Growth and cropping of young apple trees as affected by heading and support of the central leader

John A. Barden, Richard P. Marini

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

'Delicious', 'Golden Delicious', and 'York' apple trees (Malus xdomestica Borkh.) on dwarfing rootstocks were planted in 1988. For 7 years starting in 1989, the central leaders of trees of each cultivar were subjected to a 2 x 2 factorial arrangement of heading vs. not heading and supporting vs. not supporting. Support consisted of tying the leader to a conduit to 2.1 m; heading was the annual removal of one-half of the previous season's growth from the central leader. In general, tree height was suppressed by heading and increased by support. The only effect of treatment on trunk cross-sectional area (TCA) was in 'Golden Delicious', in which support reduced TCA. Heading depressed cumulative fruit numbers in both 'Delicious' and 'Golden Delicious', while support had no effect. There was a consistent trend toward decreased cumulative fruit mass in headed trees.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)39-41
Number of pages3
JournalHortScience
Volume33
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 1998

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Horticulture

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