Effect of Initial Heading Height on Branch Development of Four Apple Cultivars
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.71318/apom.1987.41.3.99Abstract
The effect of initial heading height on branch development over the first growing season was evaluated for ‘Macspur’ (Greenslade selection), ‘Cortland,’ ‘Smoothee Golden Delicious’ (Gibson strain), all with an initial trunk caliper of 1.6 cm, and Redchief Delicious’ (Mercier strain), with an initial trunk caliper of 1.0 cm. All cultivars were evaluated on M.7A rootstock. The trees were headed at 60, 70, 80, or 90 cm above the ground at planting. Heading at 90 cm produced the best branching response in terms of branch number, angle, and total length for ‘Macspur,’ ‘Cortland,’ and ‘Golden Delicious.’ Average branch length was not limiting for these three cultivars at any heading height. In ‘Redchief Delicious’ average branch length was the limiting characteristic at all heading heights, and was longest when this cultivar was headed at 60 cm.
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