Date of Award:

5-2018

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Plants, Soils, and Climate

Committee Chair(s)

Brent Black

Committee

Brent Black

Committee

Teryl Roper

Committee

Grant Cardon

Abstract

The tart cherry (Prunus cerasus) is the most significant fruit tree crop in Utah, accounting for roughly 51% of the total statewide commercial fruit acreage. In order to accommodate harvesting equipment, tart cherries are grown in conventional orchards with large trees spaced up to 5.5 meters apart. New methods of harvest are adapted to smaller trees in tighter spaced high density (HD) orchards. HD orchards bear fruit earlier in the orchard life than conventional orchards, but likely require different pruning and management strategies, which have not yet been determined for tart cherry. Experimental HD orchards were used to determine the type of renewal pruning cuts to maintain orchard productivity, and to determine whether mechanical pruning (hedging) could be used to maintain tree size. It was found that when removing branches during pruning, leaving the branch stub at least 10 cm long greatly increases the likelihood of getting adequate renewal growth. Mechanical hedging at bloom or 45 days after bloom did not change yields or fruit quality when applied to a well-pruned and maintained orchard. Spray pattern analysis in these canopies suggested that hedging creates a more consistent canopy density than unhedged HD canopies. This research provides distinct guidelines on renewal pruning of tart cherry to maintain productivity, and shows that mechanical hedging strategies can be a viable option for maintaining tree size in HD plantings without increasing pruning costs.

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