Importance of pruning

Tamarillos produce their fruit on the current seasons growth. If trees are left unpruned, the new fruiting wood gradually extends from the ends of the branches and the laterals, leaving the centre of the tree more or less barren. Frequently the weight of the fruit produced on the ends of long, weak, spindly branches or laterals causes them to break. Pruning in early spring or not pruning at all normally results in early maturity. Pruning that is delayed until November results in a later crop because of the enforced delay in spring shoot growth upon which new flowers will be born. Light pruning (up to half of the old canopy) produces weak regrowth that branches and sets flowers quickly, resulting in a heavy, early maturing crop of small to medium sized fruit.