Wind effects on apple in the Eastern United States

More research is needed concerning the proper handling of fruit trees following injurious climatic events. Severe wind, drought, and low winter temperatures occur too irregularly to use them as experimental treatments, and experiments that mimic such events are difficult to design. Although such events may compromise data from the original experiments, these infrequent events may be used to gain information when they affect existing trials. Rootstocks, cultivars, rootstock/scion interactions, training systems, and other pertinent treatments should be evaluated for their influence on injury. Where possible, a new experiment can be superimposed on the original one by applying various treatments to injured trees. Growth and yield data collected for several years after injury could then be used to develop recommendations for treating injured trees. An interesting area of research, which may lead to grower recommendations, is to quantify the effects of rootstock and scion cultivar on amount and distribution patterns of roots.