CHILEAN EXPERIENCE ON TRAINING WALNUT TREES IN CENTRAL LEADER SYSTEM

Walnut industry in Chile has being focused mainly to export. Then, it requires the earliest production and higher nut quality. New orchards are being planted in high densities (more than 200 trees per hectare) in order to get earlier and larger crop load the first years. An 8 by 6 meters orchard of ‘Serr’ walnut planted on 1994, using June budded trees, was trained on a central leader. The first season one shoot was let grow up to 2,5 to 3 meters high, using poles in order to maintain it straightly vertical. During the second season some lateral shoots were selected like main branches from 1,5 meters and higher. Winter pruning program began in 1997/98 season, when one to three branches per tree were removed. The same practice was done in 1998/99 season. Nut production began in the third season (40 kilos per hectare). The next season production was 0,4 tons per hectare and 1998/99 season, 1,6 ton per hectare. A traditional Chilean orchard has no commercial production in the first years. Nuts showed a very good size at harvest. Tree growth and production when compared with traditional low-density orchards (100 trees per hectare), showed that it is possible to get earlier production and higher crops, using high density walnut orchards.

IV International Walnut Symposium

G. Lemus

walnut, orchard training, central leader, high density planting

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2001.544.60