Pruning the Strawberry Tree

The strawberry tree is a highly regenerative plant, which can make pruning operations more difficult.

With that in mind, training systems should evolve to work with the plant's natural habit while at the same time meeting the grower's needs. Although the strawberry tree is still an emerging crop in terms of its use in commercial production, there is already a body of knowledge that can be applied on farms in order to get the most out of it.

Bush training system

The bush training system, also known as the stool system, is the most common one for the strawberry tree, because it is the training system that most closely matches the plant's natural shape.

1. It starts when the plant reaches around 70 cm, and it should be cut back to 5 cm in height;
2. Once the lateral shoots appear, the grower should choose 3 well-spaced branches, at an angle of around 45º, to serve as the main axes;
3. In the following years, the branches within the first 50 cm from the ground should be removed, allowing the axes to grow up to 2.5 m in height.

Open-centre training system

Another training system used for the strawberry tree is the open-centre, or vase, system, which is equally common in other fruit trees. It calls for 3 to 4 main scaffold branches arising from a single crotch.

1. As with the bush system, it starts with the growth of a single stem up to 70 cm and its subsequent cutting back;
2. The crotch is then created at 40-50 cm, selecting 3 to 4 scaffold branches that will form the basis of production;
3. Branches below 50 cm are removed. This task should be carried out at both the winter and the summer pruning, given the strawberry tree's high capacity to regenerate.

Did you know about the different training systems?

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