www.goodfruit.com GOOD FRUIT GROWER FEBRUARY 1, 2016 9
PLAY
Watch a video of how Gipp Redman
pruned in the KGB and steep leader
systems at goodfruit.com/media.
With pruning a cherry tree
for the KGB system, "you
raise poles, you don't raise
the branches inside," says
Gipp Redman. "To control the
rate of vigor you have to have
enough upright leaders. The problem
with KGB is we get greedy and don't
make the cuts. You've gotta make these
cuts to slow the tree down and get the
tree thinking about producing fruit."
RECOVERY
Pruning
the KGB
way.
Such weather events are unusual for the region,
so growers had little history to guide them, and new
varieties clouded the picture even more. Thus, a wide
array of ideas and suggestions found their way to the
table.
"I don't think there's a wrong or right answer,"
Redman told the group of 60 or 70 growers huddled
around Bing, Skeena and Sweetheart trees in varying
stages of recovery on the Dec. 15 tour.
Overall, Redman and Einhorn advised growers
to manage excessive vigor in the tops to encourage
lower branches to rebuild structure, forcing the tree
into a Christmas tree shape to encourage even light
penetration throughout the orchard. Thinning cuts and
summer pruning the tops to calm growth are critical to
TJ MULLINAX/GOOD FRUIT GROWER PHOTO ILLUSTRATION
