**3.13 Flowering**

Prunus

reported in cv. Canino.

**3.8 Irrigation**

**3.10 Training**

**3.11 Pruning**

*3.11.1 Pruning of young trees*

**3.7 Flowering and fruiting**

**3.9 Manuring and fertilisation**

shorten flowering duration by increasing respiration.

mulching and water harvesting technique can be practised.

above the ground. Four to six well-spaced branches are retained.

cut off if these are not properly spaced along the central axis.

breast height are retained, and others are removed.

back very close to a lateral branch.

*3.11.2 Pruning of bearing trees*

laterals should be headed back to get secondary branches on them.

and 10 L of chlorphyrifos (4 ml/1 litre of water) is also added to each pit. In comparison to other temperate fruits, high-density planting in apricot has begun rather late as there are very less dwarfing rootstocks. A density of 7200 trees/ha has been

In apricot, usually three flower buds develop in the axil of a leaf at each node on a shoot and a spur. The central one is vegetative and side ones are floral. In Himachal Pradesh, flowering occurs in March. High temperature, low humidity and wind

Tree has shallow roots; so good soil moisture is beneficial. The roots are confined to 2 m from the surface, so wet the land up to a depth of 2 m. In rainfed conditions,

Apricot is trained to modified leader system. The main branch is cut 50–75 cm

**Parameter N P2O5 K2O** General 100–200 kg/ha 80 kg/ha 100 kg/ha Kashmir 450 g/tree 150 g/tree 750 g/tree

The main central axis is cut off 50–75 cm above the ground, and all laterals are

Pruning at the end of first growing season in winter consists in selection of five to six well-spaced laterals around the trunk. The lower branch should be about 40–45 cm, and all other laterals should be completely thinned out. All the selected

During the second year growth, only five to seven secondary scaffolds about

At the end of the third year, pruning is confined to thinning of the branches which are either crossing or crowding each other for proper development of the framework and to admit sunlight in the tree centre to promote growth of the spurs. The leader of the tree is modified after the fourth year of its age by cutting it

To produce new spurs annually and to replace the older and unproductive ones, light to moderate thinning of branches and heading back of new laterals are

**98**

In apricot, usually three buds develop in the axil of a leaf at each node on a shoot and spur. The central one is a vegetative bud, and the two side buds are floral. Time of flowering and its duration vary with the variety and the prevailing weather conditions. Under midhill condition, the flowering in apricot occurs in the month of March and higher hills at the end of March and April.
