Articles
EVALUATION OF PALMETTE, MARCHAND AND VASE TRAINING SYSTEMS IN CHERRY VARIETIES
The experimental design was a split-plot plan with an elementary plot of 100 m2 and 3 single tree replications.
The rootstock was Colt (P. avium x P. pseudocerasus). The trees were planted in 1989. After 8 years the trellis forms had higher cumulative yields than the vase for all varieties.
For production, expresed in kg/ha, marchand was the best training system for ‘Lapins’ and ‘Sunburst’, and palmette for ‘Burlat’ and ‘Vittoria’. Yield efficiency, measured as kg of cumulative yield/ cm2 of trunk cross-sectional area (TCSA) has been calculated.
Considering all four varieties, the efficiency of palmette was the highest with 1.27 kg/cm2, which was on the same level as marchand with 1.21 kg/ cm2. These training systems were significantly more efficient than the vase with an efficiency of 0.58 kg/cm2.
‘Lapins’ obtained the highest yields; with the marchand system the cumulative yield, in 8 growing seasons, was 113,7 t/ha with 29,5 t/ha in the last year.
The vase system produced larger fruits than the palmette and the marchand systems, but this was most likely associated with a lower crop load.