The Influence of Planting Density on Characteristics of One-Year Old Peach and Nectarine Shoots

Abstract

The influence of three different planting densities on the characteristics of one-year old shoots of peach cultivars 'Early O' Henry', 'Sunprince', and 'Autumn Glo', and nectarine cultivars 'Stark Redgold' and 'Max 7' were studied. In high density planting, seedlings of vineyard peach were planted at 3.5 x 1 m (2800 trees ha(-1)) and grafted on 50 cm height rootstocks. The trees were trained as a Sloping Leader. This is a new original training system with one central leader that is bent and follows row direction at an angle of 25 degrees to the trunk. In standard experimental plot, one-year old peach trees were planted. The applied training systems were Fusseto (4 x 2 m - 1250 trees ha(-1)) and Open Vase (4 x 4 m - 625 trees ha(-1)). The following characteristics were studied: length and diameter of shoots, number of flowers per 1m shoot length, and fruit set, for three consecutive years (2006-2008). High density planting influenced on decreasing of shoot diameter and increasing of total shoot length per unit area of the examined cultivars. Planting density did not have significant influence on flower density and fruit set.