Grow More Fruit By Knowing When & Why To Prune Your Stone Fruit Trees

I love fruit trees. I've also managed to kill a few on accident. We have a thriving orchard, but it wasn't always that way. Since this isn't my area of expertise, I'm really excited to bring in Craig from Yard To Table (https://yardtotablecreations.com/) to come in and talk about proper fruit tree care. 0:30 Meet Craig Craig is a chef, and he really got interested in growing his own food. He maintains dozens of gardens and orchards around San Diego County, and he's a great source of knowledge. 2:00 When & Why To Prune For deciduous trees, you want to prune when the tree is losing its leaves and is asleep. There is no growth hormone during this time, so it's storing up energy down in the roots to prepare to send out leaves for photosynthesizing in the spring. For many varieties, fruit grows on new wood. That means you want to get rid of second-year branches but keep bud wood. That buds are immature flowers, and that is where you will get fruit from. One great way to approach pruning is to take a step back and get ready to work your way up and from the inside out. We're looking for an open vase shape. This helps reduce crossing branches which can lead to problems. We also want to open up the plant for airflow and sunlight. If you see branches growing below the graft, that's the rootstock growing. That means it's not the plant you want to grow, so get rid of those branches. If left unchecked, you can end up with the rootstock taking over and giving you nasty fruit. This tree here is a 4 in 1 Fruit Salad with Peach, Nectarine, Plum, and Apricot all grafted onto the rootstock. It's a fun idea and saves space, but there are some issues too. One branch will tend to take over, and, even though they're all stone fruit, they still have different needs at different times. These issues are less prominent with multi-graft fig trees. In general, I've had a lot of success with fig trees. They produce a ton and really don't need too much. 11:11 Time To Prune Craig likes to start with the middle to open things up. After that, he's working his way up and going branch by branch. He's looking for branches to grow out (not too upright or lateral). He's also looking for the general height and shape of the plant. He wraps up with the ornamental pruning. It's important to note he uses a saw and shears to do all of this - NOT loppers which don't leave clean cuts on live wood. Cuts should be made as close to the other branches as possible. That gives the branch a new leader. You may also do something called drop crotch pruning. That means you want to redirect a branch cut pruning it and leaving the offshoots that are going in the best direction. Pro tip 1: never make more than 5 cuts in one place. You're going to make circles around the trees before you're done. Pro tip 2: having clean tools is key. Craig prefers to use a torch because rubbing alcohol can lead to rust. Always clean before moving to another tree. For larger trees, you might want to clean in the middle too. In just a few minutes, your tree is going to look totally different. It might be a shock at first, but it's for the best of the future of the tree. Try not to go too crazy, though! KEEP LEARNING →Want more gardening tips? Head over to the LEARN dropdown: https://sandiegoseedcompany.com/blog/ →Sign up for one of our on-demand classes (go through it at your own speed): "Organic Gardening: Grow Your Own Food" and our famous "Seed Starting Academy" are available at https://organicgardening.teachable.co... GET STOCKED UP: →Vegetables: https://sandiegoseedcompany.com/produ... →Flowers: https://sandiegoseedcompany.com/produ... →Herbs: https://sandiegoseedcompany.com/produ... →Rare Seeds: https://sandiegoseedcompany.com/produ... →Tools & Merchandise: https://sandiegoseedcompany.com/produ... CONNECT WITH US ON SOCIAL MEDIA →Instagram:   / sandiegoseedcompany   →Facebook:   / sandiegoseedcompany