Don't Make This Pruning Mistake! | Apricot, Plum & Cherry Pruning

[@ilg212]

Ugh I made a mistake! I pruned my trees before watching this video... I pruned most of the spurs off :( Lessons learned...

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

We were hoping to catch a few of us out there beforehand, but we've been in your shoes! The good news is, they do grow back over time.

[@CraftEccentricity]

I think you are the only person on KZbin to show this clearly, concisely, and with such great close up shots. Thank you

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad you enjoyed this one. We do try to give as much detail in our pruning videos as we can as it's a daunting task for fruit tree growers.

[@CraftEccentricity]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm It was brilliantly done.

[@paul.1337]

I remember watching a guy pruning a plum tree and him saying, "It never flowered yet despite being pretty old," and then start taking off all the "little branches."

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

We've been there and done that as well which is why we wanted to get this one out there!

[@kzziggy]

😂 that's hilarious

[@jclivin5]

It takes years to understand what to cut or not to cut. It’s crazy to think of those who prune all their trees accordingly to the videos they watch on KZbin and think every tree is prune the same way. It’s a disaster ready to happen. This man is getting the idea 👍🏼

[@jclivin5]

I have 20 years of experience pruning stone fruit and I’ve seen a lot of channels lead the homestead community to disaster with pruning tip videos but I’m going to say you did a very great job 👍🏼 Good stuff

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Thank you for that vote of confidence. We're still learning some of the ins and outs nearly 10 years down the road!

[@jclivin5]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm no problem brother! Keep up the good work. Your mastering something unimaginable and that’s bringing life to a desert and managing it right.

[@gardentherapySOS]

I find your channel so much more informational than most that are out there. Thanks for taking the time to demonstrate pruning. I had no idea there was a difference in apricot/plum vs peach.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad you enjoyed this one. We had folks out for a pruning class and shared this tip with everyone as well. A few mentioned they made this very same mistake and we have as well in the past!

[@hummingbirdheightsfarm]

Hey, I did this and saved all my little sprouts on my apricot tree! It had hundreds on this 2 yr old last year, so happy to see we will have a good harvest again!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Woohoo! Glad to hear it Cookie.

[@KraftyKaren-7]

Thanks for sharing these tips on pruning these trees I had no idea about the little sprouting nubs that the plums grow from. Have a great rest of your day take care.😊

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad you found this one useful and thank you!

[@nekoDan]

Thanks for the informative video. I think the before and after shots really help us novices to understand the changes. Loved seeing the kitties “help” by climbing up the newly pruned trees!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad you enjoyed this one. We try to get the best shot we can of that before and after.

[@brettshafer5319]

Very informative with before and after pics thanks a bunch. B in Okanagan Canada

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad you enjoyed this one and found it useful. We do prune our trees a bit heavier due to our heavy winds, so keep that in mind!

[@bijou737]

Thank you, Duane and Lori! Added benefit to pruning: good climbing spaces for the kitties!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Oh my goodness, that's so true. Theo is our little climber and he climbed all the way to the top of one of our pruned Jujube trees last weekend. Probably a good 12' off the ground. Then he turned and climbed right back down! Little stinker.

[@bijou737]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm 😂

[@jeffmeyers3837]

Your "harvesting notch" is genius! I always made one but didn't think to make it facing NE to lessen sun exposure/damage. Great video.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

I get the feeling we're not the only ones who figured that one out and it doesn't always wind up on the NE side for us either, but we do try to keep it there if possible. At least somewhere on the North side!

[@TibiTips]

Eu las întotdeauna centrul pomului liber! Ajuta mult la fructificare cat si la maturarea acestora!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Se pare că suntem pe aceeași pagină cu acesta. Mă bucur că funcționează bine pentru tine!

[@geoffmccoll4640]

I liked your ginger cat in the back ground.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Yeah, she's becoming quite the free range bird hunter these days!

[@great0789]

Thank You! You may have just increased my production this year (year two). I am about to prune my Santa Rosa plums and Nanking Bush cherry (among many other things).

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad this was helpful. We made this exact same mistake on our first Santa Rosa plum on the old property and it cost us fruit for at least a season or two!

[@brettiowausa1]

TY. I just planted plum trees so this is very helpful. I would have cut off the fruit spurs now I know not to do that procedure. Also, you made opening up the plum tree look easy so I will not think I am killing the tree. DeWalt Pruner looks to be a must. I like that brand so will be purchasing one in the near future.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad this one could be helpful. It's a mistake we've made ourselves and had many folks give us stories of doing the same thing!

[@pontetrucho-oz7it]

Thank you, Duane for your very helpful information. You explain everything very clearly and by showing us the before and after pictures, everything makes sense. Please continue to post your educational videos, really helps novice folks like my wife and I! Do you sell fruit to the public? We only just bought a small Gold Kist apricot. Thank you, Luis O.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Luis, glad you enjoyed this one and congrats on that new apricot tree! We do have plans to sell fruit to the public. Assuming you're here in the Phoenix area, you'll want to join our customer email list through our website as that's the only way we announce events and products for sale.

[@pontetrucho-oz7it]

Thanks again, I just joined your email list. We live in Apache Junction, hopefully we can come by on your next workshop! Have a wonderful week! Luis @@EdgeofNowhereFarm

[@MovingBlanketStudio]

Thank you. I just bought an apricot, cherry, nectarine and apple from the box store. I wasn't aware about the spurs on the apricot.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad we could keep you from making this mistake. We learned it the hard way several years ago!

[@mehrdadsharifi9081]

Great useful information and I thank you for it. Keep up the great work, and good luck with the farm.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad you enjoyed this one and thank you!

[@SpanishEclectic]

Good information presented clearly and simply. I love your kitties!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad you enjoyed this one. Those cats are all over the place. We just started letting them roam about a month ago and they get the zoomies as soon as they're outside!

[@Desertphile]

Thank you.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad you found this one useful!

[@eliasrifka1704]

I got a small tree of that Black amber plum this past February from a fruit trees nursery in another village. It grew so quick as you know.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

How long does it normally take before setting fruit? Our plum trees are usually about 3 years after planting.

[@ME-dz2bg]

Like your explanations, info and before and after pruning comparisons :) Cheers!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad you enjoyed this one!

[@duaneingham5313]

I was looking for information on when to prune an apricot tree. I also live in Arizona and have read over and over not to prune in the winter or on damp days because these trees are very susceptible to water-borne diseases. Then in February to March else where. Just watched your video about pruning in January, this month. Great video. Thanks, Duane

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Our extremely dry weather takes care of any issues when it comes to water-borne diseases and our trees break dormancy VERY early, so you need to get that Winter pruning done before February.

[@duaneingham5313]

Thank you for your instant reply. I'll get it done.@@EdgeofNowhereFarm

[@TheFatTheist]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm No doubt! My Florida Prince Peach already has new leaves on it! It broke dormancy on the 28th of January!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@TheFatTheist sounds like we're all on the same schedule this year Alan!

[@Pamsgarden213]

Thank you!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad you enjoyed this one Pam!

[@MultiEldridge]

Awesome - I was just looking at my Methley, Santa Rosa, and Pluerry trees wondering how I should tackle them. How are you pruning your Weeping Santa Rosa?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

We're treating the weeping Santa Rosa a bit different. We didn't film it this year, but we're trying to focus on it's shape more than production. Essentially removing all of the lower branching to give it a more open area under the canopy that we're able to stand under. Writing this out makes me realize we should probably show what we're doing next time around!

[@justbecause3187]

Well that's certainly a bit different to how i had been pruning my two year old apricot trees. I went for one main leader in the middle after having seen a video about the risk of fruit trees splitting down the middle if you have codominant leaders. Your way does look to enable good air flow and easy harvesting though, so i might have to reassess my approach.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Apricot trees can be a problem if they get too top heavy. They're prone to breaking at the graft point in our experience, so the first few years in particular we work to keep the tree shorter relative to the trunk size (hence the open center). It's one of the reasons we still pruned these 4 year old trees a bit heavier than we will in the future.

[@justbecause3187]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm thanks for the info. Snapped tree trunks are certainly not the outcome that I'm going for, so it looks like they're in for a trim.

[@tbluemel]

GREAT video! Thank you!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad you enjoyed this one!

[@Hyasbountifulgarden]

Hi thank you for very informative pruning video! I've watched some videos about summer pruning on stone fruit tree, now I'm confused should I do summer or winter pruning? How do you decide when to prune your tree? Thank you

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

We're a little different here in the desert of Arizona. Our trees go into "survival mode" in June and July, so we're not able to do any significant summer pruning without placing the tree in jeopardy as they don't grow during this time. However, most of the country can do some summer pruning based on what you're wanting to do with the tree. Peaches for example are usually pruned in the summer for both size and also to prep for the following year's production. All of your peaches form on last year's wood, so removing a lot of it in Winter removes fruiting wood. All other stone fruit (plums, cherries, etc) will fruit on spurs, so summer pruning is only used to control tree size (which can also be done in the Winter). Hopefully this helps and makes sense!

[@AbidAli-bv2gl]

Excellent video. Lot to learn. when will you Prune pomegranate and jujube tree

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey there Abid. Funny you should ask, we filmed the jujube pruning last weekend and plan on pruning the pomegranate on film tomorrow, so those should be out over the next couple of weeks.

[@snowfuller7599]

Great informative video. Is the pruning technique the same with nectarines or are they pruned same as peach? 👍

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

So nectarines and peaches are a bit different. We posted a video last week pruning our Nectaplum which is essentially a nectarine. I'll link that for you here if you want to take a peek; kzbin.info/www/bejne/fIjPpJp5qc-GiK8

[@snowfuller7599]

Thanks mate. Wasnt sure if pure Nectarine was the same as the plums and apricots. 👍👍@@EdgeofNowhereFarm

[@William105-d9d]

Thank you! I did not know that about fruiting spurs. Are they a one time producer, like raspberries? Or will they produce again next year or just become another branch?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Stone and pome fruit spurs can produce for multiple years.

[@rickyaguilera]

Thanks again sir very very helpful

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad you enjoyed this and found it useful!

[@rickbrandon3635]

Thanks for the great video! Lots of good info in 10 minutes ! I’m in zone 7 and planted an apricot this spring. It’s early September now. I’m under the impression I should wait till spring to prune or should that happen before new growth starts next year?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad you enjoyed this one. As for timing, the key is getting this done during the dormancy period. That varies a bit for each of us, but you'll have a much larger window than we do here in Zone 9b. As long as you're wrapping up before it breaks dormancy in the Spring you're in good shape.

[@rickbrandon3635]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm thanks again!!

[@dylanatkinson1426]

Really love the idea re your harvesting notch.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

That harvesting notch is a game changer for us, especially with our peaches that need to be netted in order to get a crop!

[@diannebartkus9893]

Man, oruning just confuses me🤣. Great Video

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Have to admit, I've been pruning fruit trees for over 15 years and I'm still learning each season!

[@diannebartkus9893]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm OMG, that's so funny, ok, so it's normal. I screenshotted the before and after pics you provided. 🤣😂

[@gianv.]

Thank you for the info you shared!! I have one question… my 12 year old apricot tree has to main stems, however the one has never flowered at all…. Should I cut it?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

That is odd that it has never flowered at all. Our apricots are very inconsistent with flowering, but they do eventually flower. If it were me, I would probably work towards removing it. Depending on the size you may need to do that over a few seasons.

[@gianv.]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarmthank you, keep up with the good work!!

[@taylorvanbuskirk8040]

I see the farm cats are present, and even Lori had a speechless cameo. Where has Lori been? Don't think we don't notice.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Taylor! Lori always looks forward to this time of year. Being the shy one, she sits out the "How-to" content. We're trying to change things up a bit this year with fewer vlogs and more informational content which tends to be "evergreen" for us. Helps with keeping the views steady throughout the year.

[@dvssayer5621]

I love informational videos! Im pruning my trees like this, even the Asian pears which have been super productive! But we will see this yr, since I pruned out the middle and all those branches shooting to the sky! Its tragic to prune, and to be pruned!😅

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@dvssayer5621 you'll have to let us know how the open center does on your Asian pears. We had good success with that on the old farm, but are trying more of a central leader on the 2 we have here.

[@treeaddict]

Great info, thanks! Your voice sounds exactly like 'David the Goods' voice.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad you enjoyed this one. I've been told that a few times before and all I can say is I wish I had that guy's sense of humor. He's hilarious!

[@MWinklerBooks]

Oh no! I forgot all about my Thompson grapevines LOL They're about 2 years old. Can I use your video about 1 year old Spur and Cane pruning as a guide? It's been nice and warm the last few days at my house in Glendale and I don't want to miss my window.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Now is definitely the time for those grapes. We usually prune them in early February as they're one of the last things to break dormancy around here! As for pruning, the 1 year old video would be a decent one to work from. Usually in year two you're not necessarily needing to cane prune, but that depends on their growth last season.

[@MWinklerBooks]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thanks so much 😁 I’ll see if I can get to it tomorrow or next weekend.

[@TheFatTheist]

My wife always takes the sticks from when I prune our peach trees and puts them in a vase in the house with water. They will bloom and grow leaves just like the ones outside. It is so beautiful as a decoration. Does this work for plums and apricots too?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Alan. We haven't tried it before, but I would imagine they will root out as well. Makes me wonder if it wouldn't be worth doing the same with the everbearing mulberry cuttings!

[@eliasrifka1704]

If you can grow Black Amber plums or Regina Claudia Verdi plum varieties you'll get OUTSTANDING productive , ultra tasty and strong growth. So many have grown in this Lebanese village Black Amber and what a late July -early September picks.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Ooh, now I have not heard of those. I'll have to see where we can source them, looks like some online nurseries have the Black Amber.

[@azyEmpero]

Glad to find you, I have plum tree on pot, first year gave me couple of blooms, second year 2024, full of blooms, I pruned very light, when do I get fruits? Third year? Need help. I am in Austin,tx. Also do you know about Mulberry? It is a strange tree. I gave cutting to my friend. Her cutting got big, gave her full of fruits, my tree no fruits at all. Is it true you have to remove All the leaves? Needs help❤

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey there! Plums usually take a few years before they set fruit. They flower younger, but fruit set is usually around year 4. We grow several mulberry varieties here on the farm and they all set fruit quite young. I have not heard of removing leaves to get them to fruit. Actually, fruit sets on new growth from wood that is at least a year old and the catkins typically appear before the leaves in many instances. Are you seeing catkins form at budbreak? Also, are you pruning it regularly?

[@TheTamrock2007]

I just got my first plum tree, a Stanley plum. Watched to learn how to care for it. Curious what you painted the trunks with, and am guessing its a insect deterrent?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Congrats on that tree! I'll link to a video for you here where we discuss the paint; kzbin.info/www/bejne/jYfLkHynfceLqZI

[@TheTamrock2007]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thanks so much, going to have a look .

[@thetackroomeu]

Thanks for posting such helpful videos! I wish I'd have known about your classes(I've since signed up for your mailing list). I was wondering if you could recommend a good book about pruning? I've watched so many videos but I'm still really hesitant to make any cuts, I'm afraid to do it wrong.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Shoot, it's a bummer you missed those classes! I don't have any books that I can recommend with confidence. Our unique growing conditions make for equally unique pruning challenges. Let me know what tree/variety you're looking to prune and maybe I can help.

[@cdgarrett1]

I have 4!cherry trees grown from seed. They must be reverting back to the wild genetics. No fruit yet. Can I use them as root stock for plum scions ?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

I'm not an expert on root stocks, but my understanding is the seeds you collected are a mix of the root stock and grafted variety. In that case, they may not be ideal for root stock.

[@radutamas2014]

Hello from Romania! Excellent! IF !- you will have time...one minut for one branch....a plum tree branch at a low speed...will be great!! All the best!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hello from the US!! Please help me understand what you're asking. Are you wanting to see a close up shot of the cut itself?

[@janet-Spirit_of_the_Living_God]

It's helpful to slow down the speed of the video if you want a better view. Click on the "gear" shape, or whichever one let you choose the "playback speed".

[@KevinDiaz-dq5iv]

Hello! Thank you for these videos. Can i prune my trees if they started flowering? I just saw this and my fruit trees have started flowering!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

If they're starting to bud out, I would hold off on making any pruning cuts. You would probably be ok, but it's best to wait until Fall on most of your stone fruit.

[@KevinDiaz-dq5iv]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm perfect, to be safe i will wait for next winter. So far still young looking trees. As far as fertilzing trees with irrigation rings covered in heavy mulch like you do, what is best way to add granular fertilizer? Do you open up the mulch every 3 months of fertilization?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@KevinDiaz-dq5iv Yes, that's exactly how we handle fertilizing. Not only does it get the fertilizer down to where the irrigation is running, it also removes some new soil out of the ring which accumulates over time. You can leave that new soil around the tree (what we do) or use it elsewhere in your garden.

[@KevinDiaz-dq5iv]

perfect brother! thank you, I also add earthworm castings when i fertilize since I have heavy clay soil. Have you ever practiced using it? @@EdgeofNowhereFarm

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@KevinDiaz-dq5iv we haven't added worm castings directly, but everywhere we have irrigation and mulch we have worms doing their thing right there! It's one of many advantages of using manure based fertilizers. Lots for the wigglers to chow down on!

[@cristigorman9800]

Where did you get a plum/cherry tree? I couldn't quite make out what you said.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

The SatLap (Satsuma Plum/Lapins Cherry hybrid) that we have on the property is only available through RSI Growers in Glendale, AZ as far as I know. The Sweet Treat Pluerry is a Dave Wilson tree that you would need to buy through a Dave Wilson Nursery distributor. I'm not sure who would have those right now as it's the end of that season for us here in AZ. The Urban Farm Fruit Tree program is where we purchased our original tree from.

[@realstatistician]

Thanks for sharing. How much does pruning like this usually decrease the lifespan of the tree?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

The fruiting lifetime of these trees is usually around 25 years regardless of how they're pruned. Unless you cut them down, they can live for many decades beyond that. That's actually true of most grafted trees. Citrus is known to revert to it's root stock after a few decades, but the trees can be around for much longer than any of us will be!

[@realstatistician]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Good to know. I’ve always heard about apple and pear trees living for up to a century, but I’ve never heard of that in a cultivated/orchard setting. Didn’t think about how it could be due to graft or shaping. Citrus makes sense, they’re almost more of shrubs than trees, kind of.

[@tammyhoman9550]

do the same fruiting spurs produce fruit year after year like apples and pears?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Yes, they will produce for several years and then finally give up.

[@Hayseed26]

Do you buy full sized apricot, peach, cherry & plum trees or do you procure semi-dwarf sized trees? Have a good friend who ran an apple orchard in Minnesota. They decide early on that semi-dwarf were easier to work with, took less space but didn't live as long. Which he took as a side benefit as the buying public's taste change, so they would then select newly popular breeds of apples.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

All of our stone fruit is on semi-dwarfing root stock, but we still have to heavily prune them back each season due to their aggressive growth. I can't imagine how quickly they would grow on full size stock!!

[@tadeuszmichaelwlodarczyk3120]

Where do you get your water FROM in the desert For Your Tree's??? Otherwise Great Show ✔️✔️💯

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad you enjoyed this one. If you're interested, I'll link to an episode we did on our water situation for you here; kzbin.info/www/bejne/o3WQppZ-i7Omm6c

[@Franko91352]

ThankYou

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad you found this one useful!

[@coreyblanchard5177]

Fruiting spurs? I have small twigs on 2 or 3 year wood but there are also shorter thorn type growth with a couple leaves. They are harder and taper to a point quickly and are about 2 inches long. Do these also produce fruit? Should they be kept are removed. It's a Santa rosa plum. Thank you.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

You are definitely describing what should be a fruiting spur on that Santa Rosa. I would leave those in place!

[@coreyblanchard5177]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thank you so much!

[@no3ruben]

What's the white thing on your trees? And how do you use it?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

That is trunk paint. I'll link a video for you here detailing how and why we use it; kzbin.info/www/bejne/jYfLkHynfceLqZI

[@MillStream30]

What is the white stuff at the bottom of the trees, around the trunk?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

That is trunk paint that we apply to younger trees until they have a wide enough canopy to shade the trunk. They can die from sunburn without it. For more specifics you can check out a video we did on it a while back here; kzbin.info/www/bejne/jYfLkHynfceLqZI

[@joannehill3164]

I have a plum tree with a lot of fruiting spurs but some of them look like thorns and are very sharp. Could you tell me what that is? It’s a bubblegum plum tree. Thanks.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

It sounds like you're describing the fruiting spurs on a plum tree. They look like a pointy, small branch. Apricots are not pointy like that.

[@laleki9]

Do you seal your cuts so that disease doesn't come in the prune wounds?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

No, we are so dry here it's not necessary. There's some debate as to whether sealant is a good idea under any circumstances. The theory being it may actually seal in disease that would have otherwise not been an issue.

[@lifeinthegarden-c6j]

Nice video

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad you enjoyed this one!

[@josephtpg2205]

After you take your main cuts. Head back the tips of the smaller branches that are not spurs. This will allow more spur wood to form and make fir a more compact tree. Apricot, plum, prune spurs are identified by short finger like branches. They last about 7 years. Spurs on apple, cherry, pear identified by ruff wrinkle branches. Most trees or bushes that flower in frost zones , their new flower spurs form by mid July or August of previous year.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Great notes, thank you for posting!

[@KashmirMovieProduction]

Nice informative video ❤❤

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad you enjoyed this one and found it useful.

[@edouart]

Would it be faster to plant four trees, instead of working so hard to get four branches? Thanks for videos 😊

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Well, I never thought about it that way. If nothing else, 4 more trees means at least 16 more branches!! 😂😂

[@edouart]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm 🙃😄

[@alanshrimpton6787]

My plum in NZ I've tried to espalier but I keep trying to cut down the higher branches and it wants to go up and now it's a constant battle of multiple branches at about 5 foot tool. I feel I need to take it right off and encourage growth again lower. It's close to 7 years old and the trunk is a good diameter. I got one plum last year sadly. I think it's trying to grow than fruit.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hmm, this is an interesting challenge. Plums like ours (and it sounds yours are similar) want to grove very vertical and they also grow aggressively. I imagine this is what you're running into. I haven't attempted an Espalier plum before, so I wouldn't have good advice. Hopefully somebody here will see your comment and have some ideas for you. 🤞

[@alanshrimpton6787]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm thanks. At least I didn't cut off fruit spurs. It has very little flowers and seems to flower early and I think bees aren't very active. But it's never full of flowers like some plums

[@simonmeszaros2770]

I have 3 years old apricot, much smaller but healthy. similarly low branching. But i am not sure how to get it to shape. I have 3 main branches, but one the strongest is codominant with vertical central branch where i was planning to set second etage. I am now worried about that codominant, should i remove it and leave only two main branches and central branch?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

If they're both truly co-dominant you'll want to cut back to one. If I'm understanding correctly, over time these 2 trunks will grow together which can cause disease issues.

[@ebzer16]

Is open center ok for very windy conditions? I’m worried that if all the branches come out of the same location they would be more prone to break.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

I'm not sure how windy it is for you guys, but we get very windy out here as well. It's normal for us to have 30-40 mph gusts, especially during the summer growing season. The open center can actually help with that, especially if you're maintaining it (the center) with some Summer pruning. This allows the wind to pass through the tree itself. That being said, be careful with apricot trees. They are VERY prone to breaking at the graft point in our experience. In fact, it's one of the reasons we tend to prune them back heavily each season. You'll lose a bit of production, but you keep the tree!

[@ebzer16]

Thank you that helped!

[@maozedung7270]

You got a large semi desert space there. It hurts a bit my eyes. Why not plant nopales for fruits, vegetables, and/or for leaves for feeding life stock? I could give you more information about if you like. Do you understand mexican spanish?

[@wishbone54]

Do the same fruiting spurs fruit every year? Or just one year?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

They fruit for multiple years and eventually die out. It varies by type of tree and variety.

[@wishbone54]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thanks.

[@MechanicMark613]

How do I keep my plum from growing to high?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

The 2 primary ways are to start with a small trunk by cutting it way back during it's first year and/or pruning aggressively on existing trees. Assuming you're dealing with an established tree, you can prune 2x/year. Once during the growing season (summer) to cut back on some of the stronger growth and then again during the Winter season. It will also help to keep an open center design like you're seeing on these trees. That removes the central leader which is what ultimately gives the tree it's height.

[@thomaslawson4253]

love all the cats

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

They are real characters, aren't they?

[@thomaslawson4253]

i have 5 cats and 30 fruit trees in montana. it warmed up in feb then cooled off. all my new chinese morman apricots soon died. i have an area that is shaded in early spring then sunny during the summer. do you think this would be a good place to replant chinese apricot. if you have time i have my wildlife pictures on face book " thomas lawson" sitting on a white horse in bubble photo.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@thomaslawson4253 hmm, that may be a tough spot for those trees. One of the reasons we have so much growth and production is the long growing season and completely full sun these are grow in. If it's shaded for a portion of the short growing season you guys have them may struggle.

[@thomaslawson4253]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm great point !

[@haydensmith2737]

Can you root those cuttings?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

We have not attempted that, but you probably can. The main issue with stone fruit is the fragility of the natural rooting systems. They would not survive our soil conditions.

[@apple-horti-786]

Nice sir Watching from kashmir India What is treatment of leaf curl in peach plants

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hello from the US! We don't have issues with peach leaf curl here on the property, so I don't have a good suggestion for you on that.

[@70sfred1]

I live in Ohio and I have a Moorpark Apricot and what month should I prune mine?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

We prune ours about 4-6 weeks before they break dormancy. For us that's the month of January as they can break dormancy as early as late February and always by early March. Our last frost date is usually in mid-February. That being said, you can usually prune anytime during the dormancy season. One caveat, you do want to prune them when you're not going to have heavy rain/snow in the immediate days following your pruning. This way you're allowing the tree to heal over before water is introduced. That's not a concern for us here as we're so very dry, but it would be for you in Ohio.

[@70sfred1]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thank you and just subscribed!

[@enaLttaM]

Quick question- You have SO much mulch ready to use on the property, why not fully mulch your entire orchard area? Why leave the roads between your fruit trees bare soil? Wouldn't mulching it improve overall soil health on the property?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

You make a great point and the main reason is it's actually a very limited resource for us this far out of the city and we have a lot of areas we constantly have to backfill. We also have regular group tours on the property and want to keep some of those areas clear for folks to enjoy walking through the orchard.

[@lianagilbert61]

don't your trees burn up in the boiling hot summer there? i have a mini orchard. i got dwarf fruit trees from online orchards. my apricot is definitely not dwarf. it's gone mad. i had cut an open center but it looks like a tornado of branches probably 12 ft tall. i am attacking it today cause you have given me the knowledge and motivation to teach it a lesson.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Crazy as it may sound, our fruit trees do really well here in the sun and heat! Apricot trees really do grow very quickly and can easily get a bit too top heavy if not kept under control, so prune away!!

[@alessiofe]

Dear Americans, your guides when it comes to cut down trees are amazing, you are the best at that. But man, pruning is not your thing at all.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

That's funny. 😂

[@alessiofe]

​@@EdgeofNowhereFarmpruning is ultimately space and energy management. what you did there is like working as real estate constructor and having the owner coming once per year with a bulldozer, he then proceeds to destroy half your work then leaves without telling you anything. so much labour and materials wasted.

[@ricardocadilha5804]

I thought cherry trees required a lot of cold winter hours to produce.😮

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Traditional cherries do and we are not able to grow those here. However, we have cherry/plum hybrids which do really well for us.

[@YousefSh-em3dj]

لدي شجرة مشمش تزهر بكثرة لكن لا تثمر. ارجو المساعده. وشكرا

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

حسنًا، هذا غريب. هناك بعض الأشياء التي يمكن أن تكون المشكلة. الأول هو المناخ. إنهم يحتاجون إلى بعض الوقت البارد خلال فصل الشتاء ليؤتيوا ثمارهم. كما أنها تحتاج إلى التلقيح. عادة ما يكون ذلك من النحل، لذلك إذا لم يكن لديك ما يكفي من الملقحات فقد تحتاج إلى تلقيح الزهور يدويًا. قضية أخرى يمكن أن تكون الإجهاد. عدم كفاية الري، ونقص الخصوبة (الأسمدة)، ومشاكل في التربة، وحتى كثرة الرياح يمكن أن تسبب الكثير من الضغط وستسقط الشجرة الزهور. وأخيرا، يمكن أن يكون عمر الشجرة مشكلة. إنهم بحاجة إلى النمو لبضع سنوات قبل أن ينجحوا في إنتاج الفاكهة. أعتذر إذا لم يترجم هذا بشكل جيد!

[@YousefSh-em3dj]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm اشكرك على الرد. عمر الشجرة 3 سنوات حتى انا قلت قد يكون العمر مزال صغيرا. وشكرا. مرة أخرى.

[@JonSteitzer]

why are the trunks painted white?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

I'll link to a video for you here that explains why we do that; kzbin.info/www/bejne/jYfLkHynfceLqZI

[@ZiraatmühendisiTarımDanışmanı]

Türkçe alt yazı ekler misiniz

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Bunu çözmeye çalışacağım, ancak benim açımdan bunun nerede otomatikleştirilebileceğini göremiyorum.

[@geeyoupee]

Doesn't removing that much wood break the 30% rule? Won't it cause the tree to grow a bunch of water sprouts?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

We usually push that rule a bit, especially with younger trees that we're still trying to establish. Once we're into year 5 and beyond we scale back and focus on production.

[@mirleydamazio628]

Olá ! Fiquei de passar informações sobre a palma forrageira para vocês... A palma forrageira compreende as plantas de diversas espécies dos gêneros Opuntia e Nopalea, ambas da família cactácea. O gênero Opuntia tem como centro de origem, o México. Opuntia cochinillifera é a mais encontrada no nordeste do Brasil, região semi árida. Funciona como base alimentar de bovinos, caprinos e ovinos. Também pode ser utilizada em receitas para alimentação humana. Essa região do Brasil é árida e muito quente, não faz frio. As estações são marcadas por período de chuvas e período das secas. A agrofloresta( sintropia, permacultura) tem funcionado bem nessas áreas, e está se expandindo pelo país inteiro. Acredito que algumas frutíferas dessa região poderão funcionar bem em sua área, pois no período de secas, elas tendem a hibernar. ❤❤

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Ah ok. Temos nopales crescendo na fazenda, mas não em grande extensão. Eles se dão muito bem para nós aqui sem irrigação.

[@juliosdiy3206]

Too late i already cut.the.fruit.spurs off of my plums dumb me. I will save some spurs for next year.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Oh no! We were hoping to catch you beforehand. The good news is, the tree will put on new ones for you and depending on the age of the tree it may still put on a few fruit from spurs you can't see yet. Fingers crossed for you...🤞

[@juliosdiy3206]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm yes i saw a few from the methley i hope its enough to pollunate the other two this year but i dont know why the Black Ice and Tonka did not pollunate each other last year though the Tonka was flowering crazy for 2 yrs now.

[@williampatrickfurey]

So my ocean element theory turns out to be correct, check the amount of taurine in particular foods(certain shellfish from particular areas), what it does for people's heart health and energy levels, and AND IT'S EFFECTS ON PLANTS...I PROMISE YOU'LL LOVE THIS INTEL. It wasn't just iodine that was robbed from us but our health and time on this Earth, as you'd never have to cut your yield short with these nutrient compounds. Also, it's not something that'll be as good out of a supplement; it's common knowledge that the mechanics before and after the production of such compounds do many more beneficial things and that mechanisms can all together stop functioning correctly when supplements are used too frequently (this would be removing all natural options for far too long).

[@williampatrickfurey]

www.google.com/search?q=effects+of+taurine+on+plant+growth&hl=en_US&pli=1 this hints at benefits pertaining to the absorption spectrum, other similar looking searches haven't resulted in a similar fashion

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hmm, that's interesting. I'm familiar with Taurine, but had not considered it as a supplement for a plant!

[@williampatrickfurey]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm to save you time, search "taurine's effect on plants", then "effects of taurine on plants"; they'll both yield the same initial link but with different excerpts. I believe the real working government would want us to have the truth. I'm not sure I'd use it as a supplement exactly though, there are so many things necessary for the human body to produce it and it seems that, when used as a supplement, there are chances of other faculties of the body being neglected; although, 6g daily for a year was apparently deemed acceptable when our western diet was shown to give only 40mg-400mg daily. Plants, I believe would've received it from migrations of sea life(water, land, and air species), containing necessary nutrients, which has dwindled by approximately 75% of the known species in the last 50 years. Keep in mind cattle like buffalo would've made passes coinciding with the weather also.

[@vernonsteinkamp1088]

You didn't discuss when to prun.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Not in this one, but we did discuss it a few weeks back. I'll link that for you here; kzbin.info/www/bejne/rHvXk5JmoMdsh8k

[@سعیدنیکو-ن2ض]

سلام داداش خیلی شدید هرس کردی واسه زردالو این قدر هرس لازم نیست

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

سلام. با رشد بسیار قوی که در زردآلوهای خود می بینیم، باید آن را در چند سال اول هرس کنیم. ما 2 درخت زردآلو را بعد از اینکه خیلی بزرگ شدند و در محل پیوند شکستند در اثر باد از دست دادیم. هنگامی که این درختان 4-5 ساله شدند (سال آینده) به آنها اجازه می دهیم بزرگتر شوند.

[@سعیدنیکو-ن2ض]

سلام اوکی هرس شما زیبا بود ولی اینجا سبکتر هرس میکنیم آرزوی سلامتی وروزهای خیلی خوب برات دارم