Author Topic: pruning apricot tree  (Read 1252 times)

giorgosgr

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pruning apricot tree
« on: March 10, 2020, 01:01:32 PM »
By mistake 7 years ago i planted my only two apricot trees in the most exposed area of my farm. I constandly have stong northen winds and the apricot being the first to bloom losses maybe 80% of its flowers and no bees visit it because of the strong winds. The tree is quite big as i will post tommorow and i get each year maybe 20-30 fruits. This year i tried a different pruning aproach living more central branches in case it helps to protect the flowers. Does anyone had a similar problem? and any suggestions on how to prune it next year?

brian

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Re: pruning apricot tree
« Reply #1 on: March 10, 2020, 04:25:49 PM »
I severely prune back my orchard trees every year, including apricot.  I hack off large limbs all the time because it grows so fast, "semi-dwarf" is a joke.  I am not sure how the wind affects things, but in my experience you can prune aggressively and the tree will do fine, simply be sure to leave a good number of flower buds. 

containerman

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Re: pruning apricot tree
« Reply #2 on: March 10, 2020, 10:45:31 PM »
Like Brian said I also prune my plum, nectarine, peaches heavily in the fall where I live and then lightly right before spring. They are 6 years old and 6 feet tall with 9 inch diameter trunks.

zephian

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Re: pruning apricot tree
« Reply #3 on: March 11, 2020, 08:12:37 AM »
I have a pluot that grew really odd because of a large palm being right next to it. I've had issues with wind breaking limbs and knocking fruit off. Prune it hard and it will come back. My tree looks loaded this year and I just added 20+ grafts of a dozen varieties to it. I seem to retain fruit on the thicker branches but this pluots been kind of a dud so far...
-Kris

containerman

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Re: pruning apricot tree
« Reply #4 on: March 11, 2020, 06:17:25 PM »
Here is my pluot it’s 2 years old and loaded with blooms and they have turned into fruit. I will have to thin it out as it’s loaded with them


SeaWalnut

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Re: pruning apricot tree
« Reply #5 on: March 11, 2020, 09:59:42 PM »
Here is my pluot(not a registered cultivar).
As you see its grafted on a plum rootstock and the hibrid grows much bigger.
They are also prone to diseases and the trees dont look healthy but its only the looks and the trees survive well and live long thogh with woodpecker holes in them .

This tree is soo valuable for me that i dont dare to prune it otther than collecting a few scions to graft on otther trees.
All the fruit this tree produces gets eaten every year and nothing goes to waste.
In contrast i dont like any of my otther plum tree fruits and i use them only to make distilled alcohol from them.
« Last Edit: March 11, 2020, 10:04:36 PM by SeaWalnut »

containerman

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Re: pruning apricot tree
« Reply #6 on: March 12, 2020, 09:38:09 AM »
wow is that your backyard ?

SeaWalnut

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Re: pruning apricot tree
« Reply #7 on: March 12, 2020, 06:56:34 PM »
wow is that your backyard ?
Yea.Not big deal,its just 2 acres( 1 hectare).

giorgosgr

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Re: pruning apricot tree
« Reply #8 on: March 14, 2020, 06:31:09 AM »







Here is this years pruning. I left nearly intact the inside brunches in order to keep "safe" the flowers and the fruits if its possible. Thanks a lot for the advise. Next year i will prune agressively if i dont get any results this year.