Vigour management — presentation

September 2009 | AgFirst | Future Orchards® presentation

This presentation accompanies the 2009 Future Orchards® vigour-management notes and provides a visual guide to balancing vegetative growth and cropping.

It explains how excessive shoot growth affects canopy light, fruit colour and the amount of pruning and training required. The desired outcome is a tree that continues to renew fruiting wood without creating dense, shaded canopy zones.

The management levers include crop load, pruning style, branch positioning, irrigation and nitrogen, supported where appropriate by more direct vigour-control techniques.

The presentation is designed to help growers assess tree response in the orchard and choose interventions according to the cause and severity of the vigour problem.