ISHS Acta Horticulturae 146: International Workshop on Controlling Vigor in Fruit Trees
ROOT PRUNING AS A MEANS OF SIZE CONTROL |
| Authors: | D.C. Ferree, D. Geisler |
| Abstract:
As the severity of root pruning on small Golden Delicious trees on M7 rootstock increased, the dry weight of root smaller than 3mm diameter increased in close proximity to the trunk, but the dry weight of roots larger than 3 mm diameter was not influenced. Shoot length, diameter, number of leaves/tree and total leaf area were reduced when more than 10% of the root dry weight was removed by pruning. The diameter or dry weight of the original stem or rootstock trunk was not influenced by up to a 59% removal of total root dry weight. Even a 10% reduction in root dry weight increased the number of visibly wilted leaves immediate following pruning with recovery evident 7 hours after pruning. Net photosynthesis and transpiration were reduced by root pruning, removing 28 or 59% of the roots 1 day following pruning and the reduction remained for 10 days when a gradual recovery began. These results are related to literature on container and field-grown trees to indicate the influence of root pruning on tree size. | |
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