Pruning

In the world of citrus growing, it is common to find supporters of pruning as well as opponents. The idea of not pruning is admissible in very few cases, but almost certainly at some point a pruning intervention of some kind will be essential. Trees are pruned when it is necessary and appropriate, and therefore the important thing is to know the criteria of necessity and appropriateness for intervening, and which is the most suitable and advisable technique to do it in practice.
THE REASONS FOR PRUNING. The final objectives of pruning operations can be classified as:

• Cleaning pruning
• Formation pruning
• Maintenance pruning
• Renewal pruning

Very often, formation pruning is identified with young trees, maintenance pruning with adult trees, and renewal pruning with old trees. Technically this identification is wrong, and in reality, in the pruning of a tree of any age, cuts are made whose objective is formation, others of mere maintenance, and others to renew its elements.