GROWTH OF APPLE 〔Malus sylvestris (Lñ) Mill. var. domestica (Borkh.) Mansf.〕 TREE cv. GOLDEN DELICIOUS AFFECTED BY SOIL MOISTURE, NUTRITION AND ROOTSTOCK

Abstract

A growth analysis of two-years old apple trees cv. Golden Delicious grafted onto four rootstocks (MM 111, MM 106, M 7 and M 26) was carried out under different soil moisture conditions (fertigation, mulching and rainfed), with and without soil organic fertilization before planting. Total dry weight and leaf area were recorded along the growing season and used for regression analysis in order to fit the best model to describe the response of each variable for each treatment. From these results the slope values were estimated to determine the relative growth rate (TRC) and the unit leaf rate (TUF). With these values the specific leaf weight (PEF) was also calculated. The most important factors influencing tree growth, were the soil moisture and rootstocks, while fertigation and mulching induced the highest TRC and TUF.