Plant Doctor Archive

Pruning tamarillos

I HAVE a three-year-old tamarillo, grown from a cutting. It's a red variety which grows and fruits well, but it grows very wide so needs pruning. Can I do it now?

TAMARILLOS grown from cuttings do tend to have much lower branches and a bushier habit than those grown from seed. You can prune them quite hard to reduce their width and to encourage new growth which will carry next year's fruit. But to avoid the risk of dieback, I'd wait until all risk of frost has passed before pruning, then I'd give the tree a dose of fertiliser and mulch to encourage lots of strong new growth.

Reproduced with permission from the former Weekend Gardener magazine. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the RNZIH.