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KIWI ORCHARD ESTABLISHMENT: MAIN FACTORS IN PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
For instance, soil and climatic conditions will affect planting distances and training systems; planting distances also influence training systems and consequently the type of appropriate pruning needed to obtain the best productive results.
T-bar and pergola are the two training systems used in northern and southern kiwi-growing areas respectively.
These systems have been choosen to adapte the vine in the best way possible to the environment, but also because these training systems were often used for other species, i.e. grape.
Planting densities and training systems have often been copied from what had been done in completely different climatic areas.
The same structural dimensions used for the training systems heavily influence the number of buds left on the canes with winter pruning.
Cane length, in fact, is generally determined by the arm length.
It should be pointed out that different bud charge left in the tree influences yield and fruit quality.
Pruning, one of the most important tools in kiwi, in regulating and mantaining reproductive/vegetative ratio, should take into account bud charge, cane distribution, vegetative habit and the efficiency of the different bearing and vegetative organs of the kiwifruit vine.