Articles
Training system affects long-term sweet cherry yield and quality in NY state
Article number
1408_36
Pages
259 – 266
Language
English
Abstract
Training systems provide a structured methods to increase cherry yield and improve fruit quality.
However, some training systems are more suitable than others for specific cultivars, rootstocks, labor, and management skills.
In 2013, a cherry field trial was established at Geneva, New York State, USA to compare three different training systems (five training treatments): Spanish Bush (SB) at 1.5 m in row spacing, SB with preformed trees at 1.5 m, upright fruiting offshoots (UFO) at 1.2 m in row spacing, UFO with preformed trees at 1.2 m and Tall Spindle (TS) at 1.5 m in row spacing.
All systems had a common between row spacing of 3.5m.
The cultivars used in this experiment were ‘Skeena’ and ‘Rainer’ and they were grafted onto GiSelA®6 (Gi6) rootstock.
The experiment was designed as a randomized complete block experiment with 5 replications and at least three trees per elemental plot.
After 10 years, trees on SB, preformed SB, and TS were largest followed by UFO preformed and UFO. Tree survival rate was lower on SB and UFO. Cumulative yield and yield efficiency was higher for TS compared to UFO. There was a significant interaction among cultivar and training system for cumulative fruit number per tree and cumulative crop load.
The highest cumulative fruit number per tree was with ‘Skeena’ on TS and the lowest was with ‘Rainer’ on UFO. ‘Skeena’ with TS also had the highest cumulative crop load.
The lowest crop load was with ‘Rainer’ on SB. Among cultivars, ‘Rainer’ had higher average fruit size and lower number of cracked fruits compared to ‘Skeena’. The use of preformed trees did not improve the performance of SB or UFO. The best performance among training systems was the TS followed by the UFO and lastly the SB.
However, some training systems are more suitable than others for specific cultivars, rootstocks, labor, and management skills.
In 2013, a cherry field trial was established at Geneva, New York State, USA to compare three different training systems (five training treatments): Spanish Bush (SB) at 1.5 m in row spacing, SB with preformed trees at 1.5 m, upright fruiting offshoots (UFO) at 1.2 m in row spacing, UFO with preformed trees at 1.2 m and Tall Spindle (TS) at 1.5 m in row spacing.
All systems had a common between row spacing of 3.5m.
The cultivars used in this experiment were ‘Skeena’ and ‘Rainer’ and they were grafted onto GiSelA®6 (Gi6) rootstock.
The experiment was designed as a randomized complete block experiment with 5 replications and at least three trees per elemental plot.
After 10 years, trees on SB, preformed SB, and TS were largest followed by UFO preformed and UFO. Tree survival rate was lower on SB and UFO. Cumulative yield and yield efficiency was higher for TS compared to UFO. There was a significant interaction among cultivar and training system for cumulative fruit number per tree and cumulative crop load.
The highest cumulative fruit number per tree was with ‘Skeena’ on TS and the lowest was with ‘Rainer’ on UFO. ‘Skeena’ with TS also had the highest cumulative crop load.
The lowest crop load was with ‘Rainer’ on SB. Among cultivars, ‘Rainer’ had higher average fruit size and lower number of cracked fruits compared to ‘Skeena’. The use of preformed trees did not improve the performance of SB or UFO. The best performance among training systems was the TS followed by the UFO and lastly the SB.
Publication
Authors
E. Casagrande Biasuz, L. Gonzalez Nieto, J. Lordan, P. Francescatto, T.L. Robinson
Keywords
Prunus avium, Tall Spindle, Spanish Bush, Upright Fruiting Offshoot, pruning, fruit cracking
Groups involved
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