Prune a Mandarin: [Importance, Time, Tools, Considerations and Steps]

Pruning a mandarin is one of the tasks that you must carry out if you want to enjoy juicy and large fruits.

As in all citrus-type fruit trees, there are certain considerations that you must take into account so that they grow strongly and avoid possible diseases or deformations.

It is not difficult to do and you can apply them even if you do not have much experience. To help you throughout the process, we have designed this post that we hope you can take advantage of from the first to the last line.

Why prune the mandarin?

The main purpose we seek with the pruning of a fruit tree is to improve its production, both in terms of quantity and quality.

The reason for this is that when there are countless branches, the energy is lost when it is distributed among all of them.

But if the tree has enough branches for a good harvest, the energy is concentrated only in them and the production is greater. However, pruning is also helpful in reducing the chances of diseases arising from lack of air and light in the center of the canopy.

When the tree is in full growth, pruning is an essential action to organize its structure according to what we want for the future.

Keep in mind that if this phase is not fulfilled, the branches will grow as they please and the mandarin will probably look messy and very tall, making it difficult to harvest the fruit later.

When is it better to carry out pruning of mandarins?

Mandarins need two types of pruning during their productive phase: an annual one and a green one.

Annual pruning is carried out during the rest period of the tree, so it is recommended that it be done in early spring.

In the case of green pruning, this is carried out in hot months, with mid- summer being recommended.

What tools should we use when pruning mandarins?

Being a tree, the mandarin requires the use of various tools depending on the thickness of its branches, whether it is pruning shears, a handsaw or an electric saw.

Here the most important thing is to ensure that all of them have a good edge so that they make the cuts quickly and that they are disinfected.

It is also important that you protect your health by wearing gloves, protective glasses and work clothes to carry out this task.

If the tree is very tall, you may need a ladder or a tall pruner.

What considerations should we take into account when pruning mandarins?

Mandarin trees can be pruned in three different ways depending on the main objective you are pursuing: training, increased production or renewal.

When you are clear about the type of pruning that you will apply, it is time to assess the general structure of the tree. Since pruning is done when the tree is leafless, this task becomes a bit easier.

How to prune a mandarin without damaging the tree?

Once you start the pruning task in shape, you will have to go through one of the pruning routes according to your needs.

formation pruning

It is the one that is carried out when the tree is in full growth and, as its name indicates, the objective is to help the tree to grow in a certain way.

The duration of this pruning is three consecutive years. In the first year you will have to remove all the branches, leaving only the main trunk.

In the second year, the idea is to eliminate the branches that are growing in the lower part of the trunk and then cut 60% of the rest. In the third year you will have to repeat the process of reducing the branches by 60% and eliminate all those branches that are growing out of order.

fruiting pruning

When the tree has already begun to bear fruit, it is time for the fruiting pruning to help the harvests to be better.

Here you have to foresee which are the main branches of the tree from which the productive secondary ones come out according to the work you did in the training.

So, you have to remove all the suckers and other parts that are causing energy loss.Every two years you can reduce the size of the secondary branches a little to prevent them from growing too much.

renovation pruning

This is the least frequent pruning because it is only applied to trees that have already lived for many years and that in old age stop producing fruits.

In order for the mandarin tree to be able to recover, you have to ensure that it is in optimal health conditions before applying a renewal pruning.

The idea is to cut the branches of the structure, being able to do it drastically if you have experience, or progressively over 3 years.Green pruning is the one carried out for tree maintenance, eliminating parts that are in poor condition or suckers that may appear.

If you follow all these steps in the proper period, the results will be wonderful.

Maybe you are also interested in:

• Mandarin Diseases: [Characteristics, Types, Detection and Treatment]