By Jake Price
The University of Georgia Owari satsuma pruning project is going to be very interesting. With extremely heavy fruit loads this year, I feel sure next year will be an “off” year for satsumas. It will be interesting to see what the fruit yields will be on the pruned trees compared to the unpruned trees.
The six trees in this trial are on X-639 rootstock, which makes a large tree. The pruned trees appear to have plenty of fruit on them, and the branch structure seems stronger and more able to support the fruit. Figures A and B are pruned trees where approximately 50% of the canopy volume was removed.
Figures C and D are unpruned trees. The unpruned trees appear to have more fruit, but the limbs are sagging more. These trees are likely under more stress than the pruned trees.
In past years with heavy fruit loads, some of the branches split. The fruit quality was not the best as the Brix was lower, and the fruit didn’t turn orange until it was soft. It will be very interesting to see what the difference will be in the yields and compare the fruit quality. If nothing else, pruning may prevent alternate bearing issues like we will have with satsumas next year.
This experiment will need to be repeated on these trees for a few more years to see if yields are more consistent on pruned trees. Back in 2021, the average yield per tree for Owari on X-639 was 418 pounds. The Brix was only 9.2 with an average fruit weight of 128 grams, which is a small fruit. Around 150 grams is probably the optimal size for a satsuma. At this weight, three fruit would be 1 pound.
The following “off” year in 2022, the average yield per tree on X-639 fell to 249 pounds with a Brix of 10.8 and an average fruit size of 170 grams, which is on the large side. Hopefully, pruning will yield more consistent yields, less alternate bearing, better fruit size and better Brix.
Jake Price is a county Extension coordinator for University of Georgia Extension.
Source: Georgia Citrus Association
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