Guava tree pruning/training to tree shape

5 years ago

Hello everyone, please see the photos. I just received and planted this mexican guava. I am trying to grow this as a tree as opposed to a bush. However the plant I received from an online order does not have an obvious central leader and indeed has some weird turns that make it crooked. Would I be able to prune it this soon after planting (just a few days) or should I wait till in puts on some additional growth? Part of why I want to do it now is so there is enough time for the tree to put on enough growth after pruning before it gets cold in the winter. Last year I pruned too late in the year and there was an odd early freeze at 27F. For reference I am in zone 9B/sunset zone 14 in the bay area. I have seen trees like this doing well in San Jose so I know it can be grown here, I just timed the pruning wrong last time - young tree right before it got cold. If I should wait, how long do you recommend? My concern is the tree putting in all this effort into growing parts that will be removed anyway, seems kind of pointless.

I would like to prune off the branch that is tied with the green tape as it is competing with the taller side of the tree that is growing more upright and would probably make a better candidate to be the leader stem. But another issue I see is the bends in the stem. It seems this tree/bush was pruned quite randomly without an objective in mind other than keeping it small. Could a stem with sharp turns like this support the weight of a tree? If I get lucky it could get around 10ft tall. Thanks!

Kevin

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Comments (4)

UpperBayGardener (zone 7)
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
"My concern is the tree putting in all this effort into growing parts that will be removed anyway, seems kind of pointless."

It won't be. It will be creating a root system in the native soil.

In my climate at least, I would always give the plant at least year in the ground before I tackle a major re-shaping. Which I sometimes do. If not a couple years. OTOH, a California gardener, or especially a California Rare Fruit Grower...might disagree. So feel free to check with them.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
5 years ago
agree on waiting..

tree time is counted in decades .. whats your hurry ...

second..every leaf is an energy making machine... to grow the roots.. to get the tree established ...

my aim in the next few years.. would be to get rid of all the 45 degree angles ...

i see what look like one dead branch at 6pm ... no need to leave that ...

tree is a tree.. there shouldnt be different rules for different types ... except for flowering/fruiting cycles ... and you surely arent at that point ...

i dont know why a cold snap after pruning would kill such ... if G has low cold tolerance .. which i presume it does.. i dont know why pruning would change that ...

be patient .. this isnt a disney movie .. think in tree time ...

keep in mind.. that your eventual leader.. may not even be on the tree right now.. thats how patient you need be ...

ken
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
5 years ago
i see now.. from your other post.. you appear to be going all home orchard in your garden.. in that case ... there are pruning rules specific to crop generation that differ wildly from common pruning rules ..

i suggest you contact your local county extension office for guidance on classes or tutorials on how to do all this..

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=CA+extension+offices&ia=web

usually the state agricultural college has many resources.. often specific to that state ...

its usually the college that has STATE in the name ... but who knows with CA. .. you guys kinda march to your own drummer ... lol

and i was always intrigued by walking around the local u pick orchard.. just by observation i learned a lot on how to prune for production ... lets just say.. those were some really ugly trees.. but boy did they have a lot of apples on them ... etc ....

ken

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=CA+state+horticultural+college&t=ffab&ia=web
User
Original Author
5 years ago
Thank you davidrt28 I am a member of CRFG but hadn't considered asking them. I did ask the local coop extension and they ignored me...And as to cold tolerance...I pruned at the wrong time so that there wasn't enough foliage to protect the inner portions of the plant. I should have pruned earlier in fall, or in the next spring. To be clear, the last tree didn't die but was very set back because the branches died back close to the trunk. I won't make that mistake again. For instance, I am also growing passion fruit, avocado, banana and citrus and they all did just fine because they had a sufficient canopy. The tips of the outer leaves got "burnt" by the cold, but I just left it and cut it off in spring after frost danger past. As to impatience...that's just me. But who doesn't want the tree ready bearing fruit yesterday? Lol. Thanks everyone