Fruit Growing Research (Dec 2015)
THE VIGOUR AS CANOPY VOLUME OF CERTAIN NECTARINE TREE CULTIVARS ACCORDING TO THE CANOPY SHAPE
Abstract
The canopy volume is one of the main factors to be taken into account when deciding whether a new plantation should be intensified or not. The growth and fructification phases are genetic characteristics of cultivars and they represent the latter’s capacity to adapt to environmental conditions. The experience focuses on establishing the density of the trees per surface area unit until reaching an optimal limit for the evolution of vital processes, taking into account certain factors such as the species, the cultivar, the canopy shape, the culture conditions and so on; the main goal is to substantially increase production per hectare. The planting material was produced in the tree nursery of Research Station for Fruit Growing Constanta, all grafted on the same rootstock T16. The research was carried out over a period of four years at RSFG Constanta and it focused on four nectarine tree cultivars (‘Cora’, ‘Delta’, ‘Romamer 2’ and ‘Crimsongold’) with four canopy shapes and for planting distances, as follows: Tatura 6/2m (833 trees/ha), Vertical axe 4/1.5m (1,666 trees/ha), Veronese vase 4/3m (833 trees/ha) and Improved vase 4/3.5m (714 trees/ha). The aim of this paper was to highlight the manner in which the vigour of certain nectarine tree cultivars (expressed through the canopy volume), according to the cultivar and the canopy shape influences fruit yield. Following the statistical analysis carried out on the vigour of the trees as canopy volume (m3 /tree) during the studied years 2008-2011, we observed variations of high importance for the fruit-growing practice. The vigour expressed through canopy volume (m3 /tree) for the ‘Delta’ cultivar and Veronese vase displayed, from a statistical point of view, a positive significant influence in all the four years of study (2008-2011). Similarly, the ‘Cora’ cultivar and Vertical cordon showed a significant positive influence during the four studied years, while the ‘Delta’ cultivar and Vertical axe showed a positive significant influence in three of the four studied years: 2009, 2010 and 2011.
