The effect of the short pruning on the yield and quality of the fruits at the peach tree

Abstract

The aim of our research was to determine the effect of short pruning on the productive and vegetative characteristics of peach trees. The research was conducted on two cultivars, ‘Redhaven’ and ‘Fayette’. Three short pruning treatments were applied, with heading of the bearing branches at 20, 30, and 40 cm in length and a control, without heading. The following characteristics were evaluated: the growth of the TCSA, the number of thinned fruitlets, the number of fruit and yield per tree, the average weight of the fruits and the diameter of the fruits. Based on our research, we made several observations: the pruning method did not affect the growth of the TCSA; the number of thinned fruitlets decreased with a reduction in the length of the bearing branches; the number of fruits and yield per tree decreased with a reduction in the length of the bearing branches. A higher average fruit weight and percentage of fruits with a bigger diameter were calculated from the trees with the short pruning, but with a different share depending on the cultivar.