Clothes Pin New Branchs

[buckvelvet]

How young of branches do you guys pin down? I'm not sure how old the new limb needs to be before you can start to train it to grow out rather than up.

 

[CrazyEd]

As soon as new growth is turning into a branch I put a clothespin on it. Right now in my area is a good time to put clothes pins on if you havent already. Some of my new growth is already 3-6" long or even more.

 

[buckvelvet]

Ed on crabapples do you train them or just let them go as they see fit? I know you do mostly Apples but you do have some crabs, if you are planting the crabs for deer do you train them like the rest of your apples?

 

[CrazyEd]

Ed on crabapples do you train them or just let them go as they see fit? I know you do mostly Apples but you do have some crabs, if you are planting the crabs for deer do you train them like the rest of your apples?

I have done some training on my crabapples so far. Sure, many will argue it is not needed or required, and I agree. BUT, I also think that the more you put in, the more you get out. Nothing wrong with having a well shaped, properly trained tree no matter what you are growing on it. Properly trained tree = more light and air gets to the middle of the tree which can lead to more quantity, more quality and less disease fruit.

This year up at the farm I am throwing much of the training into the wind. Unfortunately with a newborn at home I just don't have the time. We'll see what a year off of training does. Plus most of my trees are properly trained up to 8-12' up already since they are a few years established now. Only so many hours in a day, this year i've been putting more time into food plotting.