1. Afourer pruning experiments 2016 - 2018 Y Pruning & Severe Hedging
Andrew Harty
Costa

2. The Afourer Conundrum
‘Until Year 10 this variety is like your beautiful girlfriend – and then she suddenly turns into your mother-in-law!’
Dr Etienne Rabe, Wonderful Citrus

3. Y pruning concept Pioneered on satsuma mandarins in New Zealand
Exposed the inner canopy to light by cutting a wedge into the top of the tree
Achieved ‘walls of fruit’ on the inner faces
Similar to having two small trees on a mature trunk

4. Afourer Y pruning experiment
Started September 2016
10 year old trees on citrange rootstock
6m x 2m spacing = 833 trees/ha
Light hedging – top & sides
3-4 upright scaffold limbs removed
Stubs intentionally left to encourage lower shoot growth

5. Y pruning regrowth
November 2016
2 months after pruning

6. Y pruning regrowth
October 2017

7. 3rd season from pruning Some internal fruit has set
Regrowth needs ongoing work
Bending & tucking regrowth shoots may be better than ongoing cutting

8. Y pruning costs per hectare
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Hedging
285
Hand pruning - spring
2,815
2,165
Hand pruning - regrowth
2,170
1,085
Raking & mulching
525
275
175
Total
$ 5,795
$ 3,810
$ 3,710

9. Y pruning yields
‘Walls of fruit’ only partially achieved after 3 seasons
Too early to say if we’ve stabilised yield & bearing pattern
Light hedging has produced a more stable, accessible tree
PRUNED

10. Meanwhile back at the ranch…
Sun Pacific, California have ‘reset’ all their mature Afourer plantings
Bending & tucking is used to manage regrowth

11. Severe hedging experiment
Can we avoid expensive manual pruning by hedging only?

12. September 2017
February 2019

13. Tree response to severe hedging
First season after hedging
- light crop & strong regrowth on hedged side
Hedged trees 42 t/ha
Unhedged trees 56 t/ha
Second season after hedging
– good fruit set for 2019 harvest
Might only need to hedge one side every 3-4 years
February 2019

14. Questions?