THE INFLUENCE OF TRAINING SYSTEM AND PRUNING TIME ON GROWTH AND APPLE FRUITING

During 1990–1994 at the Fruit Growing Research Station Bistrita in an intensive apple orchard with a 1250 trees/ha density, ‘Jonathan’ and ‘Golden Delicious’ (8- to 12-year-old trees) were exposed to the following pruning times: dormant, intense growth of shoots (summer) and combined method (dormant and summer). The trees were trained as free palmette and slender spindle form.
The results obtained show that with ‘Jonathan’ all the variants compared with control (free palmette with dormant pruning) indicate decreasing in diameter of 4.5–17.2%. The yield differences are significant for ‘Jonathan’ in the free palmette with summer pruning (average 56.9 t/ha) and in the slender spindle with summer pruning (55.6 t/ha) compared with control (46.1 t/ha). Significant differences were obtained in ‘Golden Delicious’ in the free palmette with summer pruning (57.4 t/ha) slender spindle with summer pruning (58 t/ha) and slender spindle with combined pruning (59 t/ha) compared with control (50.2 t/ha). Pruning time (hours/ha) was reduced by 8.8% in ‘Jonathan’ (free palmette) and by 11.5% (slender spindle) in the case of summer pruning.
With ‘Golden Delicious’ the time needed for pruning was reduced in the case of summer pruning in the free palmette by 12.4% and 15.7% in the slender spindle compared with the control.

VI International Symposium on Integrated Canopy, Rootstock, Environmental Physiology in Orchard Systems

I. Platon, L. Zagrai

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1997.451.59