Vigour management 2007 — notes

September 2007 | AgFirst | Future Orchards® Orchard Walk notes

These early Future Orchards® notes outline the fundamentals of managing excessive vigour in modern apple production systems.

Vigour is treated as a balance issue: enough growth is needed to renew fruiting wood and fill canopy space, but excessive growth reduces light and directs resources away from fruit production and quality.

The notes examine the orchard factors that influence this balance, including rootstock, pruning, crop load, irrigation, nutrition and tree training. They also stress that heavy corrective pruning can stimulate further regrowth if the underlying cause is not addressed.

The material provides a useful foundation for the later Future Orchards® vigour-management resources.