Defoliate a Jaboticaba? Will it help with branching?

onlyrey

Mame
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Location
Indian Rocks Beach, FL
USDA Zone
9b
Here is my Jaboticaba which is coming back from kind of a hectic winter (not really cold here, but there were a few cold days that hit the trees with the worst timing). This Jaboticaba is actually pretty healthy, and starting to leave out strongly. My problem with it is that new leaves tend to come out only at the tips (I've been trying to leave only one node when pruning, but still), making the branches always more leggy.

I am probably going to let this tree recover well from the winter during the spring. But the question is, will defoliating a Jaboticaba help with getting budding further back into the branch? I understand that it does for other species.

Thanks very much in advance
 

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grog

Shohin
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Iowa
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5
I've never seen, much less grown jabocitaba and killed the one tree that I have defoliated so don't take this as advice however it looks like your tree could stand to be pruned back rather hard with all the leaves it's popping out.

Is that a golf course in your backyard?!
 

nsmar4211

Sapling
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South Florida
My goats have defoliated a couple of my jaboticaba, after a brief resting period (for them) and panic period (for me) they grew back fine. I cut mine down hard about a month ago (in south florida) and they are leafing out. The do backbud, but its definetly slow. I cut mine back as soon as I saw the buds were coming out. If it's been cut back recently, I dunno that I'd defoliate it, think I'd give it one season to recover... Besides, mine decided to scare me by dropping most of the older leaves (the darkest green ones, started looking a bit raggedy) all on their own when the weather swung-your plant may defoliate itself !

BTW, I was told by a bonsai grower not to use chemical fertilizers on them as they don't grow as well. If mine looked like his I'd be happy! Not sure if thats true or not... a nursery man told me something similar, that his grew best when he just used manure on them. So I have a couple of inches of goat manure packed on the tops of the soil, and I check the water for mosquito larva and dump when they show up. I keep them in water like the bald cypress (matter of fact, last summer they were side by side in the tray). They seem to grow well :).
 
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