Pruning for cider

[Mathijs Petri]

I don't have classic cider apple varieties, but I can dispose of an old, low-nitrogen orchard with heritage dessert fruit that I turn into cider. Currently I am summer pruning my trees.

As I like to have small, flavoursome apples (instead of standard dessert apple size), I tend to underprune and let branches sit close together.

Yet, a bit more sunlight through the roof of the tree and on the growing fruit would probably not be a bad idea.

Which brings me to my question to cider orchardists: how do you prune your cider apple trees? Do you open them up like you would prune a dessert apple tree, or do you take away just the bare minimum?

Mathijs

[Dougal]

There are many good resources about pruning (dessert) apple trees on the internet, many from universities.  As they say, google is your friend.

Winter pruning is a good way to do structural pruning.  It is easy to see what needs to be done.  Taking out overly strong branches, one or two per season, can be a way of training a younger tree to shape or invigorate an older tree.  But vigour can be the result of heavy pruning with increased vegetative growth in Spring.  This can result in lighter crops but also may be a way of combatting 'on' years in a biennial tree by putting more vigour into vegetative growth and less into fruit production.

Summer pruning has been shown to better develop branch structure and increase next year's fruit buds.  The reason is that apical buds (those on the ends of shoots) produce a growth hormone called auxin.  This hormone promotes further growth in the shoot whilst also inhibiting the growth of shoots below the tip.  By light tip pruning in Summer, lower lateral buds will break and produce a more complex structure of lateral branches and fruit buds.  Further, remedial work in summer can be the removal of crossing branches and downward-growing branches missed in Winter.  Opening the tree up a bit promotes air flow, which helps with disease pressure, and lets more light in to the bottom scaffolds, which helps ripen apples more fully.  Even with cider apples, where colour may not matter as much as in dessert apples, good light penetration for flavour development is important.

[greg l.]

There are a few different factors. If your weather at ripening is warm and sunny you don't need to worry about light penetration so much, you may want foliage to protect the fruit from too much sun. If it will be cool and cloudy you want to prune for more light, also there is the concern of disease pressure in a crowded canopy, it depends on your local conditions. Planting density is important, low density means less pruning to get higher yield per tree, higher density planting requires heavier pruning. Also some people just like to be in control of the tree, others are more laid back. A Cider orchard allows more flexibility of approach than other orchards.

Greg

On Tuesday, 21 July 2015 04:33:14 UTC+10, Mathijs Petri wrote:

[Thomas Fehige]

Some somewhat general observations: Apples in the sun develop more sugar than those in the shade, be they cider or dessert or what-have-you. So, while with standard size cider apple trees it is not important to have ladder access for the  harvest, the apples and the cider will still be better with some sunlight. And then, after all, ladder access is needed for pruning. I try to prune them all with pretty much the same aim in mind.

Cheers -- Thomas

[Dougal]

I was taking scions from a friend's trees last weekend and asked to give a few of them a prune.  These were planted and left to it.  Most of the crotch angles were 20* instead of 60* and the branches consisted of 6-8 metre branches growing for the sky.  The result was he was growing a lot of wood and few fruit spurs.  By taking out some competing leaders, pruning to weaker, more horizontal laterals, better defining the scaffolds, and tying and tucking branches, I got a lot more shape and light into them.  If we do the same over the next few years, bit by bit, he will end out with apple trees that grow apples!

Whilst pruning is important, the most important thing in my mind is good training in the early years of an apple tree's life.

On Tuesday, July 21, 2015 at 6:33:14 AM UTC+12, Mathijs Petri wrote: