CONTROLLING SIZE OF PLUM TREES BY SUMMER PRUNING, ROOT PRUNING, AND GROWING TREES IN POLYPROPYLENE CONTAINERS

‘Dabrowice Prune’ trees grafted on semidwarf ‘Wangenheim Prune’ seedlings were planted at three different densities 1515, 2020, and 3030 trees per hectare, trained as spindles and winter or summer pruned.
Trees of the same cultivar grafted on standard Myrobalan rootstock were planted at the density 2020 trees per hectare for vigor and cropping comparison.
These trees were also trained as spindles, pruned in winter.
Some trees on Myrobalan had roots growth restricted by container or roots pruning.

‘Wangenheim Prune’ rootstock showed very dwarfing effect on tree vigor compared with Myrobalan rootstock.
The trees were precocious in fruiting.
The most dense planting slightly decreased yield per tree but gave the highest yield per hectare (23 tons in the fourth year). Summer pruned trees yielded better than winter pruned ones.
There was no much effect of the treatments on fruit quality.
No results have been obtained yet with root restriction.

VI International Symposium on Plum and Prune Genetics, Breeding, Pomology

H. Morgas, A. Mika, D. Konopacka, H. Gawalkiewicz

Prunus domestica L., planting density, rootstocks, winter/summer pruning

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1998.478.39