How to shape and trim the slender spindle of an apple?

How to shape and trim the slender spindle of an apple?

The slender spindle shape belongs to the small crown shape, which is one of the tree shapes with the least backbone branches and the most fruiting branches. it is suitable for dense planting, dwarfing rootstock and short branch varieties. Generally, the row spacing is 2.5 to 4.0 meters, the plant spacing is about 2.0 meters, and 83 plants are planted per mu. The tree shape has the advantages of light pruning, moderate growth and easy early fruiting and high yield.

1 structural characteristics

The height of the tree is 2cm, the crown diameter is 1.5cm, and the crown diameter is 1.5cm. On the central leading stem, there are 15 lateral branches with similar, slender and horizontal forces. The length of the lower branch is 1 meter, the length of the middle branch is 70cm, and the length of the upper branch is 50cm. Trunk extension branches and lateral branches are generally not truncated and extend naturally. The whole tree is slender, large and small under the crown, showing a slender spindle shape (Fig. 1-3).

Fig. 1 the overall landscape of a slender spindle tree

Fig. 2 Fruit-bearing trees in the first fruit stage of slender fusiform

Fig. 3 slender spindle shape

2 plastic method

After planting, the seedlings should be dried at a distance of 70cm to 90cm from the ground, and in the part of the plastic belt more than 50cm, the buds should be carved 0.5 cm above the buds in different directions to promote branching. The branches were flattened from September to October of that year. For the varieties with strong branching ability, the extended branches can not be cut short in the first winter pruning. In the second year, the branches on the central stem, the first bud branch continued to extend, the other lateral branches were flattened, the length was not cut, and the distance between the main branches of the same side was 40-50 cm. The upper dorsal branch of the main branch can be controlled by turning branches and coring in summer, so that it can be transformed into fruiting branches (Fig. 4-5).

Fig. 4 shape of spindle-shaped 2-year-old tree

Fig. 5 shape of slender spindle-shaped 3-year-old tree

In the third year, the extended branches of the central trunk can still grow uncut, and whether to change the head or not is decided according to the tree situation. The erect branches can be partially thinned and partially flattened (Fig. 6-7).

Fig. 6 status of slender fusiform 4-year-old trees

The growth of the central stem was adjusted in 4 ~ 5 years, the weak short cut promoted the strong strips and resumed the growth, the strong ones thinned the lower competitive branches, and the rest were released slowly. The middle and lower main branch, the culture branch group, stable fruit, and extended outward year by year. Gradually remove the backbone branches that are too dense and strong. The cadres and companies of the central leadership are older, have more flowers, and bear numerous fruits (figure 6).

The horizontal lateral branches of 6-7-year-old trees give priority to promoting their fruiting, and the lower older main branches that have borne fruit are retracted according to their strength, and those that are too dense should be thinned so that the whole crown becomes a spindle-shaped crown with the upper and lower ends thin and thick in the middle (figure 7). [Jishan Huayao]

Fig. 7 status of the results of central leadership