The implication of different pruining methods on apple training systems

A comparison between long (rich) and short (poor) pruning methods known as “Standard” and “Click” respectively, was performed on the cultivar Golden Delicious grafted on M9 rootstock. The cultivar was trained as Slender Spindle and Bi-axis systems. The experiment was conducted by using an integrated pest management system in the first two years followed by an organic method. Biometrical data in terms of trunk cross sectional area, height, width and depth of the trees and canopy volume were annually detected. Plants pruned with the Click method resulted more compact particularly in the Bi-axis, which had a significantly lower depth compared to the Slender Spindle training system. The increase of pruning severity in the Click method didn’t affect fruit number and yield but led to increase mildly the fruit size. No differences were found between the training systems in terms of fruit size. Trees pruned with Click method resulted with a higher percentage of scab infection shoots after the primary infection even though this is a preliminary result because is related to one year only of observation