Brad,
Could you go into more detail about this leaf stripping technique... sounds interesting.
Thanks.
Kevin
On cherimoyas the new buds form under the petiole. A lot of other trees form buds in the crotch of the petiole/branch. This is a difference for cherimoyas. So if you want to promote a new branch or flowers, the leaves and petiole need to be snapped off the branches. When you snap a leaf off on a cherimoya, you can see the new bud under the petiole joint. Thats simple but important to know.
In spring the tree will do some self defoliation if the weather is in the right ranges. IE, cold but not freezing in winter. So after this happens, the tree will flush out new branches and flowers in late spring and through summer. If the trees don't fully self desfolate, you can strip it bare in spring to promote new growth and flowering. And then once the tree does a good flush, around June or July you can come back in and snap off some select leaves to promote flowers. You would snap off leaves inside the canopy on large diameter branches where fruit have shade and a good branch to hang from in the core of the tree. You don't want to have fruit hanging out where it will get sunburn or droop the branches. Wherever you snap leaves off of in summer, flowers tend to form.
I have no idea if this works well in areas that have weather outside of the bounds of the cherimoyas happy zone. Like where Jonah lives may have some weather that prevents this from working. Like summer isn't hot enough or winter isn't cold enough. Or its too humid etc. I don't know what exact requirements they have other than it grows well in coastal southern CA.
Once you get the bud under the petiole thing down, you can force the tree to grow how you want and flower when you want. You could do one round of flowers in early summer and another in late summer so that you get a winter and spring harvest for instance. Or when you are trimming and shaping the tree, you need to not only cut back the branches but also snap off the leaves where you want new branches to form. If you leave the petiole connected, the buds can't grow. So when trimming during summer you would cut long growth back and then strip off leaves that face outward to promote new branches that grow outward. So the leaf stripping serves 2 purposes, forming branches as well as flowers depending where you do it.
Hopefully that wasn't too long winded and makes sense.
