ROOT PRUNING EFFECT ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF SWEET CHERRY

• Main Authors: Monica Diana Pal, Viorel Mitre
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: AcademicPres 2016-07-01
• Series: Agricultura
• Subjects: root pruning, vegetative growth, fruiting, yield, trunk cross-sectional area
• Online Access: http://journals.usamvcluj.ro/index.php/agricultura/article/view/12134

The influence of root pruning on growth and fruiting of five sweet cherry cultivars ‘Earlise’, ‘Bigarreau Burlat’, ‘Merchand’, ‘Kordia’, ‘Regina’), under the pedoclimatic conditions of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, in 2014-2015, was studied. The trees were grafted on Gisela 5 roottock, trained as Zahn Spindel and the orchard had a density of 1666 trees/ha.  Root were cut twice, at 50 cm distance from the trunk, in an angle of 450 and 30 cm depth, as followed: first time, to the autumn , in fall leaves time, on one side of the row and the second time, in spring, at blooming time, at the other side of the row. The treatments influenced the shoot growth, height of the trees, cumulative yield, trunk cross sectional area, the ratio of the yield to a trunk  sectional area, with differences statistically assured. Root pruning reduced the average length of shoots. The longest shoots, in mean values, gave unpruned root variant (96.7 cm). Root pruning decrease the average length of annual growth  (49.6 cm). The biggest average trunks cross sectional area with the unpruned root system were obtained (45.2 cm2). Also root pruning influenced the height of the trees. The best cumulative yield was obtained in variant of root pruning system (26.12 t/ha) followed by unpruned root system (20.0 t/ha). Finally root pruning increased productivity. The biggest value ‘Regina’ in root pruned variant has registered (0.17 kg/cm2). The lowest value of productivity index in unpruned system variant was obtained.