{"id":20129,"date":"2022-07-07T09:33:20","date_gmt":"2022-07-07T13:33:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/?p=20129"},"modified":"2022-07-07T09:33:20","modified_gmt":"2022-07-07T13:33:20","slug":"how-and-when-should-i-prune-back-sprouts-to-encourage-more-lateral-growth-without-prompting-more-water-sprouts-on-my-apricot-tree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/07\/07\/how-and-when-should-i-prune-back-sprouts-to-encourage-more-lateral-growth-without-prompting-more-water-sprouts-on-my-apricot-tree\/","title":{"rendered":"How and when should I prune back sprouts to encourage more lateral growth without prompting more water sprouts on my apricot tree??"},"content":{"rendered":"

Question:<\/h3>\n

I have a hardy apricot tree that flowers nicely each spring, then all fruitlets fall off or are severely damaged by insects. This spring I pruned it very hard so I can reach branches and better monitor for insects, tie on maggot barriers. All branches have sent out dozens of sprouts due to pruning, many are vertical. My question is how and when to prune back those sprouts to encourage more lateral growth without prompting more water sprouts? I was going to try to leave the branches that are fruit bearing, and are more horizontal in pattern.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Answer:<\/h3>\n
Frank Wertheim, Extension Educator, Agriculture\/Horticulture<\/em><\/div>\n

Apricots are marginally hardy for Maine and many years you will lose your crop to frost damage. That is why no one grows them commercially in Maine. For home gardeners it is worth the risk as you don’t have a farm enterprise dependent on them.<\/p>\n

This is what our Growing Fruit Trees in Maine publication<\/a> has to say about apricots:<\/p>\n

Apricots and Plum-Apricot Hybrids<\/strong>
\nApricot trees are generally hardy through the winter, but quickly become tender as temperatures rise in late winter. Consequently, they suffer from winter injury and have a short lifespan in cold climates. Plum-apricot hybrids, called plumcots, and apriums, also have a short life span in cold regions. Spring Satin is a plum-apricot hybrid with fruit that closely resembles a plum, but does not tolerate the freeze-thaw cycles of late winter.<\/p>\n

The many water sprouts are likely due to the hard pruning you gave it this spring. I would summer prune them out now to encourage the lateral growth as you say. Prune them right down to the base.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: I have a hardy apricot tree that flowers nicely each spring, then all fruitlets fall off or are severely damaged by insects. This spring I pruned it very hard so I can reach branches and better monitor for insects, tie on maggot barriers. All branches have sent out dozens of sprouts due to pruning, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[199,200],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ask","category-fruit"],"yoast_head":"\nHow and when should I prune back sprouts to encourage more lateral growth without prompting more water sprouts on my apricot tree?? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/07\/07\/how-and-when-should-i-prune-back-sprouts-to-encourage-more-lateral-growth-without-prompting-more-water-sprouts-on-my-apricot-tree\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How and when should I prune back sprouts to encourage more lateral growth without prompting more water sprouts on my apricot tree?? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Question: I have a hardy apricot tree that flowers nicely each spring, then all fruitlets fall off or are severely damaged by insects. This spring I pruned it very hard so I can reach branches and better monitor for insects, tie on maggot barriers. All branches have sent out dozens of sprouts due to pruning, […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/07\/07\/how-and-when-should-i-prune-back-sprouts-to-encourage-more-lateral-growth-without-prompting-more-water-sprouts-on-my-apricot-tree\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-07-07T13:33:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"twood\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"twood\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/07\/07\/how-and-when-should-i-prune-back-sprouts-to-encourage-more-lateral-growth-without-prompting-more-water-sprouts-on-my-apricot-tree\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/07\/07\/how-and-when-should-i-prune-back-sprouts-to-encourage-more-lateral-growth-without-prompting-more-water-sprouts-on-my-apricot-tree\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"twood\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#\/schema\/person\/9f0056a6c4a281b4f517e1313fa2c518\"},\"headline\":\"How and when should I prune back sprouts to encourage more lateral growth without prompting more water sprouts on my apricot tree??\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-07T13:33:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/07\/07\/how-and-when-should-i-prune-back-sprouts-to-encourage-more-lateral-growth-without-prompting-more-water-sprouts-on-my-apricot-tree\/\"},\"wordCount\":300,\"articleSection\":[\"Ask the Expert\",\"Fruit Trees and Small Fruits\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/07\/07\/how-and-when-should-i-prune-back-sprouts-to-encourage-more-lateral-growth-without-prompting-more-water-sprouts-on-my-apricot-tree\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/07\/07\/how-and-when-should-i-prune-back-sprouts-to-encourage-more-lateral-growth-without-prompting-more-water-sprouts-on-my-apricot-tree\/\",\"name\":\"How and when should I prune back sprouts to encourage more lateral growth without prompting more water sprouts on my apricot tree?? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-07T13:33:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#\/schema\/person\/9f0056a6c4a281b4f517e1313fa2c518\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/07\/07\/how-and-when-should-i-prune-back-sprouts-to-encourage-more-lateral-growth-without-prompting-more-water-sprouts-on-my-apricot-tree\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/07\/07\/how-and-when-should-i-prune-back-sprouts-to-encourage-more-lateral-growth-without-prompting-more-water-sprouts-on-my-apricot-tree\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/07\/07\/how-and-when-should-i-prune-back-sprouts-to-encourage-more-lateral-growth-without-prompting-more-water-sprouts-on-my-apricot-tree\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How and when should I prune back sprouts to encourage more lateral growth without prompting more water sprouts on my apricot tree??\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/\",\"name\":\"Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard\",\"description\":\"Information you can use. Research you can trust.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#\/schema\/person\/9f0056a6c4a281b4f517e1313fa2c518\",\"name\":\"twood\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc8c7b5c8d78336ceef76f813278762e12972bcd042b075da831f24d0320bdb3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc8c7b5c8d78336ceef76f813278762e12972bcd042b075da831f24d0320bdb3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc8c7b5c8d78336ceef76f813278762e12972bcd042b075da831f24d0320bdb3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"twood\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/author\/twood\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How and when should I prune back sprouts to encourage more lateral growth without prompting more water sprouts on my apricot tree?? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/07\/07\/how-and-when-should-i-prune-back-sprouts-to-encourage-more-lateral-growth-without-prompting-more-water-sprouts-on-my-apricot-tree\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How and when should I prune back sprouts to encourage more lateral growth without prompting more water sprouts on my apricot tree?? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension","og_description":"Question: I have a hardy apricot tree that flowers nicely each spring, then all fruitlets fall off or are severely damaged by insects. This spring I pruned it very hard so I can reach branches and better monitor for insects, tie on maggot barriers. All branches have sent out dozens of sprouts due to pruning, […]","og_url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/07\/07\/how-and-when-should-i-prune-back-sprouts-to-encourage-more-lateral-growth-without-prompting-more-water-sprouts-on-my-apricot-tree\/","og_site_name":"Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard","article_published_time":"2022-07-07T13:33:20+00:00","author":"twood","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"twood","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/07\/07\/how-and-when-should-i-prune-back-sprouts-to-encourage-more-lateral-growth-without-prompting-more-water-sprouts-on-my-apricot-tree\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/07\/07\/how-and-when-should-i-prune-back-sprouts-to-encourage-more-lateral-growth-without-prompting-more-water-sprouts-on-my-apricot-tree\/"},"author":{"name":"twood","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#\/schema\/person\/9f0056a6c4a281b4f517e1313fa2c518"},"headline":"How and when should I prune back sprouts to encourage more lateral growth without prompting more water sprouts on my apricot tree??","datePublished":"2022-07-07T13:33:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/07\/07\/how-and-when-should-i-prune-back-sprouts-to-encourage-more-lateral-growth-without-prompting-more-water-sprouts-on-my-apricot-tree\/"},"wordCount":300,"articleSection":["Ask the Expert","Fruit Trees and Small Fruits"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/07\/07\/how-and-when-should-i-prune-back-sprouts-to-encourage-more-lateral-growth-without-prompting-more-water-sprouts-on-my-apricot-tree\/","url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/07\/07\/how-and-when-should-i-prune-back-sprouts-to-encourage-more-lateral-growth-without-prompting-more-water-sprouts-on-my-apricot-tree\/","name":"How and when should I prune back sprouts to encourage more lateral growth without prompting more water sprouts on my apricot tree?? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-07-07T13:33:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#\/schema\/person\/9f0056a6c4a281b4f517e1313fa2c518"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/07\/07\/how-and-when-should-i-prune-back-sprouts-to-encourage-more-lateral-growth-without-prompting-more-water-sprouts-on-my-apricot-tree\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/07\/07\/how-and-when-should-i-prune-back-sprouts-to-encourage-more-lateral-growth-without-prompting-more-water-sprouts-on-my-apricot-tree\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/07\/07\/how-and-when-should-i-prune-back-sprouts-to-encourage-more-lateral-growth-without-prompting-more-water-sprouts-on-my-apricot-tree\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How and when should I prune back sprouts to encourage more lateral growth without prompting more water sprouts on my apricot tree??"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#website","url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/","name":"Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard","description":"Information you can use. Research you can trust.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#\/schema\/person\/9f0056a6c4a281b4f517e1313fa2c518","name":"twood","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc8c7b5c8d78336ceef76f813278762e12972bcd042b075da831f24d0320bdb3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc8c7b5c8d78336ceef76f813278762e12972bcd042b075da831f24d0320bdb3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc8c7b5c8d78336ceef76f813278762e12972bcd042b075da831f24d0320bdb3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"twood"},"url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/author\/twood\/"}]}},"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":199,"label":"Ask the Expert"},{"value":200,"label":"Fruit Trees and Small Fruits"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"twood","author_link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/author\/twood\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":199,"name":"Ask the Expert","slug":"ask","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":199,"taxonomy":"category","description":"This is the top level category for all posts submitted to our Ask the Expert gardening questions form.","parent":0,"count":653,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":199,"category_count":653,"category_description":"This is the top level category for all posts submitted to our Ask the Expert gardening questions form.","cat_name":"Ask the Expert","category_nicename":"ask","category_parent":0},{"term_id":200,"name":"Fruit Trees and Small Fruits","slug":"fruit","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":200,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":199,"count":108,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":200,"category_count":108,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Fruit Trees and Small Fruits","category_nicename":"fruit","category_parent":199}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20129"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20130,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20129\/revisions\/20130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}