Radical apple training
What do you do if you have a dwarf apple tree
that comes down with fire
blight, you're forced to prune it radically, then it
responds by sending up masses of water sprouts? One website
recommended tying the water sprouts into loops to make the tree
fruit next year instead of zooming further upright.
This particular dwarf
is the oldest perennial we have on the farm, but has yet to give
me a single flower. It's been my learning tree in a lot of
ways, and has the growing pains to prove it. I started the
tree in the mule garden, transplanted it out when we moved the
mules in, then didn't realize that dwarf trees need
a lot of TLC if you want them to bear.
So these loops are my
last-ditch effort to save a very troubled tree who should have
been producing years ago. The loops are certainly
interesting, whether they work or not!
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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Our pears all came down with blight in the wet spring. Being only third leaf, there is little to work with in terms of pruning, so we cast about for alternatives (http://twodogsgonewild.blogspot.com/2013/06/fire.html) A month later, the white vinegar spray had halted the march of decay, but some symptoms persisted. Inspired by Mark's tomato blight experiment, I took some copper screening from storage and cut some "band-aids" to wrap the affected locations (http://twodogsgonewild.blogspot.com/2013/07/forebearance.html). Although the jury is still out, I must say that I am pleased with their recovery to date. Thanks for the idea: you might consider it for your quince and apples!