LOW TRAINING OF SWEET CHERRY TREES IN SEMI-DENSITY ORCHARDS

B. Ristevski, D. Georgiev, V. Kremcev
In March 1984, an experimental orchard (10 ha) was established near T. Veles (Macedonia) with several cherry varieties on Mahaleb rootstock. The trees were cut off 70 cm above ground level. In May, the tree trunks were cleared of any sucker growth up to 50 cm from the ground, and the remaining shoots were left on the top 20 cm. Before the onset of the second growing season, three to four of the most vigorous shoots were cut off at 10 to 15 cm. Before the third growing season, only the most active shoots were maintained and cut back to a length of 20 to 30 cm. In the following years, only very minimal pruning was performed, and the crown was maintained at a height of 3 m. Trees started to produce fruit in the third year (0.5 to 1.0 kg tree). In the fourth year yields increased to 4 to 7 kg/tree and in the seventh year over 30 kg/tree or 15 tons/ha.
Ristevski, B., Georgiev, D. and Kremcev, V. (1992). LOW TRAINING OF SWEET CHERRY TREES IN SEMI-DENSITY ORCHARDS. Acta Hortic. 322, 311-314
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.1992.322.38
https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1992.322.38

Acta Horticulturae