Articles
Use of plant growth regulators to stimulate lateral branch development in sweet cherry nursery trees
Article number
1408_46
Pages
337 – 340
Language
English
Abstract
In this research plant growth regulators are used to stimulate lateral branch development (‘feathers’) in sweet cherry nursery trees with an aim to find a simple and efficient method to cultivate sweet cherry trees with well-developed feathers.
The experiment was performed at Beijing, China where sweet cherry nursery trees often didn’t develop feathers.
Ten treatments were evaluated including 6-benzyladenine (BA), Promalin (PR), cyclanilide (CYC), and mixes of CYC + BA, CYC + PR and a control (CK). Treatments were applied to 15 trees of ‘Summit’/‘Jingchun 2’ sweet cherry nursery trees on 17 July 2019. All trees were sprayed by a hand sprayer from 70 cm above the graft union to the terminal meristem and control trees were sprayed with water.
The following measurements were taken on each tree after natural defoliation in the fall: total number of feathers (any lateral shoot length ≥2 cm) from 70 cm above bud union to tip, number of lateral shoot length ≥10 cm, length of each lateral branch, length of central leader from graft union to tip, and leader diameter at 10 cm above bud union.
Depending on the rate, treatment with BA, PR or CYC increased the number of lateral shoots compared with CK. 1,000, 2,000 and 5,000 mg L‑1 BA increased the number of lateral shoots, but BA 5,000 mg L‑1 did not have a significant effect on lateral shoot development compared with lower BA concentration.
PR was effective but only at high concentration (40,000 mg L‑1). CYC also increased the number of lateral shoots, but not as effectively as BA. Mixed with BA 2,000 mg L‑1 and CYC 100 mg L‑1 got the same effect as spraying BA 2,000 mg L‑1 alone, and CYC 100 mg L‑1 mixed with PR 10,000 mg L‑1 also did not result in forming more lateral shoots than CYC 100 mg L‑1 alone.
Although the leader length and leader diameter were slightly reduced by some treatments, we predict that the reduction is not sufficient to have any negative effect on subsequent tree performance.
The experiment was performed at Beijing, China where sweet cherry nursery trees often didn’t develop feathers.
Ten treatments were evaluated including 6-benzyladenine (BA), Promalin (PR), cyclanilide (CYC), and mixes of CYC + BA, CYC + PR and a control (CK). Treatments were applied to 15 trees of ‘Summit’/‘Jingchun 2’ sweet cherry nursery trees on 17 July 2019. All trees were sprayed by a hand sprayer from 70 cm above the graft union to the terminal meristem and control trees were sprayed with water.
The following measurements were taken on each tree after natural defoliation in the fall: total number of feathers (any lateral shoot length ≥2 cm) from 70 cm above bud union to tip, number of lateral shoot length ≥10 cm, length of each lateral branch, length of central leader from graft union to tip, and leader diameter at 10 cm above bud union.
Depending on the rate, treatment with BA, PR or CYC increased the number of lateral shoots compared with CK. 1,000, 2,000 and 5,000 mg L‑1 BA increased the number of lateral shoots, but BA 5,000 mg L‑1 did not have a significant effect on lateral shoot development compared with lower BA concentration.
PR was effective but only at high concentration (40,000 mg L‑1). CYC also increased the number of lateral shoots, but not as effectively as BA. Mixed with BA 2,000 mg L‑1 and CYC 100 mg L‑1 got the same effect as spraying BA 2,000 mg L‑1 alone, and CYC 100 mg L‑1 mixed with PR 10,000 mg L‑1 also did not result in forming more lateral shoots than CYC 100 mg L‑1 alone.
Although the leader length and leader diameter were slightly reduced by some treatments, we predict that the reduction is not sufficient to have any negative effect on subsequent tree performance.
Publication
Authors
X.M. Zhang, G.H. Yan, X.W. Duan, C.B. Wu, J. Wang, Y. Zhuo, K.C. Zhang
Keywords
sweet cherry, lateral branch, feathering, nursery trees, benzyladenine, Promalin, cyclanilide
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