Prune Longan After Harvest

Prune longan after harvest, keep the canopy about 10 to 15 feet, and do not cut in fall or winter if you want spring flowers.

Prune after harvest, and keep the tree 10 to 15 feet

Fall and winter cuts push a flush that can wipe out the next bloom. [1] longan fruits on the new wood that follows a summer prune, so the after-harvest window is the job. [2] A shorter, open tree is also easier to pick and less likely to topple in wind. [3] Left alone, the tree can run much taller than a home picker can handle. [4]

How to prune a longan tree

1. Wait until the crop is off, then take out dead, weak, and crossing wood.
2. On a young tree, remove limbs with a narrow crotch, and head long uprights so they branch.
3. Tip 1 to 2 inches off new shoots once or twice in spring and summer so the tree stays compact.
4. On a mature tree, thin a few moderate limbs each year so light and air reach the inside.
5. Stop once the outline is 10 to 15 feet high. Do not climb a 30-foot unpruned canopy as your plan.

Thin crowded panicles when the fruit is pea-sized

A panicle that sets 150 or more fruit usually makes small fruit. When fruit is about a quarter to half an inch across, cut off the outer half to two-thirds of that panicle so the rest can size.

What fails if you prune in fall or winter

Cuts in the cool months wake the tree when it should be quiet, so you get shoots instead of flowers. Leaving every upright unheaded makes a scraggly frame with few tips. A dense, unthinned canopy shades its own fruiting wood.

Finish the after-harvest cuts while you can still see the frame, then leave the tree alone through fall.