Pruning Festooned Plum Tree

[Gman]

Hey folks,

I’m seeking advice on pruning a festooned plum tree. I read some thread on here about festooning and thought it seemed a good way to encourage fruiting at a height I can reach.

I am now in year 3 (I think) and I have trained all the larger branches into a shape where they are all bent over. The first fruit (singular) appears to have set which is a nice bonus.

the tree now has a lot of growth straight up from the festooned branches. What do I do with these? Do I prune them all at a short distance from the branch now to try to encourage fruiting Spurs?

should I shorten the main branches or just leave them as they are?

thanks

[ameno]

Any vertical growth should either be itself festooned (do that as soon as possible, which the stems are still soft and flexible. They get rather brittle later in the summer), or else reduced by some 80-90%.
Any other pruning should just be to reduce size or to remove any unhealthy or crossing branches.
Summer pruning should wait until late July or early August, though. If you do it now then you'll get lots of regrowth within a few weeks.

[Gman]

Thanks Ameno!