To obtain a good harvest of blueberries you need to prune them. An agronomist tells more about how to prune rowanberries Tautvydas Gurskas and the owner of the strawberry farm Agnė Mažulienėwho we spoke to at the LRT show «This is my garden“.
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Why do berries get smaller and smaller?
Only after sowing blueberrythe berries are large and tasty, but the situation changes over the years: in the fourth or fifth year of cultivation they become smaller and smaller and are no longer so tasty. Agronomist Tautvydas Gurskas explains several reasons why this happens.
First of all, the blueberry (Vaccinium in Latin) is a plant of the Ericaceae family, which has an interesting characteristic: its roots live in symbiosis with the mycelium. This mycelium must create favorable conditions for nourishing the bush. The soil for blackberries should be acidic, moist and permeable to air. Then the plant will not be poor, it will winter well and grow large berries. When watering the bush or simply when it rains, the acid is gradually removed from the soil. You can check whether the soil is sufficiently acidic with simple litmus papers and, if necessary, repeatedly deacidify it.
How to ensure an acidic environment over time, read here – I wrote down when and which tools to use.
Tautvydas Gurskas recommends mulching the bushes with acidic peat before winter and spreading it on the sides in spring. This will help the plant overwinter better and ensure that the soil pH remains acidic.
The second possible cause of crushing of berries: competition from weeds and other plants. Blueberry bushes, having shallow roots, can suffer from a lack of water and nutrients if other plants grow nearby.
Pruning also determines the future harvest. Tautvydas says that if you want to have large berries, you don’t need to fertilize a lot – it’s more important to prune every spring. A less divided bush will let in more light, the berries will grow more and be larger.
How to prune rowanberries: the basics
It’s not that difficult to prune blueberries correctly, you just need to know a few basic things before purchasing shears in the spring.
Textbooks say that when pruning a rowan bush, you should leave the 8 largest branches:
- The 2 oldest branches – are easily distinguishable visually: they are thicker than the others, the bark is wrinkled, peeling,
- 2 three-year branches,
- 2 biennial branches,
- The 2 youngest annuals are upright shoots.
When we talk about branches we don’t mean the small lateral branches, but those that grow from below.
Of course it is not necessary to pedal with that number of 8 branches. Agnes says the plant is not a textbook, so let’s approach each case individually.
How to prune rowanberries: step by step
Check it out before you start. How to distinguish branches in a tangle, which is which? Before cutting, take the top of the branch and move it: then you will clearly see which part of the bush moves and which does not. It will immediately be clearer where the branch begins and where it ends. It will be easier to decide what to cut or leave.
Start with the oldest branches. Remove dead and diseased branches after winter. Blackened tips indicate that the branch is frozen: cut it. Plan to leave 2 branches, but depending on the situation you can leave 1 or 3 branches.
Cut low branches. Do not leave the lower branches of the bush hanging. As the berries grow, they can crack and the crop will end up on the ground. Additionally, low-growing branches can be accidentally damaged by the mower. So feel free to cut.
Cut branches that have wounds. As you move the branch from the top, pay attention if the branches collide with each other. In this friction area you can see the damaged cortex. Does a healthy sycamore need wounding? There’s no need. Cut branches that are rubbing against each other, even if the wound is not yet visible. When considering which branch to leave, note the 8 branch rule.
Do not leave cut branches. If you see that some branches have branched out into many branches, prune them close to the trunk. You probably won’t get a good harvest from them – the berries will become very small.
Go to the younger branches. After pruning the older branches, start with the younger ones. Assess their condition according to a similar principle: cut off splintered, inward-growing or frost-damaged branches, leaving healthier and stronger ones. Blackberries grow on second-year branches, so don’t prune all branches that grew last year. Leave at least two for this year’s harvest.
Then look at the newly grown shoots. If they seem small and weak, also cut them without regrets. Such branches will not give a good harvest in the future, they will only take away the necessary materials from more promising branches. Leave only the strongest.
How often to prune rowanberries
Tautvydas Gurskas states that mulberry trees must be «trained». Different blueberry varieties branch differently: some constantly produce new shoots, others barely move. In any case, it is advisable to prune regularly: in this way we will encourage the growth of new branches and, at the same time, a more abundant harvest.
For best results, prune cranberries each spring to produce more berries.
This article is prepared according to the LRT show»This is my garden«, where agronomist Tautvydas Gurskas and blueberry farm owner Agnė Mažulienė showed how to prune blueberries.
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READ ALSO:
Blueberry plantation: instructions for beginners
Blueberry care: why it goes bad and what to do
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