ISHS Acta Horticulturae 557: VII International Symposium on Orchard and Plantation Systems
INFLUENCE OF PLANTING DENSITY AND TREE FORM ON YIELD AND FRUIT QUALITY OF ‘GOLDEN DELICIOUS’ AND ‘ROYAL GALA’ APPLES |
| Authors: | A. Widmer, C. Krebs |
| Keywords: | apple, Malus, planting systems, spindle, V-system, 'drilling', 'mikado' |
| Abstract:
A trial with different planting densities and tree training systems for the apple varieties 'Royal Gala' and 'Golden Delicious' was planted in the autumn 1992 at the experimental farm Güttingen of the Swiss Federal Research Station Wädenswil. V-system with planting densities of 3,000, 4,000, 5,000 and 6,000 trees/ha, single row systems (2,400, 3,000 and 5,000 trees/ha), 'drilling'- system (2,000 trees/ha) and 'mikado'-system (1,500 trees/ha) were compared. With increasing planting density growth and yield per tree decreased. Thus, yield per hectare did not increase proportionally with the number of trees per hectare. The doubling of the density from 3,000 to 6,000 spindle trees per hectare generated 30 – 40 % higher yields per hectare up to the seventh year. However, this is not sufficient in offsetting the additional investment costs. Planting density of 6,000 trees per hectare resulted in slight reduction of fruit size. The internal fruit quality (firmness, soluble solids, titratable acidity) was more affected by the annual conditions than by tree density. The orchard yields of the 'drilling'-system (3 branch elements/tree) and the 'mikado'-system (4 branch elements/tree) with 6,000 elements per hectare were lower in the first years, but after that yields per hectare were equal to those of spindles with higher planting densities. The open tree form of the 'drilling' and 'mikado' allows optimal light interception and generates good fruit quality. | |
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