Fruit tree pruning helps yield high quality fruit as well as limits a tree's height and spread. The result is a stronger tree.
You will need a sharp, quality hane pruner, a lopper and a hand saw. Never remove more than one-third of a tree's canopy at any one time. Trees can be pruned to thin out the tree, allowing wind to pass through without damaging the limbs.
Most deciduous fruit trees are pruned when they are dormant-the end of February to the beginning of March, depending on weather. Pruning stimulates shoot growth near the cut.
Evergreen trees are also best pruned in winter before they flower. Most evergreen trees, such as citrus, avocados and mangoes, are pruned to keep them from getting out of hand.
Here are some tips I have learned:
Avocado (Persea americana): Tree tops should be cut back to 15 feet. Anually removing a few upper limbs back to their crotches will enable fruit to be produced on the lower limbs. My tree survived Hurricane Wilma in part by being less than 15 feet high.
Banana (Musa spp.): These have underground stems (rhizomes) from which the flowering and fruiting stalks arise. Leaving only two or three thick stemmed pups ( suckers ) per mother tree gives you better fruit. A water sucker has wide first leaves and should always be removed.
Grumichama (Eugenia dombeyi): It is a great tree for homeowners; it is slow growing, has beautiful glossy, green leaves and a very tasty cherry fruit a month after it blooms.The only pruning needed is cutting dead branches and shaping.
Lychee (Litchi chinensis): Pruning should be done right after harvest in order to allow new shoots and leaves to harden off before the onset of winter temperatures. Cut back tops of the trees to 10 to 15 feet.
Mamey Sapote (Calocarpum sapota): Maintenance pruning involves removal of narrow angled ( V-shaped) main branches, leaving wide-angled branches. Trees should be kept to a height of 16 to 18 feet.
Mango (Mangifera indica): Formative pruning of young trees will increase the lateral branches and builds a strong framework for tree growth. Trees should be limited to about 15 feet. A trick to controlling the amount of fruit set is timing when the tree is pruned. Don't prune the tree if you want it to produce fruit. If the tree is too large or needs shaping, prune it after picking and before the end of August. If you want shade and not fruit, then prune the tree after September. This will disrupt the bloom cycle.
Star fruit (Averrhoa carambola): Fall removal of upright limbs and removal of dead branches will reduce tree height and maintain fruit production. My tree has been bearing fruit within a year after having lost its' fruit and leaves due to hurricanes.
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