Auxins in Fruit Tree Water Sprouts
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Location: Washington, Kitsap Peninsula
Posted: Dec-27-2004 at 12:58pm
Originally posted by mdvaden:
"Also, when I prune apple trees, I don't remove all sprouts anyway. I remove about 3/4 of the largest, and leave 1/4 of the smallest shoots. Then next year, the ones that were left, grow and become part of the new 3/4 to remove, and that season's new growth generates small shoots to become part of the new 1/4 of small shoots to leave. (It's just my way of doing it. Years of doing this tends to show that the Auxins in the remaining few sprouts keep a bit of chemical control in the tree. And, I do promote light thinning in the summer also."
Hey Mario,
You mentioned this on the TOTW. I was wondering about the Auxins you talk about here. By chemical control are you talking about control of the growth or water sprouts?
Thanks!
mdvaden
Location: Oregon, Western
Posted: Dec-27-2004 at 8:05pm A good way to phrase this may be:
Tops providing auxins "control" or regulate the growth FORM. Leave tops and auxins on - less sprouts but the tops will still grow.
Removal of sprouts, entirely, in summer or even early fall is going to remove a food and energy source from the tree. There is energy in that tissue. Take some off, and some energy goes bye-bye. So then there is less available for downward movement in winter, thus less available in spring too.
So summer sprout removal would lean toward reduction of size and speed.
Now I am certain about this - I've done winter-only sprout removal; and a lot of summer removal of sprouts too. I have not experienced a significant reduction of future growing season sprouts - minor and inconsequential.
So even if summer sprout removal slightly inhibits next seasons sprouts, that light summer thinning is still a good idea anyhow just to keep the tree opened up a bit.
Gardening for the Homebrewer: Grow and Process Plants for Making Beer, Wine, Gruit, Cider, Perry, and More
By co-authors Debbie Teashon (Rainy Side Gardeners) and Wendy Tweton