Comparing Different Methods for Pruning Pitaya (Hylocereus undatus)

Abstract

Recently there have been new trends in global consumption toward fresh foods that are sources of healthy bioactive compounds, as is the case with pitaya. However, pitaya cultivation is a relatively recent phenomenon and little is known about its management. The objective of this work is to determine the most appropriate annual fruiting pruning method for pitaya in order to obtain a regular annual yield of quality fruit and an intense shoot renewal that guarantee future production. This study compared the response of Hylocereus undatus to spur, cane, and combined pruning. As control plants, we left some plants where only sanitary pruning was performed. The results indicate that spur pruning greatly reduced flowering (seven times less than controls) and did not promote intense vegetative growth. Cane pruning, on the contrary, allowed greater flowering which is compatible with a higher number of new shoots (8% more than controls). The vigor of the new shoots was equal in all treatments. Fruit size and quality did not differ either among treatments. Spur pruning only seems applicable as a rejuvenation pruning. Combined pruning gave an intermediate response and seems of no interest given the good shoot renewal provided by cane pruning. Performing sanitary pruning alone may be an interesting option, but only in the first years of cultivation.

Systems of crop regulation in guava and their assessment

“…Allahabad Safeda. Arredondo et al, (2022) [5] perceived that with increase in pruning intensity (with full shoot pruning) fruit number is decreased while there was very less or no fruiting during the rainy season. Comparable results were submitted by (Chander et al, 2022) [8] .…”

Pitaya Nutrition, Biology, and Biotechnology: A Review

“…Pitaya pruning involves trimming back long, broken, tangled, or dead stems once annually in young plants and three times in mature plants [ 23 , 135 ]. A study on H. undatus pruning shows that cane pruning induces maximum flowering and produces new shoots as compared to spur, spur–cane combined, and sanitary pruning [ 136 ]. Another study further reported improved yield characteristics of pitaya with cane pruning, leaving 12 and 15 cladodes per meter on a trellis [ 137 ].…”