Cherimoya Pruning Help, tiny trunk

[bryan]

I would appreciate advice on how to prune this Cherimoya. Unlike all my other Cherimoyas which grew upright with a dedicated trunck and branches, the trunk on this one is only about 10" tall then it branched out. Is this ok or should I prune it in some way to make it grown up further before branching out? Thank you.

[John B]

It depends on the type of tree you want. It is fine the way it is unless you want a long main trunk. As is, it will grow more bushy and easy to harvest fruit. Just trim up the main branches (keep 2-3 of the strongest ones) by cutting right after a bud that is growing up and away from the others. Then you can graft a couple varieties .

If you want one single long trunk, you can just cut right where it branches and train the new growth up.

[bryan]

Thank you John.

[Plantinyum]

You can stake the bigger branch , support it so it stais vertical and now you have a new leader. Plant will focus its energy towards it and by pruning you can force it later to produce side branches.
The other idea i would have is to graft a desired variety in the bare middle, if it takes it may become a new leader, right now the plant probably wants to have growth in the center but may be too weak to wake up the dormant buds that may be lurking there.

[JCorte]

Hi Bryan,

If that was my tree, I would prune all three branches back to about a foot.  When the tree starts growing again, it will likely send out strong more upright growth.  I would keep the tree shorter and bushier so it's easier to pollinate.

Janet

[ryanscion]

Bryan,

I agree with Janet. I will include a screenshot of how I would approach it so that it bushes out and up earlier.




Ryan