|
| Last dormant season as I began pruning the apples it occurred to me that the process really is complicated for a newbie like me. All of the trees are different varieties an one of 4 different years in the ground. I found myself looking over a tree, sizing it up to figure out what to cut and leave and felt overwhelmed. Well, I prayed for God to guide my hands and eyes for each cut. Immediately, I realized that the trees are not mine, they are God's and I'm the orchardist doing his work. I fnished my pruning keeping this in mind and was rewarded with a huge, beautiful crop for the first time. It was not easy to block out what I had learned of what cuts to make and not and to simply let God in. My job is to take care of the trees that they may be fruitful, to me this also means managing pests and using sharp pruning tools and proper cuts with them also. |
Follow-Up Postings:
|
- Posted by harvestman 6 (My Page) on Thu, Oct 30, 14 at 16:44
| But God loves all his creations, including fungus. I hope your real job doesn't involve doing surgery. But hey, if it works for you that's great. Agnostics like me prefer a more intellectual approach. Remove all branches more than a third the diameter of the trunk and follow a similar rule of ratio for branches coming off the scaffolds. Remove nothing else until trees start to bear than begin opening them up. Three scaffolds per tier- 3-4' between tiers; remove touching wood: cut upper tiers to half the length of next lower tier cutting to small side branch . When an upper tier branch becomes more than half the diameter of the trunk remove it completely and train a new branch to take its place (better to start a new branch a year ahead of time). |
|
| Michael no one can argue with success. Congratulations on a great crop and lets hope this year is kind to us as well. |
|
| I agree, it can be overwhelming. Pruning apple trees is very different than pruning peach trees. Even vines like kiwi and grapes need to be pruned. Then there is pest management, fungus control, all the different sprays, organic vs synthetic, weed control, mulching, fertilizing, ect, ect. As an atheist, I have to rely on lots of research, and a little trial and error :) |
|
- Posted by michael357 5b, KS (My Page) on Fri, Oct 31, 14 at 0:08
| I know what ya'll mean about using your intellect, I was trained in the horticultural sciences and did vegetable crop nutrition research for many years. I do appreciate the tools used to grow a crop that reside in the mind. Boy I tried hard to use my intellect to master the apple pruning and one day found myself with a beat up noggin from beating it against the ground, so to speak, trying to figure pruning out with my intellect. That is when a quiet voice said to me, "ask God for help" and I immediately did. In short, it helped me a lot to pray for the help with all of those cuts. What can I say, it worked for me, do what works for you. BTW, I too find peaches far easier and have to pray A LOT LESS pruning them. One last point, our intellects are a gift to us, it would be foolish to not use them, that is why I continue to read and learn as much as I can about pruning. Thank you H-man et al. for your contributions. |
|
| Michael, Kansas has extreme weather from tornados to wind, extreme cold and heat , rain , hail, lightning , insects, varmints, disease etc. as you are aware. We put thousands of dollars in our crop with expectations to some day make a profit. Most farmers in Kansas I know wind up being devout Christians who pray frequently. May God bless you and your crops in the future. |
|
- Posted by harvestman 6 (My Page) on Fri, Oct 31, 14 at 7:58
| Michael, I was kidding a bit, obviously (the surgeon part), but I thought a straight description of a method that commercial growers have used in the past to quickly train unskilled pruning crews might be of use. If you e-mail me I can send you a more complete description of what I call "pruning by numbers". I wrote an article about it for the NAFEX publication "Pomona" many years ago and if you can derive information well from text it might be helpful. Unfortunately it comes without illustrations. |
|
| Harvestman is there any chance you could send that to me as well? I value your advise and have got some great tips from you that worked well this year. Thanks |
|
- Posted by harvestman 6 (My Page) on Fri, Oct 31, 14 at 19:04
| Just e-mail me through the forum connection. Be happy to send it out. |
|
- Posted by rockydog101 (My Page) on Mon, Nov 3, 14 at 7:25
| I've deleted this post as to not offended the person who thinks a God helped them prune an Apple tree. |
This post was edited by rockydog101 on Mon, Nov 3, 14 at 7:27
|
| Consider Summer pruning to maintain size and shape. This is one of the primary tenets of Backyard Orchard Culture. Here's an easy to follow video on the subject. |
This post was edited by mrclint on Mon, Nov 3, 14 at 13:49
|
- Posted by northwoodswis4 4a (My Page) on Mon, Nov 3, 14 at 13:31
| Michael357, That was a refreshing letter. Helps keep everything in the proper perspective. Some of us orchardists needlessly fret entirely too much. Northwoodswis |
|
- Posted by michael357 5b, KS (My Page) on Wed, Nov 5, 14 at 19:38
| Well h-man seems Gwen insists on not letting me request that article on my tablet, keeps running me around in a login loop. My computer just died so, here I am. North woods , mine is more struggling to see the tree for all of the branches, or is it the other way around? Clint, I can't seem to drag my can out when it's in the 90-100 deg range but understand your point ang agree. I'm not offended by agnostics and/or atheists, it's your life, you share yours and I'll do likewise. At least we have the trees in common. |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Fruit & Orchards Forum
Information about Posting
- You must be logged in to post a message. Once you are logged in, a posting window will appear at the bottom of the messages. If you are not a member, please register for an account.
- Please review our Rules of Play before posting.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review your post, make changes and upload photos.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- Before posting copyrighted material, please read about Copyright and Fair Use.
- We have a strict no-advertising policy!
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.
Learn more about in-text links on this page here
