It is time to check those older blocks in your cherry orchard and review them with a critical eye—to remove cherry wood that is non profitable.
This includes:
- The vertical limb with few fruiting buds but full of vigour; the one that shades out most of the lower parts of tree.
- Remove it leaving a short stub, and in time the light generated will gain extra fruit buds back down in the lower part of the tree.
- Low hanging branches that when cropped, will hang and touch the ground, or be in the weed spray zone.
- Wood thinner than a pencil on the end of several years growth that will only produce cherries so small that if picked will be sorted out into waste by the cherry grader, creating a loss situation. So turn a negative into a positive by cutting it out now.
- Limbs or branches that touch or are too close to each other. Make space and light through the tree by removing the one that would be better gone. This will increase fruit size and firmness and improve fruit quality.
- Limbs that are so old that the fruiting buds or bud clusters are long and have more than ten years annular rings. These buds restrict the calcium uptake and reduce firmness and shelf life.
Do it now
Do yourself and your trees a favour by carrying out these practices now—while it is clear to see the quality of the fruit–carrying wood—and while the removal of that wood can generate better young wood that will eventually lead to the production of more quality cherries.
Casual labour & work targets
If using casual labour for these jobs, consider doing one job at a time—to not confuse untrained workers.
Focussing on one clear target may be quicker and less costly that trying to achieve too much in one pass.
Make sure the work is supervised by someone with experience in doing this work.
Also, if time does not permit the completion of all targets this season, then next season will be a simple focus on the job that was not carried out.
Set a target to complete before flowering and do it.
Remember, to minimise the threat of disease getting into the cuts, do not prune when trees are wet or when it is drizzling or raining.
See this article in Tree Fruit August 2016
