THE INFLUENCE OF ANNUAL PACLOBUTRAZOL TREATMENTS ON THE SHOOT GROWTH, YIELD AND FRUIT QUALITY OF EARLY RIVERS SWEET CHERRIES

Many cultivars of sweet cherry grow vigorously, producing large trees which are difficult to manage and expensive to harvest and protect from birds. No fully dwarfing rootstocks are widely available and, as neither pruning nor training are fully effective in controlling tree size, alternative methods of shoot growth control have been sought. Some effects of paclobutrazol on cherry tree growth and cropping are presented.