Abstract:
The effects of five training systems on tree growth
, yield, and some fruit characteristics
were assessed for ‘Fuji’ apple grafted on M.9 roots
tock for the first five years in Tokat,
Turkey. The trees were trained in one of five ways:
Slender Spindle (SS, 4762 trees ha
-1
),
Vertical Axis (VA, 2857 trees ha
-1
), HyTec (HT, 1904 trees ha
-1
) and two different tree
densities of super spindle (L-Sup S with 5,000 tree
s ha
-1
; H-Sup S with 10.000 trees ha
-1
).
Trunk Cross-sectional Area (TCA), canopy diameter a
nd canopy volume were higher in
low tree density systems (HT and VA) than in high t
ree density systems (SS, L-Sup S and
H-Sup S). Annual and cumulative yields per tree ove
r the first cropping years were higher
in VA and HT than in SS, L-Sup S or H-Sup S. Yield
per unit area was the highest in H-
Sup S in every year due to the higher number of tre
es per hectare. Yield efficiency (yield
cm
-2
TCA) was higher in VA and HT than in SS, L Sup S o
r H-Sup S in every year. HT
produced the largest fruit among the training syste
ms in every year. VA had the second
largest fruit in 2008, 2010, and 2011.
Keywords
: HyTec, Fruit weight, Super spindle, Vertical axis
, Yield.
