JP2024103456A - How to train fruit trees - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a novel method for pruning fruit trees that can harvest early and abundantly.SOLUTION: Provided is a method for pruning fruit trees, in which the main trunk of a fruit tree sapling is cut back above a bud at a height of 70 to 80 cm, each bud on the main trunk is allowed to grow into a branch without missing any buds, the two branches growing from the tip of the main trunk are cut back leaving 1/3 to 2/3 of their length, and the two branches growing from the tip of the main trunk and the fruit branches guided from the Y-shaped part of the main trunk are arranged or guided to fill the space formed around the main trunk, so that the branches arising from the main trunk other than the two branches growing from the tip of the main trunk do not overlap each other. Alternatively, the main trunk of a fruit tree sapling is cut back to a height of 50 cm or less, two branches growing from the main trunk are designated as main branches, the main branches are guided to form a Y or V shape, and the branches to be used as fruit branches growing from the main trunk at a position lower than the main branch and the branches to be used as fruit branches growing in sequence from the lower part of the main branch are arranged or guided so that they do not overlap each other.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Application for exception to loss of novelty has been filed

The present invention relates to a method for training fruit trees, and in particular to a method for training fruit trees that allows for early and abundant harvesting.

Conventional main fruit tree training methods include, for example, two-, three-, or four-prong training, in which the main branches are branched from the main trunk into two, three, or four branches, and the main branches and other branches are trained on a trellis at a height that takes into account the work efficiency of the farmer. In particular, two-prong training is widely used in Japanese orchards (Figure 1). In recent years, joint training (Patent Document 1) has become widespread, in which fruit trees are planted in a row, all fruit trees have one main branch, this one main branch is trained horizontally in the same direction, and the tip of the main branch is grafted to the base of a main branch of an adjacent fruit tree. Joint training is used for various fruit trees, such as apples, pears, persimmons, plums, peaches, Japanese apricots, citrus fruits, figs, cherry blossoms, grapes, and kiwifruit.

JP 2005-304495 A

However, in the conventional two-prong training method for fruit trees, the emphasis is on the tree shape, particularly in the T-shape that is trained to a trellis, and as described below, the seedlings are pruned at a height of about 150 cm, which slows down early growth, resulting in only small branches in the first year and having to be cut short. Although the tree grows in the second year, the emphasis on the T-shape means that the two resulting main branches are trained as long as possible, which means that the tree cannot grow sufficiently that year either, resulting in slow early growth. Depending on the type of fruit tree, for example, with Japanese pears, no fruit is harvested for three to four years after the seedlings are planted, and even after five to six years, only a few to about ten fruits can be harvested per tree. Therefore, the seedlings do not generate income for farmers until six years after planting. Even in the seventh year, only 20 to 30 fruits are harvested, and it takes too many years for full-scale fruit harvesting that can be expected to generate profits. Furthermore, allowing young trees to bear fruit inhibits the growth of the trunk, and there is the problem that it takes too many years for the trees to mature and be able to produce profitable harvests.

As such, it takes more than 10 years to develop a mature orchard using traditional fruit tree training methods, and it requires a large amount of money and the skills to properly prune and trim the fruit trees, which act as a barrier to entry for those interested in fruit farming. Even if an orchard is opened, there is almost no prospect of earning an income soon after planting the seedlings, so it is not possible to employ farm workers in the early stages of opening and it is forced to rely on self-labor. In addition, maintaining an orchard requires management effort, labor, and costs, and is affected by bad weather, making it difficult to stabilize profits, which is also a cause of farmers leaving their jobs and agriculture declining.

Therefore, the inventor has developed a new method of training fruit trees, breaking away from conventional training and pruning methods that focus on tree shape, and breaking away from the fixed idea that fruit trees must be cultivated for many years after planting seedlings before they can produce a sufficient number of fruits to be profitable.

Specifically, the method for training fruit trees using the inventor's technique includes the following steps:
The trunk of a fruit tree sapling is cut back above a bud at a height of about 70 to 80 cm (at the worker's waist), and each bud on the trunk is allowed to grow into a branch without missing any buds;
Two branches growing from the tip of the main trunk are cut back, leaving 1/3 to 2/3 of their length;
The branches other than the two branches that grow from the main trunk are arranged or trained so as to fill the space formed around the two branches and the main trunk, without overlapping each other. At this time, the branches to be trained may be appropriately thinned out or trimmed.
After this, the farmer can use his experience and skill to properly prune and train the branches to strengthen the vigor of the fruit trees, and then gradually make the branches growing from the lower part of the main trunk bear fruit rather than the two branches growing from the tip of the main trunk. However, from the second year onwards, it is preferable to train the fruit trees using the method described below.

In the second year after planting the seedlings, the two branches growing from the tip of the main trunk are trained to a Y-shape on a shelf to become main branches, and the branches growing from the main trunk other than the two branches are allowed to grow further. The new branches growing from the main branch in the second year are thinned out or pruned as appropriate, and are arranged or trained to fill the space. The two main branches do not bear fruit. Meanwhile, the branches growing from the main trunk other than the two branches can bear several to about 10 fruits as fruit branches. Even if the branches growing from the main trunk other than the two branches bear fruit, the main trunk can be enriched and the tree vigor can be strengthened without inhibiting the growth of the main branches.

In the third year after planting the fruit tree seedling, the two main branches growing from the tip of the main trunk are strongly cut back so that 1/3 to 2/3 of the length they grew that year remain. Thereafter, the branches branching off from each of the main branches are preferably trained to fill the space formed by the two main branches and the main trunk. More preferably, they are arranged or trained three-dimensionally. The branches newly generated from the main trunk other than the two branches are cut back slightly less so that about 1/2 to 3/4 of the length from the base remains, and can be trained to fill the space. In the third year, the branches branching off from the main branch can be used as fruit branches to bear fruit. In addition, the branches generated from the main trunk other than the two branches are trained to fill the space in a fan shape. These branches can also bear fruit.

From the fourth year after planting the fruit tree seedlings, the fruit branches continue to grow in a fan shape to fill the space. As they grow, they create shade, so they are thinned out or pruned to prevent inhibition of photosynthesis, promoting photosynthesis in the fruit tree and strengthening its vigor.

For several years after planting the fruit tree seedlings, the branches arising from the trunk and the fruit branches branching off from the Y-shaped parts of the two main branches are spread out in a fan shape, thinned out and trimmed so that they do not overlap, leaving, for example, about eight branches, and the trees are grown thick and large while the fruits are harvested. A tree trained using the fruit tree training method of this technology has two main branches, but the branches arising from the trunk and the branches (fruit branches) branching off from the main branches are also full, and the tree has a shape that looks like an octopus with six to ten main branches growing around the main trunk. Therefore, the fruit tree training method of this technology is named the "octopus tree training method" (Figure 2).
In this specification, the term "fruit branch" includes branches from which fruit branches can branch, such as branches that will grow to become sub-main branches in the future and lateral branches from which fruit branches branch.

Furthermore, after the fifth or sixth year after planting the fruit tree seedlings, the branches that have grown from the main trunk are thinned out and pruned in sequence, depending on the strength of the tree and whether it will create shade. Next, by around the tenth year, the two main branches are maintained, and the branches that have grown from the main trunk are thinned out to about two or three. By around the fifteenth year, fruit branches that have branched off from the main branch are allowed to grow and become sub-main branches, and all branches that have grown from the main trunk and the Y-shaped parts of the main branches are thinned out and pruned, until finally there are only the two main branches. For example, if a Japanese pear is well managed, it is possible to harvest more than 1,000 fruits in 50 years, and it can be maintained for 100 years.

Alternatively, the main trunk of a fruit tree sapling can be cut back to a height of 50 cm or less, two branches that grow from the main trunk can be used as main branches, and the main branches can be trained into a Y or V shape, and the branches that will become fruit branches growing from the main trunk at a position lower than the main branch and the branches that will become fruit branches growing from the lower part of the main branch can be arranged or trained so that they do not overlap with each other, thus training the fruit tree.

The inventor's technology allows fruit trees to be harvested soon after planting. For example, it is possible to harvest around 10 fruits in the third year, 30 to 50 fruits in the fourth year, around 100 fruits in the fifth year for a vigorous fruit tree, and over 200 fruits in the sixth year. This technology allows for a harvest that is more than 10 times greater in an earlier period than conventional fruit tree training methods.

Figure 1 is a photograph used in place of a drawing of a fruit tree (Japanese pear) trained using the conventional two-branch trellis method. Figure 2 is a photograph of the fruit tree training method of this technology (Japanese pear, 6-year-old tree).

Below, we will explain the main features of this tree training method, highlighting how it differs from conventional training methods.

In the fruit tree training method of this technology, the seedling is cut back strongly above a bud about 70 cm to about 80 cm in height, or below 50 cm. Other buds on the trunk are not cut off, and each bud is allowed to grow into a branch.

On the other hand, for example, in the conventional two-branch trellis training method, a seedling is planted and then cut back slightly above the bud at a height of about 150 cm, leaving two or three buds at the tip of the main trunk and removing the buds below that. The purpose of removing the buds in the conventional method is that it is believed that this will encourage growth by concentrating on the bud at the tip of the main trunk.

However, in reality, simply leaving two or three buds at the end of the main trunk is insufficient to maintain the fruit tree, and it does not have enough strength to grow as expected in the first year after planting the seedlings. For this reason, in the second year, pruning is required to cut the new branches short. Even if it grows as expected in the third year, the branches are trained to be as long as possible in order to train them onto a trellis in a T-shape, so in the fourth year it again does not grow sufficiently, and the branches have to be cut short. It is only in the fifth year that it finally begins to grow.

During this time, the trunk becomes thin and the main branches become elongated, and growth is severely inhibited. As a result, almost no fruit-bearing branches grow, and no harvest can be expected for five years after the seedlings are planted.

As mentioned above, the fruit tree training method of this technology has the following features: first, the seedlings are cut back strongly (to make them shorter); buds are not removed from the main trunk when the seedlings are planted; strong pruning is used to encourage branch growth and branching of fruit branches to develop vigor (light pruning can cause dormancy of buds below the branches and weak growth of the branches); sunlight is utilized as much as possible by three-dimensionally training the branches in a fan shape in the space around the main trunk and main branches, and branches that are in the shade are thinned out and trimmed; and for several years after planting the fruit tree seedlings, the two main branches, the branches growing from the Y-shaped parts of the main branches, and the branches growing from the main trunk are grown to a total of about 6 to 10 branches that look like main branches. When the seedlings are cut back strongly, the buds at the tip of the main trunk grow into large branches. In addition, since there are other buds on the main trunk, they can be trained to grow into branches to fill the space around the two branches at the tip of the seedling and the main trunk three-dimensionally. Branches can be thinned out from the base and pruned or trimmed to prevent overlapping. By allowing fruit tree seedlings to have ample foliage from the early stages of planting, expose them to sunlight, and encourage active photosynthesis, the fruit trees will gain strength quickly and the trunks and main branches will grow thicker. This will result in early, high-yielding fruit trees.

In the fruit tree training method of this technology, the main trunk of a fruit tree sapling is cut back to a height of 50 cm or less, and two branches growing from the main trunk are used as main branches, and these main branches can be trained into a Y or V shape. In this case, since there will be fewer fruit branches taken from the main trunk, the branches that have the potential to become fruit branches from the bottom up among the branches that grow from the Y or V shaped main branches are arranged or trained so that they do not overlap each other. By training in this way, an octopus-like shape is formed.

On the other hand, in conventional two-branch, three-branch, and four-branch training methods, it is believed that leaving fruit branches on the main trunk inhibits the growth of the main branches. Therefore, the two to four main branches that do not have fruit branches on the main trunk are trained to a trellis, and the fruit branches and sub-main branches that branch off from each main branch are trained to the trellis linearly or flatly. In other words, in conventional methods, the cultivation space is only used linearly or flatly, so the growth of leaves is also limited. Therefore, in conventional methods, the efficiency of photosynthesis using sunlight is lower than in the training method of this technology, which trains the branches three-dimensionally in a fan shape. As a result, there are large differences in tree vigor, the speed at which the main trunk matures, early and abundant fruit harvest, and quality such as the number, weight, and sugar content of the fruit.

Below, we will explain examples of the fruit tree training method using this technology. However, the specific values described in the examples are merely examples and do not limit the scope of the present invention.

One-year-old seedlings of the Japanese pear variety "Oshu" were planted in the orchard from November to early December 2016. Seedlings over 150 cm tall were heavily pruned above the buds so that they were roughly 70 to 80 cm tall. After heavy pruning, the seedlings' buds grew into strong branches. All buds below the tips of the seedlings were left intact, and they grew into branches without going dormant.

The two branches that grew out from the tip of the seedling were severely cut back so that they were about half the length of the branches that had grown. The other branches were lightly pruned as appropriate so that they filled the space around the main trunk and the space between the two branches that grew out from the tip in three dimensions, and the branches were trained to not overlap. In this state, the tree made full use of sunlight, and in the first year the leaves grew lush, the fruit tree grew large, and the main trunk also became larger.

In the second year, the two branches that grew from the tip were trained to form a Y-shape on the trellis so that they were at an angle of approximately 60° or less to the trellis. Each of the two branches trained to form a Y-shape became the main branch. In the second year, other branches branching off from the main branch and the main trunk were also grown, and the main branch was not allowed to bear fruit, while the other branches were allowed to bear a few fruits. As a result, it was confirmed that each branch was independent, and that the main branch could continue to grow without any effect even if fruit was produced on other branches or side branches.

In the third year, the main branch that had grown was heavily pruned in the middle. Meanwhile, the other branches were pruned slightly less so that about 1/2 to 3/4 of their original length remained. The fruit branches and side branches that branched off from the main branch and the branches that grew off the main trunk were arranged or trained in a fan-like and three-dimensional shape to make the main trunk larger and thicker, and to give the entire fruit tree strength. Fruit was allowed to set on the fruit branches that branched off from the main branch and other branches, and about 10 fruits were harvested.

In the fourth and fifth years, the trees were thinned out or trimmed in order to avoid being shaded by branches arising from the main trunk other than the main branch or fruit branches branching off from the main branch. By thinning out or trimming, the branches that create shade can be arranged, and it has been demonstrated that the main branches grow early, improving tree vigor and enabling continued cultivation for high fruit yields. At the time of filing this application, six years have passed since the seedlings were planted, and more than 100 fruits were already harvested in the fifth year and more than 200 fruits in the sixth year. And, even though the trees are still young, the fruit weight in the fifth year was about 600g on average, and in the sixth year it was about 650g on average, resulting in a high profitability. In the seventh year, about 270 fruits (eight containers' worth), total weight of more than 120 kg, could be harvested.

The Japanese pear variety "Yosui" was also grown using the same training method, and the fruit tree seedlings bore approximately 210 fruits six years after planting.

[Reference Example]
From the early stages of fruit tree growth, the branches that will bear fruit are identified, and the two main branches that should be left in the future and the branches that will grow into sub-main branches for 10 years from the planting of the seedlings are determined and secured. From the sixth year onwards, the branches are thinned out in line with the growth of the fruit trees, and for several years the number of branches other than the main branches is reduced from six to about four, and after about ten years the number of branches growing from the main trunk is reduced to about two or three, and by about fifteen years all the branches growing from the main trunk and the fruit branches growing from the Y-shaped parts of the main branches are removed, leaving only two main branches. By reducing the number of branches growing from the main trunk other than the main branches over the long cultivation period in this way, it is possible to fully utilize sunlight and form a profitable orchard that will increase fruit harvests for the next several decades.

This fruit tree training technique can also be applied to a variety of fruits, such as apples, pears, persimmons, plums, peaches, Japanese apricots, citrus fruits, figs, loquats, cherry blossoms, chestnuts, grapes, kiwi fruit, pomegranates, avocados, and mangoes.

Claims (7)

cutting the trunk of a fruit tree seedling above a bud at a height of 70 to 80 cm, allowing each bud to grow into a branch without missing any buds on said trunk;
Two branches growing from the tip of the main trunk are cut back, leaving 1/3 to 2/3 of their length;
The branches other than the two branches growing from the tip of the main trunk are arranged or guided so as to fill a space formed around the two branches growing from the tip of the main trunk and the main trunk, so as not to overlap each other.
How to train fruit trees. In the second year after planting the fruit tree seedling, two branches growing from the tip of the main trunk are guided to a trellis in a Y-shape to become main branches, and branches arising from the main trunk other than the two branches are allowed to grow;
The new branches that grow from the Y-shaped portion of the main branch are arranged or guided to fill the space,
The two main branches do not bear fruit, and the branches other than the two branches that arise from the main trunk can bear fruit as fruit branches.
A method for training fruit trees according to claim 1. In the third year after planting of the seedling of the fruit tree, two main branches growing from the tip of the main trunk are cut back so as to leave 1/3 to 2/3 of the length grown in that year, and branches growing from the main trunk other than the main branches are cut back so as to leave 1/2 to 3/4 of the length from the base,
The branches arising from the cut back main trunk and the branches branching off from the main branch are arranged or guided in a fan shape so as to fill the space formed around the main branch and the main trunk;
Fruit is borne on branches branched from the main branch and on fruit branches arising from the main trunk.
A method for training fruit trees according to claim 2. The method for training fruit trees according to claim 3, further comprising the steps of: continuing to grow the fruit branches in a fan-like manner from the fourth year after planting the seedlings of the fruit trees; thinning or trimming the fruit branches when the branches branching from the main branch and the fruit branches growing from the main trunk shade the fruit branches. The method for training a fruit tree according to claim 4, which comprises maintaining the two main branches and thinning out the fruit branches growing from the main trunk to two or three branches by the tenth year after planting the fruit tree seedling. The method for training a fruit tree according to claim 5, which aims to maintain the two main branches, grow fruit branches branching from the main branch to become sub-main branches, and thin out and prune all branches arising from the main trunk and branches growing from the Y-shaped portion of the main branch, to form a two-main branch tree shape, by the 15th year after planting the fruit tree seedling. A main trunk of a fruit tree seedling is cut back to a height of 50 cm or less, two branches growing from the main trunk are designated as main branches, and the main branches are guided into a Y-shape or a V-shape;
The branches to be used as fruit branches that grow from the main trunk at a position lower than the main branch and the branches to be used as fruit branches that grow in sequence from the lower part of the main branch are arranged or guided so as not to overlap with each other.
How to train fruit trees.