Let’s call it “resources” then?
I’m not a horticulturalist, I’m just an engineer. I’m not giving advice on how to prune the tree as much as discussing my limited understanding and trying to learn more.
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@Shibumi the summer delight Aprium in the the picture above has laterals on newly grown scaffold. While your CotNCandy I can’t see any lateral branches. Is this due to the difference in varieties or something else?
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If the terminal but of a first year growth branch is active, you don’t get lateral growth.
If you prune the terminal buds, the tree sends hormones to wake up the buds near the pruned point to grow. I don’t think this tree is particularly different than others.
The earlier photo shows all growth from this year. If I were to take a different photo at the base of those 3+ foot branches you would see 2-4 laterals were pushed from dormant pruning this winter.
I took another photo today as I did prune the ends of the long branch growth from the previous photo (I should have cut them further back really).
You will see multiple new laterals were pushed.
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@Shibumi thank you. That explains why if left alone they just grow tall and whip like. So, it’s desirable to get laterals for Aprium tree or Apricot so that they can fruit the following year and after fruiting few of the laterals will be selected to continue the upward growth. Is that correct?
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@Oregon_Fruit_Grow
For less than the price of the tree you’ll find the answers you’re looking for plus a few more in R.S. Martin’s book I mentioned above.
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@Richard I purchased RS Martin’s book and have been reading it. One thing I noticed from pictures of your trees you have posted, your trees pretty much look like a live specimen of the diagrams from RS Martin’s book. As I am still learning, it’s difficult for me to get a handle on what length, how many, what angle the primary scaffolds, laterals, etc should be. I am trying to replicate RS Martin’s way of pruning for my new trees (Aprium, Oregon Curl Free peach and Salish summer peach).
What I found very useful was reading the OSU cherry training handbook
I am training my cherry tree in KGB system (Page #10) and the instructions are so much easier to follow for a novice. I wish there was something like that for other fruits may be there is that I am not aware of.
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As far as fruit tree growing and pruning I am a newbie so I certainly shouldn’t be the giving advise. I’m just sharing what I’ve read and leaned.
For most (?) stone fruit at least, long vertical branches equals less fruit. Additionally those long branches become hard to reach. Pruning, whether dormant, summer or both, create more branching. If you think of the totally amount of branch length added up, you’d rather have most of it at an easy to reach level thus all the talk of pruning to maintain height.
Vertical branch growth doesn’t set as much fruit for many trees. Promoting more horizontal branches generates more fruit buds than a vertical one (the whole hormone thing). I think cherry is slightly different from what I’ve seen from photos as most cherries have relatively upright growth.
For me in a place with humid, hot summers, clearing out the center of the tree prompts better air flow and hopefully lessens some disease issues…so you often hear about open center pruning.
Many trees in your yard don’t have branches in number and placement like the books do, so you just need to do the best you can. Pruning to an outward facing bud opens the form up and starts that new growth at a larger angle from vertical.
I think the successive pruning mentioned in the KGB system for cherries does just that. It opens the tree form up, spreads the branches, at the lower levels at least, to a larger starting angle, and multiplies the number of branches with each pruning.
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This is so right.
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