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Captioning provided by
Extension and Experiment Station

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Communications at
Oregon State University

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Dave Brazelton: Growing
blueberries requires

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a lot of work and attention,

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but no job is more important
than proper pruning.

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Hi, I'm Dave Brazelton.

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On our farm and nursery here
on Oregon's Willamette Valley,

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we grow quite a few different
varieties of blueberries.

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Through the years, we've learned

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the importance of proper pruning.

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I'd like to take a little time to share

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these techniques with you today.

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It's harvest time,

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and the crop looks pretty good.

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One of the reasons it does
is because of proper pruning

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The primary objectives of
pruning are to maintain good

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food production, promote the
growth of strong new wood,

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and increase plant size.

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To illustrate the effect
that proper pruning

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can have on production and new growth,

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last winter we took three
bushes of the same variety:

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the first we didn't prune at all,

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the second we pruned severely,

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and the third we pruned
in the normal manner.

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By harvest time, you can
easily see the results.

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On the bush we didn't prune,

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we see many small
berries that ripen later.

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And notice there is little new
growth for future production

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On the plant we pruned severely,

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we see the berries are ripening earlier

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and there's lots of new growth.

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But the fruit load is low.

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On the bush we pruned normally,

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we've tried to reach a balance.

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Here we've got good
production of quality fruit,

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and lots of new growth
for next year's crop.

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In this video, we are going to cover

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the basics of plant growth,

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pruning plants of different ages,

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a few ways to increase pruning speed,

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and pruning for machine harvest.

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Before we get started,

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let's take a look at the
equipment you'll need:

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good quality pruners,
loppers, and gloves.

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Some growers use a
disinfectant to immerse

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their pruners between
each row or each bush

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because this may decrease
the spread of disease.

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It's best to prune
during the dormant season.

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One of the main reasons
why we prune blueberries

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is to maximize the
production of quality fruit

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both for this year and
the years following.

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When I show a new pruner
how to prune blueberries,

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the first step is to
show them the basics

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of blueberry plant growth.

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Of primary importance is being able

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to distinguish between
berry buds and leaf buds.

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The berry buds are usually born

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on the terminal ends of the laterals.

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They're the large, fat
buds here on the ends.

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It's late winter now and they
are exceptionally swollen.

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Farther down you'll see the
flat, scale-like leaf buds.

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Blueberries originate their growth

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from one-year-old
canes, or rips.

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These canes may originate
from the base of the plant,

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or higher up on the bush.

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Most of the fruit is
born on one-year laterals.

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The best production
comes from two-year wood.

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This is your two-year wood.

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The color is bright and shiny.

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We'll go over that one more time.

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One year's growth; the
second year's growth.

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Three-year wood is
usually less productive.

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The laterals are shorter,
and they're less vigorous.

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We call this "brushy"
or "twiggy" growth,

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and it will frequently
be removed when we prune.

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You can easily count this growth:

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one year, two year, three year.

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The color of this "twiggy"
growth is blotchy and dull.

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On our farm, we find it most effective

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if we follow some
basic steps to pruning.

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First we remove the low growth.

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Next we remove the brushy,
twiggy, or diseased wood.

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Next we'll thin out
the fruiting laterals,

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and finally, if needed,
we'll shape the bush.

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Let's review these steps
for the various ages

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of blueberry plantings.

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This planting is going
to bear for the fist time.

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On young plantings, the
first step of removing

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the low growth can often
be done simultaneously

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with the fourth step
of shaping the bush.

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Here, this is last season's low growth,

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and you'll see these short canes

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that came up late in the season.

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These canes aren't of sufficient size

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to add to the structure of the bush,

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so we will remove this entire piece.

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Next we've got a fruit lobe here

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generally that's below the knees.

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If we allow this to fruit it
will be down in the ground,

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so we'll cut that out and
also this low growth down here.

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This is also too short
for pickers to pick.

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Remove that cane.

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Now, with the low growth removed,

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we're going to thin the berry buds.

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Here on these main canes,

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there's quite a few fruiting laterals.

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If we allow them to fruit,
the plant will over-bear,

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decreasing the quality of
the fruit and decreasing

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the growth we get for the next year.

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So, we're going to thin
our fruit buds, here,

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but in this instance,
I'm going to head back

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to keep the berries from
weighting down onto the ground.

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Then we'll thin a few
more of the berry buds,

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and the bush is finished.

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Pruning young plants
properly is critical for the

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establishment of a well-shaped bush.

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Not all plants are ready to bear

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their first crop in the same year.

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This plant hasn't made the cane

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growth (here) and it's not as vigorous,

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so we're going to basically remove

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our low growth and
remove the berry buds.

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First, we'll cut the low growth;

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Snip the top and then
cut below the berry buds.

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On this
four-year-old bush,

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we'll follow the same
basic steps we had before.

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First we'll remove the low growth,

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and you can see this
cane is lower and wider

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than we want in the
bush, so we'll remove it.

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Next we'll want to remove
the brushy and twiggy

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growth and last season's bearing wood.

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We do this by one fundamental principle

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in blueberries and that's
pruning back to new wood.

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Notice the brushy,
twiggy, non-vigorous wood.

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We'll follow that back to new
wood and we'll make our cut.

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Now we'll continue to remove
the brushy, twiggy growth.

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This limb is crossing.

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Now we'll thin our berry buds.

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You can do this by
breaking or by cutting.

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And a little bit there.

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A bit more there.

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Final shaping of the bush,
and the bush is finished.

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Now bushes nearing maturity will

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follow the same basic steps.

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One fundamental difference
is we're going to

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remove some of the main canes,

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either because they're too low and wide

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or because they've lost their vigor.

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On this particular bush there is quite

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a bit of pruning to do,
because there are so many low,

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wide canes.

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First we'll start by removing those.

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Now that we've finished the low growth,

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we're going to remove our
brushy, diseased, or twiggy wood.

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We'll do this, as in the younger plants,

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by removing heading back to new growth.

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If there is no new
vigorous wood on the chute,

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we'll remove the cane.

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Now that we're finished removing

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the twiggy and brushy growth,

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we've got a cane here that is no longer

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vigorous and we're going to remove it.

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Next it's time to thin
the fruit load on the bush,

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if necessary.

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On heavy producing varieties,

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if we thin the fruit
load on our branches,

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this will retain the
quality of the fruit.

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Two-year-old wood
can support between

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four and eight laterals per branch.

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The heavier the branch, the
more laterals it can support.

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We'll thin these
laterals by either heading

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the canes back or
thinning the lower branches

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and leaving the top laterals.

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There are two ways to do this.

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We can cut the top back or,

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by breaking off these fine laterals,

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we can leave the ones on top.

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In this case,

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the berries are up high
where they're easy to pick

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so we're going to strip
the lower laterals.

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That can be done by
pruning or, what's easier,

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is to take your gloved
hand and strip up.

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Here's an example of
a two-year-old branch

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that should be headed back.

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If we allowed the end laterals to fruit,

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they would be down on the ground.

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So, we'll head back to the
laterals farther down the cane.

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On this
two-year-old cane,

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too many laterals were
left so it over-bore.

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There's very little new growth
originating from the cane.

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So this branch will be removed.

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We'll continue to thin the
fruit load by heading back

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or stripping up wherever
necessary around the bush.

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As we finish thinning the fruit load,

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we'll do the final shaping if necessary.

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The finished bush has an
open, upright vase shape.

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This fully mature bush is a variety

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that is very easy to prune.

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It has a naturally upright,

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open-growth habit, and the
bright red wood color is very

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easy to distinguish from
the older blotchy wood.

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All that's really
needed to prune this bush

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is to remove the old
wood back to the new wood.

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For plants that are to be hand-picked,

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keep canopy height within
easy picking distance.

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This plant is finished.

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On the other hand,

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this variety is much
more difficult to prune.

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It has a spreading growth
habit, and it's quite brushy.

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Also, the wood color is
difficult to distinguish.

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The new wood is very similar in color

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to the old blotchy wood.

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We'll prune this bush
using the same steps,

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except, because of its size,
we'll prune it in sections.

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What we're going to try to
do here is to prune it back

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to that upright vase shape
by removing some of the wide,

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main canes on the outside.

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00:15:32,247 --> 00:15:34,739
We also have to pay attention
to overall bush shape

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and thinning the inside of the bush to

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allow light penetration into the berries

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and also watch our canopy
height to get the size

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of the canopy down to
where it can be picked.

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So let's start now and we'll remove

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some of these lower, wider canes.

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Okay, we've removed our low growth

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in this section of the bush.

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00:16:07,145 --> 00:16:09,047
Now we'll go in and remove our brushy

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and twiggy growth and
thin our fruiting laterals.

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I use both hands to work in the bush:

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one with my pruners and the other

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just breaking the branches,
the smaller branches,

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with my gloved hand.

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This bush is just about finished,

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however in shaping we want to make sure,

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00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:28,829
in mature bushes, that
we open up the center

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of the bush to allow light
into the inside berries.

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I'll remove these inside
canes here for that purpose.

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A bush of this size can
be intimidating to prune,

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but if we follow the
four basic steps and prune

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the bush in sections,
it isn't too difficult.

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If you need to increase
your pruning speed,

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you can do so by doing
fewer main cuts at the base,

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pruning more for shape,

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00:18:05,926 --> 00:18:09,358
and don't do as much fine
pruning up higher on the bush.

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00:18:09,378 --> 00:18:12,439
This is going to remove some good wood

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00:18:12,468 --> 00:18:14,709
and leave some brushy and twiggy growth

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but the same results are accomplished.

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00:18:17,070 --> 00:18:18,817
Here we're going to try to prune this

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00:18:18,839 --> 00:18:20,631
in approximately six cuts.

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Normally we'd remove this
brushy twiggy growth up on top,

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00:18:38,007 --> 00:18:40,674
but we've removed enough
of the lower base cuts

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00:18:40,687 --> 00:18:42,870
and a high enough percentage of the wood

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00:18:42,878 --> 00:18:46,601
that the bush won't over-bear.

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00:18:46,619 --> 00:18:48,992
However the quality
of some of this fruit

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00:18:49,008 --> 00:18:51,135
on the twiggy growth won't be as good.

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00:18:54,696 --> 00:18:56,457
Critical to increasing your speed,

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00:18:56,477 --> 00:18:58,992
is being able to visualize
what that finished

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00:18:59,017 --> 00:19:01,927
bush will look like
before you start pruning.

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00:19:04,030 --> 00:19:06,842
Some growers find it faster
not to use their pruners.

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00:19:06,858 --> 00:19:09,164
They just break the canes and the twigs.

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00:19:37,108 --> 00:19:40,095
This can leave large wounds and that may

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00:19:40,117 --> 00:19:41,823
increase the chance of disease.

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00:19:44,645 --> 00:19:46,571
In some fields you may have bushes

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that are lacking in vigor.

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00:19:48,241 --> 00:19:52,117
This particular bush has
over-bore the previous year.

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00:19:52,137 --> 00:19:54,852
You can see where the
fruit was last year,

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00:19:54,859 --> 00:19:56,561
lots of twiggy growth here.

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00:19:56,589 --> 00:20:00,000
Note there's no new canes coming up

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00:20:00,026 --> 00:20:02,003
from the base and very little, if any,

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00:20:02,016 --> 00:20:03,478
good vigorous growth.

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If we follow our pruning
steps and cut back to new wood,

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you'll note there's very
little new wood at all.

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So we're going to prune this
bush severely in order to

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encourage new growth
coming the next year.

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00:20:46,486 --> 00:20:48,368
For over-the-row
machine harvesting,

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00:20:49,370 --> 00:20:51,792
the plantings are usually
in solid hedge rows.

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00:20:52,736 --> 00:20:54,875
The crowns, or the base of the plant,

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should be kept narrow
to minimize fruit loss.

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It's impossible to cover
every pruning situation,

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but hopefully we've helped you

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to understand some of
the basics and methods

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behind blueberry pruning.

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There's one final point to remember

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when pruning time rolls around.

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They say practice makes perfect and it

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couldn't be more true when
it comes to blueberry pruning.