THE EFFECT OF CULTIVAR ON THE GROWTH AND RELATIONS BETWEEN GROWTH CHARACTERS IN “KNIP-BOOM” APPLE TREES

Abstract

The measurements have been performed in the nursery in the years 2007–2013 to study differences in size and correlations between selected growth factors in “knipboom” trees of 6 apple cultivars on M.9 rootstock. The trees of ‘Jonagold Decosta’ (‘Red Jonaprince’ in 2013) and ‘Fuji Beni Shogun’ showed the strongest growth, ‘Šampion’ and ‘Camspur’ the weakest one, whereas ‘Gala Must’ and ‘Golden Delicious Reinders’ were characterized by moderate vigor. Mean length of one feather increased from the tree top towards its base, but did not depend significantly on the number of laterals per tree. Correlations between growth factors were similar to those found in maiden apple trees and the closest ones were between total length of lateral shoots and their number on the tree. A trunk diameter had stronger correlations with other growth parameters than tree height.

Keywords

• nursery of apple trees
• cultivars
• size
• growth correlations