When is a good time to bend limbs?

General Fruit Growing
41

It depends. If you have deer to contend with you may wish to let them grow taller before bending down. Otherwise, theres no such thing as too early. If the limbs are thin enough, you can get away with a little bit of physical manipulation. In the proper season (late winter is usually good) theyll often hold their position when bent down. Once the limbs get bigger you need to employ weights, spreaders, etc. and give it some time. Pears are quite stiff and tend to grow very vertical, so you may need spreaders regardless. Earlier interventions are usually better. Training is always better than pruning. Dont overdo it though. Remember that the weight of the crop will (eventually) lower the branches still further.

2 Likes
42

A properly pruned pear tree does not need branch bending. The weight of the fruit alone will take care of it.

1 Like
43

Thanks Richard. Not sure if Iā€™ll get any fruit this year. Unless Hosui is self pollinating like Iā€™ve heard a few times but also heard it really wasnā€™t.
Figured it wouldnā€™t hurt to strengthen the limbs for next year also since Iā€™ll be grafting heavy in spring. Iā€™ll try and update a picture of the tree tomorrow.

44

Asian pears are so precious that bending limbs can be counterproductive. Ive had them snap limbs under the weight of the crop several times. Unlike Euro pears, they bear early and often!

1 Like
45

I just noticed that I left an incomplete answer here that contains a link that someone just approved of. I still love those spreaders, but in the post I didnā€™t mention that the majority of my spreading in apple trees is done by taping branches to other branches, with electric tape when Iā€™m taping it directly to the other branch, sometimes a secondary off of a scaffold to a temporary branch Iā€™ve left on the tree partially for this purpose. Many varieties are difficult to establish adequate secondary branches to if you donā€™t use water sprouts and tie them down. Such upright growing varieties (like Fuji and N. Spy) tend to be slow to come into bearing when left to their own devices. I will also tape or tie with string their upper tier scaffolds to train them to a weep to encourage fruit and reduce vegetative vigor. If Iā€™m not bending a branch below horizontal I may use string so thereā€™s distance between the above branch and lower one.

For peaches, I often use string that I tie to the base of the tree itself to bring scaffolds to a more horizontal position. It is safe to leave natural string tied tightly around the base of a peach tree for one growing season- for the branch itself I usually use a loop and then attach to a loop Iā€™ve tied at the end of the string wrapped around the base of the tree. I often use a hinge to get an oversized branch to bend, making several cuts at the base and underside of the scaffold a third of the way through the wood or so. .

5 Likes