“Treatments must be carried out for diseases, pruning is not a disease”. It is useful in these days, when all the interventions in the olive groves are now complete, to review the concepts of George Panels, among the most authoritative personalities in olive growing and an indisputable point of reference when it comes to pruning. Voice that L'OlivoNews always takes into consideration the punctuality of his reflections, Pannelli explained to us the reasons why any debate around any products to be used after this type of intervention must be nipped in the bud. L'former director of Crea di Spoleto and today at the helm of Pruning School which bears his name has its own philosophy that he loves to repeat: “Pruning must be done correctly, cutting the bare minimum and respecting the separation collar between the two branches. We are obviously talking about production pruning, with plants in balance."
What is meant by correctly, Pannelli has clearly stated several times: “Select the suckers, manage the tops, thin out the secondary branches. And where there is a major intervention to be carried out, the rule is simple: the larger the cut, the greater the distance of the cut itself from the collar".
Pannelli had already had the opportunity to highlight another precise concept in this newspaper of ours: “The cuts must be carried out in compliance with the peculiar healing methods of the olive tree: this tree species does not heal wounds by producing a healing callus like apple, pear or walnut. The olive tree uses a strategy based on the death of the layer of tissue underneath the cut, followed by the formation of compartmentalization barriers in all directions using the phenolic and tannic substances it has in abundance (energetically very expensive), to prevent fungi from penetrating. inside the plant. For this reason, a small margin must be left between the branch being cut and the one on which it rested. And above all, no putty, for goodness' sake.".
To return to the treatments on the olive grove mentioned in the introduction, Pannelli concludes: “They must be done regularly throughout the year so that, when pruning, the plant is already protected. In fact, the best possible treatment is to always keep the plant in good health. And the health of the plant is cared for all year round".
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