Low Stress Training Starfruit

[tru]

Hey everyone, did another experiment using some common weed growing tricks on starfruit and its performing extremely well. I'm sure weed only popularized the technique and it's been around for far longer but wow; didn't expect this much instant growth. (the bent down stem was originally the only growth point)

Everything that isn't bent down is 2 weeks old maximum. Try it out!

[K-Rimes]

Way ahead of you on this! I really like to use it and it think it makes trees more prolific, and probably precocious too. I also believe you can expose the tree to more sun by proactively shaping.

[tru]

Have you tried high stress training on anything? I really want to but I'm scared asf 😂 beautiful trees as always! Makes sense on the canopy part too, can't wait to trim my starfruit to be star shaped. Crazy how much the shape comes through when they are babies lol

[K-Rimes]

Have you tried high stress training on anything? I really want to but I'm scared asf 😂 beautiful trees as always! Makes sense on the canopy part too, can't wait to trim my starfruit to be star shaped. Crazy how much the shape comes through when they are babies lol

Oh yeah, I'm brutal with my plants and never hesitate to decapitate, prune, pull, or twist branches. I do NOT subscribe to the "leave them natural" idea of fruit collecting. It's not like any of the rare plants are native in my area or something... I will make them suit the space they are given, or punish them if they're not acting right. I'll be decapitating both of my 7' tall grumichamas this year after fruiting season down to waist height. Took some 8' pitangas down to 2' last year.

[kapps]

That’s a good idea. I have a seedling that just doesn’t want to branch out when I tip it.

[Tropicaltoba]

Sorry, but I’m a bit ignorant. What are you doing specifically? My starfruit is super spindly (flops all over the place) and I’m hoping to get better structure for once it can set fruit.

[K-Rimes]

Sorry, but I’m a bit ignorant. What are you doing specifically? My starfruit is super spindly (flops all over the place) and I’m hoping to get better structure for once it can set fruit.

Starfruit kind of by nature is floppy, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. They're really weepy in the tropics and the branches can touch the ground if left alone.

If I'm correct here, you can see Tru has tied the branch on the right side of his photo and then the plant shot up a new leader which is going straight up.

In my photo I have gone to the extreme with this technique and from that CORG being a seedling, I have tied the entirety of the plant down to the pot, and now, even at 8' tall I am continuing with that. This makes the plant much wider and I think any sort of mild stress like that can induce the plant to grow back more vigorously. It's like how with a really healthy tree that you prune really hard, it will shoot out tons of water sprouts out of the trunk, and around the wound - this is "High stress training" and involves topping (to widen / add shoots) or shaping it by removal. "Low stress training" is pulling branches down, or even hauling the entire central leader over so the truck grows sideways and the plant shoots out tons of new leaders all about the same time / height / vigor.

[tru]

I’m taking the main stem and weighting it down to be stressed into staying down like that, it usually tricks the plant into branching out because it’s receiving more light at a node than it’s primary growth tip!

use string if you have it, or my new favorite is find a rock and tape it to the top 🤣 just be careful that it’s not too heavy…

high stress training is purposely breaking a branch half off, then taping it back and letting it heal. The scar tissue makes the xylem/phloem much bigger in the long run than if it wasn’t broken, leading to more vigor. IF YOU DO THIS PRO TIP: pinch the branch super hard where you’re breaking it so it only cracks/bends instead of breaking clean off. Pinch hard!!