The main pruning methods for blueberries include long pruning, short pruning, thinning, cutting back, level pruning, thinning flowers and fruits, and removing flower buds.
1. Long pruning
Do not prune 1-year-old branches. Long pruning is used on strong branches, whose tips can bear a string of fruits, and whose lower parts can sprout many new shoots with moderate growth. Long pruning is beneficial for rapidly expanding the canopy of young trees.
2. Short Pruning
Remove the terminal buds of blueberry shoots to the lateral buds. This method is primarily used for pruning one-year-old branches. Short pruning stimulates the growth of lateral buds below the pruning site. After short pruning, the shoots that emerge from the lateral buds below the pruning site grow more vigorously, but their number is reduced compared to long pruning. Additionally, short pruning often removes flower buds, reducing fruit production while promoting vegetative growth. It is generally used to control tree height and crown spread, and regulate fruit load. Different short pruning intensities result in significant differences in branch response. Short pruning can be divided into three types: light short pruning, removing less than one-third of the branch length, which promotes the formation of medium-short branches and moderates branch growth; medium pruning, which involves cutting off one-third to one-half of the branch length, promotes the formation of medium-to-long branches, has high branch formation capacity, and results in strong individual branch growth; heavy pruning, which involves cutting off more than one-half of the branch length, stimulates the growth of 1-2 vigorous branches below the cut, has strong growth vigor, but has low branch formation rate and total growth volume.
3. Thinning pruning
Removing branches or branch groups from the base. Thinning promotes the growth and fruit quality of adjacent branches or branch groups because it improves ventilation and light penetration conditions for neighboring branches. For branches or branch groups adjacent in the tree structure, it inhibits growth in the front while promoting growth in the rear. The larger the pruned branch or branch group, the more pronounced the inhibitory and promotional effects. These two effects intertwine, and their ultimate effect is a combination of both.
4. Pruning back
Prune a portion of multi-year-old (2 years or older) branch groups. The difference between pruning back and shortening is that the cut is made on the multi-year portion. Pruning back can stimulate the growth of the remaining portion. The specific manifestation of growth stimulation also depends on the position of the cut and the vigor of the pruned portion. If there are no other large branch groups or all branch groups are weak in vigor immediately below the cut, then dormant buds within a certain range below the cut will be stimulated to sprout into vigorous branches. Sometimes, three branches may sprout from each node: the central one is the primary bud, which grows weakly, while the two lateral ones are secondary buds, which grow vigorously. If the primary bud has already sprouted and formed a shoot in the past and is no longer considered a dormant bud, then only two new shoots will emerge from this node. If pruning is done near the base of a large branch, and the branch at the pruning site is over 7-8 years old, only the main bud may sprout, while the lateral buds do not. If the branch group below the pruning site is vigorous, while the pruned branch group has weakened, it will not stimulate the production of numerous vigorous branches but will instead promote the growth of the branch segment behind the pruning site to some extent. Whether vigorous branches are stimulated to grow, the number of vigorous branches that sprout, and the intensity of their growth are related to the difference in growth vigor between the branches above and below the pruning cut, as well as the severity of the pruning.
Pruning back and thinning of multi-year branches (or branch groups) are sometimes easily confused, but the key distinction lies in whether the pruned branch is completely removed or only partially pruned.
5. Top pruning
After blueberries enter their peak fruiting period, all branches above the root stem are completely cut off to encourage the growth of a straight and sturdy main stem. The branching point height is then determined based on actual production needs. Blueberry plants that have undergone top pruning rarely produce root suckers at the root collar that compete for nutrients. Due to vigorous growth, pest and disease damage is reduced, and the quality of the plants is significantly improved.
6. Flower and Fruit Thinning
If the number of flowers and fruits on blueberry plants significantly exceeds their reasonable yield capacity, some excess flower buds and young fruits should be manually removed. Flower and fruit thinning is done to further protect flowers and fruits, thereby improving fruit quality, appearance, and sustained yield.
7. Removing Flower Buds
Removing sections with flower buds has a similar effect to light pruning, promoting vegetative growth. If only the flower buds are removed without cutting the branch tips, the lateral buds on either side of the flower buds can still sprout new shoots. This characteristic is particularly beneficial for young trees and mature trees that have produced excessive flower buds due to weakened tree vigor.
The choice of pruning method should be determined based on tree age, number of branches, and flower bud quantity. During pruning, various methods should be used in combination to achieve the optimal pruning objective.
Post time: Aug-21-2025