaves after I cut it back. They're all at the top and I'll be cutting the top off.  ???

Like all trees don't annona's have dormant foliar buds along the trunk down to their base.....triggered into growth hormonally which can be induced by removing top wood?

spaugh

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Re: help pruning young cherimoya
« Reply #15 on: October 10, 2017, 10:41:18 AM »
But there won't be any spots left by the old leaves after I cut it back. They're all at the top and I'll be cutting the top off.  ???

Like all trees don't annona's have dormant foliar buds along the trunk down to their base.....triggered into growth hormonally which can be induced by removing top wood?

Yes
Brad Spaugh

Zafra

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Re: help pruning young cherimoya
« Reply #16 on: October 10, 2017, 03:19:53 PM »
Finally here's the picture but I couldn't get the whole "trunk" in there. It's a total of 3.5 feet tall. It's already lost quite a few leaves and will lose the rest in the next weei or so I'm sure.


Seanny

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Re: help pruning young cherimoya
« Reply #17 on: October 10, 2017, 03:55:15 PM »
I would cut the top off now. Cut it at knee high. Don't worry. New buds would come out soon.

JF

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Re: help pruning young cherimoya
« Reply #18 on: October 10, 2017, 04:32:22 PM »
Finally here's the picture but I couldn't get the whole "trunk" in there. It's a total of 3.5 feet tall. It's already lost quite a few leaves and will lose the rest in the next weei or so I'm sure.

That’s a twig just leave it alone

Zafra

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Re: help pruning young cherimoya
« Reply #19 on: October 10, 2017, 05:38:04 PM »
If I leave it alone should I stake it? It can't stand up by itself, which is why I wanted to cut it back.

simon_grow

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Re: help pruning young cherimoya
« Reply #20 on: October 10, 2017, 06:40:18 PM »
If your tree is completely falling over, you should stake it. It it’s kinda upright but sways a lot in the wind, leave it. If I recall correctly from my plant physiology class, plants have a type of baroreceptors that detect stretching type movements caused by wind. This in turn triggers a physiological response of making that area experiencing the stretch to become thicker and stronger.

Simon

Zafra

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Re: help pruning young cherimoya
« Reply #21 on: October 10, 2017, 06:57:43 PM »
That's why I didn't want to stake it, but it is completely falling over, which is why I wanted to prune it.
So is the consensus not to cut it at all then? Just stake it?

simon_grow

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Re: help pruning young cherimoya
« Reply #22 on: October 10, 2017, 09:49:48 PM »
Do you know when your dormant season is and also when you typically get new growth on your Cherimoya tree? I’m inexperienced with growing Cherimoya anywhere other than SoCal. Frank(JF) is very experienced with Annonas so I’d follow his advice.

Since you say the tree is completely falling over, you can stake it half way up so that it’s somewhat straight but allowing for the top and branches to blow a bit in the wind.

Do you happen to see any buds from the petiole scars? Do you get any frost in your climate?

Simon

Zafra

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Re: help pruning young cherimoya
« Reply #23 on: October 10, 2017, 10:00:12 PM »
No frost at all. Not even close to frost. I do know that it flowered and set a fruit in March this year, right after losing all its leaves.

Kona fruit farm

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Re: help pruning young cherimoya
« Reply #24 on: October 11, 2017, 12:43:06 AM »
zafra.. where in Venezuela are you?  i lived in san antonio de los altos for about 6 months..  pretty cool place.. literally
With 3 acres of prime real estate for growing tropicals... why not create my own garden of eden?? Work in progress