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Influence of Interstem Lengths of M.8 Clone Malus sylvestris Mill. on Growth, Precocity, Yield, and Spacing of 2 Apple Cultivars
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Abstract
Orchard performance over a 12-year period of ‘Delicious’ and ‘Jonathan’ dwarfed with M.8 interstems of different lengths (10, 20 and 30 cm) on Alnarp-2 clonal rootstocks influenced vigor, yield, and annual shoot growth. ‘Delicious’ required longer interstem material for adequate tree size reduction than did ‘Jonathan’. The total yields, based on one tree spacing treatment, were higher the first 6 years from interstem trees than from standard trees, followed by higher yields of standard trees in subsequent years. Projected closer tree spacings according to tree vigor as produced by different interstem lengths suggested that yields per hectar of ‘Delicious’ could be quadrupled and ‘Jonathan’ tripled when compared to standard trees.