TREE GROWTH AND FRUIT-BEARING DEPENDING ON THE HEADING HEIGHT AND THE ROOTSTOCK IN A HIGH-DENSITY APPLE ORCHARD

The investigation was carried out during the period 2003-2006 in an experimental apple orchard of the Institute of agriculture Kyustendil, planted in the spring of 1998. The trees were from cultivars ‘Florina’ and ‘Freedom’ grafted on seedling rootstocks of ‘Winter Gold Pearmain’ and on clonal rootstock MM 106. The influence of the three heights of shortening of the trees after planting on the growth and fruit bearing of four cultivar-rootstock combinations was investigated.
It was established that the trees shortened at 50 cm after planting formed crowns with bigger height in comparison with the trees shortened at 80 cm.
The height of shortening does not influence the diameter of the trunk.
The trees of ‘Florina’ on the seedling rootstock are with stronger growth and form thicker trunk and a crown with bigger size compared to these on the clonal rootstock MM 106. These tendencies are not so clear expressed at ‘Freedom’. The trees of ‘Florina’ are with stronger growth in comparison with these of ‘Freedom’ at both types of rootstocks.
The total yield from the trees of ‘Florina’ on a seedling rootstock and a clonal rootstock MM 106 (as density trees) amounts to 11,861 kg/da, and from ‘Freedom’ 10,445 kg/da.
The height of shortening of the trees does not influence the average weight and the quality of the fruits according to the Bulgarian standards.

I Balkan Symposium on Fruit Growing

D. Domozetov, M. Borovinova, V. Taseva, I. Sredkov, I. Radomirska, A. Zdravkova, I. Ivanova

apple, growth, yield, rootstock, trunk, high density orchard

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2009.825.52