will this thing ever stop growing?

12 years ago

My black cherry plant on the side of my house has already outgrown it's cage and the three foot DIY pole extensions I networked together with jute. I don't know what else to do now. I can't even reach the top with my ladder. Any suggestions? Maybe just tie the upper branches together in a bunch so they don't spread out too far that high up?

I just wish the fruit would start to turn color already. I harvested a bunch of Sweet 100s from a raised bed in my garden and that plant is half the height of this one.

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Comments (9)

edweather USDA 9a, HZ 9, Sunset 28
12 years ago
They can get big.

I really like those grow bag protectors.
User
Original Author
12 years ago
I had to make those protectors out of vinyl mesh, stupid chipmunks were eating my bags this season.
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Mike
12 years ago
Njit,

Simply pinch or cut the top most grow tips of the main and/or lateral stems and it will halt (for the most part) vertical growth.. What you're doing essentially is removing the meristems and decreasing auxin production..

This will enable the plant to put more energy into auxillary buds (or lateral shoots) resulting in a bushier/shorter plant.. You wouldn't want to do this with a determinate though so just know your strains before top pruning...
User
Original Author
12 years ago
How much cutting are you talking about? I need a visual.
seysonn
12 years ago
Simply top them, say anything higher than 6 ft. Believe me , it will grow more laterals withing your reach. It is only early summer.

You can of course keep a ladder next to it too.
Your Plant, Your Choice.
User
Original Author
12 years ago
When you say to top them do you mean just cut any branches above an arbitrary height about an inch from where they meet the stem they are growing out of?

Though hard to see in the picture I feel like I'm going to lose a good amount of production because I see a lot of flowers up top. Will I make up for that loss of production with more laterals?
digdirt2
12 years ago
Or you can just let it drape back down the outside of the cage support as most of us do and let it keep on growing and producing. Those tall branches will begin to lay over, bend, and then drape down the outside. No where is it written that the entire plant has to be supported vertically straight up.

10-12' tall plants are quite common in a garden but that in no way means you have to have 12' of support or that you have to cut off the tops or that you have to use a ladder to pick them.

But if you don't want the fruit that would be produced then just whack them off at any height you wish. Just like trimming a hedge and giving it a crew-cut.

Dave
seysonn
12 years ago
I would have started it early, topping the mains and letting lower laterals to take over. But probably it is not too late. It is only early summer.
The winds knocked down my Mortgage Lifter. Its branches were like 8ft but only 6ft supported. Now, I let them drape but I pinched all its growth tips. I'll see what happens.
User
12 years ago
Cherry tomatoes especially will do that. You can give them a wider space to grow rather than straight up in the future. Trim or pinch or let them go as others have suggested, whatever you want. Not a problem that many of us mind having :)