Yield and Fruit Quality of Apple Trees Under Three High Density Management Systems

Abstract

Comparisons were made in yield and fruit quality of apple ( Malus domesticaBorkh.) trees planted in 1979 and trained to the 3-wire trellis (1493 trees/ha), Lincoln canopy (1493 trees/ha) or Spindlebush (3986 trees/ha) systems. The cultivar and training system combinations included ‘Golden Delicious,’ ‘Topred Delicious’ and ‘Starkrimson Delicious’ trained to the 3-wire trellis, ‘Golden Delicious’ and ‘Topred Delicious’ trained to the Lincoln canopy, and ‘Starkrimson Delicious’ trained to the Spindlebush system. The cumulative yield of ‘Golden Delicious’ (from 1983 to 1986) was higher than ‘Topred Delicious’ and ‘Starkrimson Delicious’ on both the 3-wire trellis and Lincoln canopy. The cumulative yield of ‘Topred Delicious’ was comparable on the 3-wire trellis and the Lincoln canopy, but the annual production was more uniform in the latter. Individual tree yields of ‘Starkrimson Delicious’ were similar on the 3-wire trellis and Spindlebush, but the higher planting density of the latter resulted in significantly higher yield/ha. Fruit size and soluble solids in ‘Topred Delicious’ were higher on the 3-wire trellis than on the Lincoln canopy. The color and length/diameter ratio of ‘Delicious’ strains were not influenced by the training system.