Growth, fruit bearing behaviour, yield and quality of some apple cultivars

Abstract

Apple is a temperate climate fruit species grown almost worldwide. Research and past experiences have shown that apples have different growth and fruiting behaviours. Knowing the growth and fruiting behaviours of apples, determining the training system, how to prune, will shed light on the cultural practices that need to be done in order to obtain quality and early high yield. In light of the above, the study aimed to determine the growth and fruiting behaviours of different apple. In the experiment, eight apple cultivars, ‘Jeromine’, ‘Fuji Zehn Astec’, ‘Granny Smith Challenger’, ‘Buckeye Gala’, ‘Rosy Glow’, ‘Golden Reinder’, ‘Ginger Gold’ and ‘Amasya’, grafted on M9 rootstock were used. The growth and fruiting behaviours of the cultivars were determined by phenological observations, canopy dimensions, tree dimensions, canopy volume, tree volume, number and size of annual shoots on the leader, number of spurs, internode distance, distribution of flowers on the tree and similar measurements and evaluations. In addition, yield and some quality characteristics of fruits were also recorded. It was determined that ‘Rosy Glow’ and ‘GS Challenger’ cultivars showed the best performance in terms of growth, and ‘Fuji Zehn Astec’, ‘Rosy Glow’, ‘Buckeye Gala’, ‘GS Challenger’ cultivars in terms of cumulative yield. Additionally, this study found that there was a positive relationship between yield and branch angles in the first two years. Considering all the years, it was determined that ‘Fuji Zehn Astec’ and ‘Granny Smith Challenger’ cultivars produced larger fruits than the others. In conclusion, it was revealed that the growth and fruiting behaviours of apple cultivars cannot be classified very clearly, and it would be more accurate to group them as spur, semi-spur, standard and tip bearer in general. It was claimed that the number of flowers in the cluster is not a characteristic of apples. Besides, ‘Fuji Zehn Astec’, ‘Rosy Glow’, ‘GS Challenger’ was suggested for high yield in the new training systems.