This post is about two subjects: forcing off season fruits and flower clusters that are half vegetative. The two are tied together by the fact that late season pruning after flower buds have set seems to promote both phenomenon. Buds that next season would have been a normal small cluster of 6-8 berries can become a long floral structure that ends in large flowers resulting in berries that can be huge.

Here's a picture of an Emerald plant that has four of the large flower clusters forced by fall pruning. These berries, in my greenhouse, will be several months earlier maturity than normal. Last winter I had some great fruit like this off Santa Fe. The berries ripened in Jan/Febr, were large and much more tart than normal due to cool temps but very tasty as that variety usually has no tartness. Star had similar clusters of berries 2-3 times as big as normal.

Picture taken today.

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Fall pruning can also force normal clusters of normal size berries. I'm going to have a little fruit ripening all winter and spring.