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Do you have a lunero lemon tree in the garden and you know that the time has come to cut it down so that it continues to grow and put out more lemons? Do you know when to prune a lunero lemon tree? If you have not faced this care yet, and you want to do it in the best possible way, here we tell you what you should take into account.
Find out when the best time is, how to do it, what mistakes you shouldn’t make and, of course, the benefits you’ll get from pruning a lunero lemon tree. Shall we get to work?
When is the best time to prune a lunero lemon tree?
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Giving you a specific date or months to prune a lunero lemon tree is not easy. And not because each year it depends on certain dates or conditions, but it will depend a lot on the state in which this fruit tree is found.
When the lunero lemon tree is young you can prune it at any time of the year except when there are expected frosts. If that happens, it is best to avoid them. In addition, being young you will not have to prune it much, just remove branches that form badly, that get out of the formation you want it to have…
Now, if the lemon tree is already large, bears fruit and flowers during the year, the ideal time to prune is when it stops bearing lemons.
Despite the fact that one of the characteristics of the lunero lemon tree is that it bears fruit all year round, it does not. When cold temperatures arrive, it is normal for it to stop, and the same can happen in summer, with excessive heat.
For this reason, there are two times when you could venture into pruning: January or February, when the cold season is beginning to end; or June or July, which will be when I stop adding lemons for a few months (the strong summer ones) to continue later.
Tips for correctly pruning a lunero lemon tree
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Now that you know when to prune a lunero lemon tree, doing it can be even more difficult, especially if you’ve never done it before. In general, unless you do something crazy, it will resist whatever you throw at it. But it does not hurt to follow some tips that will help you.
Have all the tools on hand
When pruning, you should keep in mind that you will need several tools. Two of them, essential, are the anvil shears and the serrated ones, to cut thin and thick branches respectively.
In addition, you need a ladder if the fruit tree is too high, as well as gloves and protective glasses. We would even tell you that some long-sleeved and somewhat thick clothing because the branches of lemon trees usually have some “needles” that can easily scratch you.
You must bear in mind that these tools must be sterilized and sharp. And you shouldn’t use them for multiple lemon trees. Each time you finish with one you will have to disinfect them before cutting the next one so that diseases or pests do not spread between them.
steps to prune
With the tools ready to work, the next thing you need is to follow a series of steps to prune the lunero lemon tree. And in this case you are going to start with the dry branches. These no longer serve the fruit tree and yet they steal part of its energy, so get rid of them.
Once you’re done, start removing the lower branches, all those that come out of the lower trunk, or that touch the ground. If you leave them, it will steal energy for the taller ones, in addition to the fact that, if they bear fruit, the lemons will fall by weight to the ground and then rot.
Like the low ones, the tall ones that grow vertically completely straight are not good either, because they do not benefit the tree. So they will be the next to remove. Here you can find that there are many more, so if you see that there are too many, you can prune only a few and, at another time, the following ones.
The important thing is that you choose three main branches that support the entire weight of the lemon tree, and through these you will create the secondary ones so that it bears fruit and develops correctly.. Of course, it is not convenient that they are too long, it is better that they remain short (about 20-30 centimeters).
Keep in mind that it should not be pruned by more than 30%, because that will only harm the health of the lemon tree.
The benefits of pruning the lunero lemon tree
As you know, pruning is one of the main care for plants. Virtually all of them. But it not only serves to leave it aesthetically good, so you do not lose training, but it has several advantages to take into account:
Sanitize it. Because we clean it of dead, diseased branches or those that may be causing present or future problems in the tree.
air it out Do you remember those branches that we have told you that can cause problems? When the lemon tree generates too many branches that intertwine with each other, what they cause is that hardly any air passes through, and therefore there are parts in which the tree is always in the shade or does not get nourishment. And in the end he dies. Well, with pruning this is avoided because it allows the air to filter through its interior.
Increased production of lemons. Because, by eliminating branches that absorbed nutrients and energy (even if they did not use it), more strength is being given to those that can carry out a harvest. Which implies that it will flower more abundantly and bear more fruit.
You avoid pests and diseases. Especially since you are aware of the fruit tree and you can realize if it has a problem. If so, you will be able to act faster than if you were not paying attention to it.
Common mistakes when pruning a lunero lemon tree and how to avoid them
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Finally, we want to leave you with some of the common mistakes that occur when pruning a lunero lemon tree.
Prune too much As we have told you before, you should not prune more than 30% of the tree. If you prune too much, you risk the fruit tree getting sick or stressed, and that will cause it to stop bearing flowers and fruit. So try not to prune too much, even when you need to. It is preferable to do it in several batches.
Prune and do not treat. Sometimes quite thick branches are pruned. The problem is that you can leave the wounds open and serve pests and fungi to make your fruit tree sick. To avoid this, seal larger cuts and even throw in some ground cinnamon to help keep those problems at bay.
Cut branches that should not be. Here there are not many ways to solve this error, beyond waiting for the branches to grow again and giving it the shape you wanted.
Is it now clearer to you how to prune a lunero lemon tree?
