Branch induction via prolepsis in apple nursery trees

Abstract

Branching in fruit trees is mostly cultivar-dependent. However, the branching habit of genotypes might be altered by training methods. This study has been carried out to investigate the tree quality of different methods focused on proleptic and sylleptic branching in the apple nursery. 'Golden Reinders'/'M.9' combination was used as a plant material. Knipboom tree for syllepsis and fruitful tree for prolepsis were chosen. Data were collected for tree quality (branch character, tree height, spur and brindle, tree weight, root: shoot ratio, total leaf area, etc.) and physiological criteria (total carbohydrate, nutrients, etc.). Fruitful tree significantly increased the number of branches (>25 cm) in comparison to knipboom tree. The fruitful tree produced 7.05 branches tree-1 in the first year and 6.97 branches tree-1 in the second year of the trial. The best results for branch crotch angle, spur number, brindle number, trunk diameter and tree height were obtained from fruitful tree treatment in both trial years. Proleptic branching e.g., fruitful which is a new approach in the nurseries found to be a satisfactory method to promote many tree quality and physiological characteristics.