Harvesting Semidwarf Freestanding Apple Trees with an Over-the-row Mechanical Harvester

Three years of mechanical harvesting (shake and catch) trials with two freestanding apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) cultivars on a semidwarf rootstock (M.7a) and two training systems (central leader and open center) yielded 64% to 77% overall harvesting efficiency. Mechanically harvested `Bisbee Delicious' apples averaged 70% Extra Fancy and 10% Fancy grade, while two `Golden Delicious' strains (`Smoothee' and `Frazier Goldspur') averaged 40% Extra Fancy and 13% Fancy grade fruit. Mechanically harvesting fresh-market-quality apples from semidwarf freestanding trees was difficult and its potential limited. Cumulative yield of open-center trees was less than that of central-leader trees during the 3 years (sixth through eighth leaf) of our study. `Golden Delicious' trees generally produced higher yields than `Delicious' trees.

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Considerations for Machine Harvesting Fresh-market Eastern Thornless Blackberries: Trellis Design, Cane Training Systems, and Mechanical Harvester Developments

HortTechnology ◽

10.21273/horttech.9.1.16 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 16-21 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Fumiomi Takeda ◽

Donald L. Peterson

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Production System ◽

Impact Damage ◽

The United States ◽

Fresh Fruit ◽

Market Quality ◽

Fresh Market ◽

Training Systems ◽

Mechanical Harvester

There is increased interest in growing blackberries in the United States for the fresh fruit market. For fresh market blackberry production, >350 h/acre (900 h·ha-1) of work is required to hand pick blackberries over a season that lasts 5 weeks with harvest every 2 days. Existing bramble mechanical harvesters can detach fruit from plants trained on a vertically oriented I trellis and harvest more cheaply than when harvested by hand, but the harvested fruit does not have fresh-market quality. We developed a cane training and trellis system for semierect blackberries to orient canes horizontally with the fruit positioned below the canes. Also, we developed an over-the-row mechanical harvester that uses vibrating nylon rods on a drum to shake fruit from horizontally trained canes onto a moving fruit-catching surface directly under the canopy to minimize impact damage to fruit. A new trellis design, new cane training practices, and new harvesting technologies have allowed fruit to be removed efficiently and be acceptable for fresh-market sales. This production system has been evaluated economically and appears to be profitable. It could overcome the high cost of handpicking, which has limited the expansion of fresh-market blackberries.

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MECHANICAL HARVESTER FOR FRESH MARKET QUALITY STEMLESS SWEET CHERRIES

Transactions of the ASAE ◽

10.13031/2013.6103 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 44 (3) ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

D. L. Peterson ◽

S. D. Wolford

Keyword(s):

Market Quality ◽

Fresh Market ◽

Sweet Cherries ◽

Mechanical Harvester

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GROWTH AND FRUIT PRODUCTION OF YOUNG MICROPROPAGATED APPLE (MALUS DOMESTICA BORKH.) TREES

HortScience ◽

10.21273/hortsci.27.6.637f ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 27 (6) ◽

pp. 637f-637

Author(s):

Fenton E. Larsen ◽

Stewart S. Higgins

Keyword(s):

Malus Domestica ◽

Fruit Production ◽

Tree Size ◽

Sectional Area ◽

Cumulative Yield ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Malus Domestica Borkh ◽

Yield Efficiency ◽

Westerly Winds ◽

Golden Delicious

Tree size, cumulative yield, yield efficiency and anchorage of 6 micropropagated (MP) apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) cultivars were determined in 1991 after 5 years of production, as compared with trees on seedling (sdlg) or M 7a roots. Trees were planted in 1984, with crops harvested from 1987 through 1991. Trees were generally smallest (trunk cross-sectional area) on M 7a and were largest with 4 cultivars (`Delicious', `Jonathan', `Rome', `Spartan') when micropropagated. `Golden Delicious' (GD) was largest on sdlg. Cumulative yield was affected by a scion × rootstock interaction, with few trends in scion or rootstock effects. Mean cumulative yield was 84 kg tree-1, 71 and 58 for M 7a, MP and sdlg, respectively. Yield efficiency was also affected by a scion × rootstock interaction. In 1991, mean yield efficiency was 0.5 kg cm-2 for sdlg and MP trees, but was 1.05 for M 7a. Efficiency on M 7a was superior to other rootstocks with all scions except `GD', while sdlg and MP trees were statistically similar with all scions. All trees leaned in response to prevailing westerly winds, with trees on sdlg tending to be more upright than MP or M 7a trees.

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Influence of Root Pruning and Rootstock on Growth and Performance of `Golden Delicious' Apple

HortScience ◽

10.21273/hortsci.32.4.645 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 32 (4) ◽

pp. 645-648 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

D.C. Ferree ◽

M. Knee

Keyword(s):

Cell Division ◽

Size Effect ◽

Fruit Size ◽

Root Pruning ◽

Sectional Area ◽

Cumulative Yield ◽

Apple Trees ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Golden Delicious ◽

And Performance

`Smoothee Golden Delicious' apple trees on nine rootstocks or interstems were mechanically root pruned annually for 9 years beginning the year after planting. Root pruning reduced trunk cross-sectional area (TCA) by 14% over the first 5 years and 22% in the last 4 years of the trial. Yield and fruit size were reduced by root pruning in most years with the fruit size effect obvious in June at the end of cell division. Interstem trees of MAC.9/MM.106 were larger than trees on M.9 and the following interstems: M.9/MM.106, M.9/MM.111, M.27/MM.111. Trees on seedling (SDL) rootstock were the largest and had the lowest yield per unit TCA and lower cumulative yield/tree than trees on M.7, MM.106, and MM.1ll. There was no interaction for any measure of growth or yield between root pruning and rootstock or interstem.

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Early Performance of Two Apple Cultivars in Three Training Systems

HortScience ◽

10.21273/hortsci.29.9.1004 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 29 (9) ◽

pp. 1004-1007 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

David C. Ferree

Keyword(s):

Training System ◽

Cumulative Yield ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Training Systems ◽

Growing Seasons ◽

Golden Delicious ◽

Slender Spindle ◽

Flower Density ◽

Apple Cultivars ◽

Early Performance

In 1987, `Smoothee Golden Delicious' (`Smoothee') and `Lawspur Rome Beauty' (`Lawspur') apple (Malus domestica Borkh,) trees were planted and trained as central leaders or palmette leaders on M.7 and Mark rootstocks or were planted as slender spindles on Mark rootstocks. `Smoothee' trees were larger and had consistently greater yields and production per unit trunk cross-sectional area (TCA) than `Lawspur' trees. Slender spindle trees had lower early yields per tree and TCA but had greater cumulative yields per hectare than trees in the other training systems. In the fifth and sixth growing seasons, `Smoothee' trained as palmette leaders tended to have higher yields per hectare then central leader trees. Training system had little influence on `Lawspur' tree yields. Limb bending in 1989 increased flower density in 1989 and 1990. Cumulative yield per hectare increased 11% as a result of limb bending of trees on Mark rootstock, but bending had no influence on trees on M.7 rootstock. `Smoothee' on Mark had higher cumulative yields per hectare with the palmette leader and central leader than either `Smoothee' on M.7 in either training system or any combination with `Lawspur'.

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THE EFFECT OF DIFFERENT CALCIUM LEVELS ON CATION CONCENTRATION IN LEAVES AND FRUIT OF APPLE TREES

Canadian Journal of Plant Science ◽

10.4141/cjps83-055 ◽

1983 ◽

Vol 63 (2) ◽

pp. 473-479 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

E. J. HOGUE ◽

G. H. NEILSEN ◽

J. L. MASON ◽

B. G. DROUGHT

Keyword(s):

Nutrient Solution ◽

Malus Domestica ◽

Apple Trees ◽

Malus Domestica Borkh ◽

Cation Concentration ◽

Golden Delicious ◽

Calcium Cations ◽

Mg Content

Increasing the calcium levels from 32 to 256 mg/L in a Long Ashton nutrient solution increased the Ca but decreased the Mg content in leaves and fruit of three cultivars of apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) grown in solution. Simultaneously, the levels of K were reduced and the levels of Mn were increased.in the leaves but levels of K were not affected in the fruit. The cation levels in leaves differed between cultivars and years of testing. Golden Delicious leaves had consistently higher levels of Ca than Delicious and McIntosh, and higher K and Mn, but not Mg than McIntosh. The levels of Mg and Mn in Golden Delicious leaves were significantly lower than in Delicious but K levels were higher.Key words: Calcium, cations, apple, hydroponics

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Long-term Performance of ‘Delicious’ Apple Trees Grafted on Geneva® Rootstocks and Trained to Four High-density Systems under New York State Climatic Conditions

HortScience ◽

10.21273/hortsci14904-20 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 55 (10) ◽

pp. 1538-1550

Author(s):

Gemma Reig ◽

Jaume Lordan ◽

Stephen Hoying ◽

Michael Fargione ◽

Daniel J. Donahue ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fruit Quality ◽

New York State ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Training System ◽

High Density ◽

Cumulative Yield ◽

Apple Trees ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Training Systems ◽

G 11

We conducted a large (0.8 ha) field experiment of system × rootstock, using Super Chief Delicious apple as cultivar at Yonder farm in Hudson, NY, between 2007 and 2017. In this study, we compared six Geneva® rootstocks (‘G.11’, ‘G.16’, ‘G.210’, ‘G.30’, ‘G.41’, and ‘G.935’) with one Budagovsky (‘B.118’) and three Malling rootstocks (‘M.7EMLA’, ‘M.9T337’ and ‘M.26EMLA’). Trees on each rootstock were trained to four high-density systems: Super Spindle (SS) (5382 apple trees/ha), Tall Spindle (TS) (3262 apple trees/ha), Triple Axis Spindle (TAS) (2243 apple trees/ha), and Vertical Axis (VA) (1656 apple trees/ha). Rootstock and training system interacted to influence growth, production, and fruit quality. When comparing systems, SS trees were the least vigorous but much more productive on a per hectare basis. Among the rootstocks we evaluated, ‘B.118’ had the largest trunk cross-sectional area (TCSA), followed by ‘G.30’ and ‘M.7EMLA’, which were similar in size but they did not differ statistically from ‘G.935’. ‘M.9T337’ was the smallest and was significantly smaller than most of the other rootstocks but it did not differ statistically from ‘G.11’, ‘G.16’, ‘G.210’, ‘G.41’, and ‘M.26EMLA’. Although ‘B.118’ trees were the largest, they had low productivity, whereas the second largest rootstock ‘G.30’ was the most productive on a per hectare basis. ‘M.9’ was the smallest rootstock and failed to adequately fill the space in all systems except the SS, and had low cumulative yield. The highest values for cumulative yield efficiency (CYE) were with ‘G.210’ for all training systems except for VA, where ‘M.9T337’ had the highest value. The lowest values were for all training systems with ‘B.118’ and ‘M.7EMLA’. Regardless of the training system, ‘M.7EMLA’ trees had the highest number of root suckers. Some fruit quality traits were affected by training system, rootstock or system × rootstock combination.

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Response to Artificial Infection by Phytophthora cactorum of Four Apple Scion Cultivars on Three Rootstock

HortScience ◽

10.21273/hortsci.28.7.717 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 28 (7) ◽

pp. 717-718 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

R.S. Utkhede ◽

E.M. Smith

Keyword(s):

Field Experiment ◽

Malus Domestica ◽

Crown Rot ◽

Phytophthora Cactorum ◽

Artificial Infection ◽

Apple Trees ◽

Golden Delicious ◽

Scion Cultivar

A 10-year field experiment was conducted on 20-year-old apple trees (Malus domestica Borkh.) inoculated with Phytophthora cactorum (Leb. & Cohn) Schroet. to study the influence of the scion cultivar on rootstock susceptibility. The rootstock MM.111 was less susceptible to P. cactorum than M.7 when `Golden Delicious' was the scion, but there were no differences when `Delicious', `Haroldred Delicious', or `McIntosh' were the scions. Similarly, the rootstock M.26 was less susceptible than M.7 when `McIntosh' was the scion, but there were no differences when `Delicious', `Haroldred Delicious', or `Golden Delicious' were the scions. These results suggest that the influence of scions on rootstock susceptibility to P. cactorum crown rot is variable.

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