An Apple Tree Branch Pruning Analysis

Zahid, Azlan; Mahmud, Sultan; He, Long; Schupp, James R.; Choi, Daeun; Heinemann, P.

doi:10.21273/horttech04924-21

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…There was little difference between plants that had received renewal pruning and thinning and renewal pruning only in 2021, although thinned plants possessed slightly higher quality fruits. Therefore, we do not recommend thinning pruning following renewal pruning, since the benefits of thinning do not outweigh the added pruning labor expense, which is one of the costliest components of fruit production (Lorenzo et al 2022;Strik et al 2003;Zahid et al 2022). The size, appearance and fruit production capacity displayed by renewal-pruned plants in 2022 was analogous to three-year-old plants established in a new orchard in 2012 (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Renewal Pruning Alone or in Combination with Thinning Pruning Affects Growth, Fruit Yield and Fruit Quality of Aroniaberry

Lentz,

Lubell-Brand,

Brand

2023

horts

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Aroniaberry (Aronia mitschurinii) produces small pome fruits that possess health promoting compounds. Management practices for orchards are lacking, since aroniaberry is a relatively new crop. Pruning is an important cultural practice to optimize fruit yield in orchards. The response of an established aroniaberry orchard to pruning was evaluated over three years (2020 to 2022). Pruning treatments were as follows: 1) renewal pruning (removal of shoots to the base) only in year 1; 2) renewal pruning in year 1 + thinning to 18 shoots in year 2; 3) renewal pruning in year 1 + thinning to 9 shoots in year 2; and 4) no-pruning (control). In response to renewal pruning, plants grew uniformly and vigorously, producing 28 new vegetative primary shoots with an average length of 66 cm by the end of the first growing season. Limited flowering and fruiting occurred in the second season for plants receiving pruning treatments. Fruit yield on pruned plants was significantly less than for unpruned controls. In season 2, increased thinning of renewal-pruned plants negatively affected the number of inflorescences per plant, but positively affected individual fruit fresh weight and fruit °Brix:titratable acidity ratios. Fruits from all treatments had similar monomeric anthocyanins, total phenolics and mineral content. In season 3, flower production and predicted fruit yield from pruned plants and unpruned controls were similar, even though pruned plants were substantially smaller. In the third season, there were no longer any differences between renewed + thinned plants and those that received only renewal pruning, making shoot thinning an unnecessary practice. The results of this study demonstrate that renewal pruning can be an effective way to manage and rejuvenate an aging aroniaberry orchard.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Renewal Pruning Alone or in Combination with Thinning Pruning Affects Growth, Fruit Yield and Fruit Quality of Aroniaberry

Lentz,

Lubell-Brand,

Brand

2023

horts

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“…Therefore, automatic pruning could effectively avoid the quality degradation caused by incorrect pruning by selecting appropriate pruning points (He and Schupp, 2018). Robotic selective pruning has achieved remarkable results on grapes and apples, but the relevant technologies are still in the experimental stage (Botterill et al, 2017;Zahid et al, 2020;Zahid et al, 2021). The automatic pruning technology of open-center jujube trees with variable structures needs to be studied in-depth.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Skeleton extraction and pruning point identification of jujube tree for dormant pruning using space colonization algorithm

Xia²,

Zhang³

et al. 2023

Front. Plant Sci.

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The dormant pruning of jujube is a labor-intensive and time-consuming activity in the production and management of jujube orchards, which mainly depends on manual operation. Automatic pruning using robots could be a better way to solve the shortage of skilled labor and improve efficiency. In order to realize automatic pruning of jujube trees, a method of pruning point identification based on skeleton information is presented. This study used an RGB-D camera to collect multi-view information on jujube trees and built a complete point cloud information model of jujube trees. The space colonization algorithm acts on the global point cloud to generate the skeleton of jujube trees. The iterative relationship between skeleton points was represented by constructing a directed graph. The proposed skeleton analysis algorithm marked the skeleton as the trunk, the primary branches, and the lateral branches and identified the pruning points under the guidance of pruning rules. Finally, the visual model of the pruned jujube tree was established through the skeleton information. The results showed that the registration errors of individual jujube trees were less than 0.91 cm, and the average registration error was 0.66 cm, which provided a favorable database for skeleton extraction. The skeleton structure extracted by the space colonization algorithm had a high degree of coincidence with jujube trees, and the identified pruning points were all located on the primary branches of jujube trees. The study provides a method to identify the pruning points of jujube trees and successfully verifies the validity of the pruning points, which can provide a reference for the location of the pruning points and visual research basis for automatic pruning.

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“…Pruning is essential, especially in modern high-density operations (Sus et al 2018), and represents approximately 30% of the apple production costs for trees trained as central leaders (Ferree 1976) and vertical axe (Marini and Barden 2004). Manual pruning is one of the most labor-intensive operations in an orchard (Mika et al 2016;Zahid et al 2022). To reduce pruning costs, previous studies reported experiments involving central leader trees being hedged during the dormant season (Ferree 1976;Hansen et al 1968) and semi-dwarf trees being hedged in summer (Ferree 1984).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Converting Tall Spindle Apple Trees to Narrow Walls with Summer and Dormant Hedging Plus Root Pruning

Campbell

Schupp

Marini

2023

horts

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Recently, some commercial apple growers have been adopting hedging as an alternative or supplement to hand-pruning. With increasing labor costs across the United States, alternatives to hand-pruning and current training systems are being considered. One management strategy involves transitioning tall spindle trees to a narrow tree wall and simplifying labor-intensive activities of apple production, such as pruning, harvesting, and fruit thinning. The objective is to form the orchard system into a “fruiting wall” that makes fruit more visible and accessible, thus facilitating harvesting. Four management practices (tall spindle; narrow tree wall with manual pruning; narrow tree wall with dormant and summer hedging; and narrow tree wall with dormant hedging, summer hedging, and root pruning) were used to convert 12-year-old ‘Brak Fuji’ apple trees from the tall spindle training system to a narrow tree wall. Photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and ultraviolet light levels within the canopies were improved by summer hedging, but they were still low for all treatments. Light within the canopy was improved most when root pruning was included. Specific leaf weight was not significantly impacted by hedging or root pruning. Detailed spur sampling showed that treatments had no effect on vegetative or reproductive growth on 2- to 3-year-old wood. Although dormant plus summer hedging alone did not affect shoot length, the combination of hedging and root pruning caused a significant reduction in terminal shoot length. Red fruit color was only improved with dormant hedging plus summer hedging plus root pruning. Compared with dormant plus summer hedging, dormant plus summer hedging plus root pruning improved fruit set and yield, but it reduced fruit size. Without root pruning, hedging had little effect on light, specific leaf weight, flower initiation, fruit set, and fruit quality. Conversion to narrow tree walls by manual pruning resulted in more poorly colored fruit and less highly colored fruit compared with maintaining the trees as tall spindles with manual pruning.

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An Apple Tree Branch Pruning Analysis

Cited by 7 publications

References 13 publications

Renewal Pruning Alone or in Combination with Thinning Pruning Affects Growth, Fruit Yield and Fruit Quality of Aroniaberry

Renewal Pruning Alone or in Combination with Thinning Pruning Affects Growth, Fruit Yield and Fruit Quality of Aroniaberry

Skeleton extraction and pruning point identification of jujube tree for dormant pruning using space colonization algorithm

Converting Tall Spindle Apple Trees to Narrow Walls with Summer and Dormant Hedging Plus Root Pruning

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