I'd be curious to hear others comments on the growth habits of their Venus trees. Mine is moderately vigorous. Less vigorous than Sweet Tart, and more vigorous than Pickering. I love that it's precocious, and has been resistant to anthracnose. It has had 0 issues flowering and producing fruit. I actually planted out another one last year. So far, I have not had any issues with MBBS, and this is the 3rd year producing, and it was planted as a 7 gallon back in 2017.
In any case, I digress, and it's the the growth habit when it fruits that I'm concerned with. Before it fruits, the growth habit is great, and somewhat compact. However, with my tree, the fruit really weighs the tree limbs down, and branches must be staked to prevent the fruit from ending up on the ground. The tree is probably about 12' high, but many of the limbs are now sprawling horizontally from the weight of the fruit. It's slightly unattractive, but I question how I can keep it long term without removing these horizontal branches. Over time they'll all end up on the ground, unless I completely prune off the branches. The only positive I can think of is it has great airflow hahaha. I will post pics of the tree this weekend.
Has anyone that has had a Venus tree for a lengthy period of time had issues with pruning, and managing how it has been growing? I'm having serious considerations about top working the tree with other varieties with a better growth habit. It's unfortunate, as I have another tree I just planted out last year as a 7 gallon before I realized what can happen with a more mature Venus.