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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Kearneysville, West Virginia » Appalachian Fruit Research Laboratory » Innovative Fruit Production, Improvement, and Protection » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #171196
Title: PERFORMANCE OF APPLE CULTIVARS IN THE 1995 NE-183 REGIONAL PROJECT PLANTING: I. GROWTH AND YIELD CHARACTERISTICS

Author
item CRASSWELLER, R. - PENN STATE UNIV
item MCNEW, R. - UNIV OF ARKANSAS
item AZARENKO, A. - OREGON STATE UNIV
item 21 VARIOUS OTHERS - VARIOUS UNIVERSITIES
item Miller, Stephen

Submitted to: Journal of the American Pomological Society
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/1/2004
Publication Date: 1/30/2005
Citation: Crassweller, R., Mcnew, R., Azarenko, A., 21 Various Others, Miller, S.S. 2005. Performance of apple cultivars in the 1995 ne-183 regional project planting: i. growth and yield characteristics. Journal of American Pomological Society. 59: 18-27

Interpretive Summary: The objective and systematic evaluation of apple cultivars across many planting sites in North America would provide valuable assistance to growers in selecting new cultivars to plant. In addition, consumers would be able to make informed purchasing choices if provided with fruit quality descriptions. A regional project was initiated in 1995 to evaluate apple cultivars/selections on Malling 9 rootstock planted at 19 sites across North America. The present paper describes the growth and yield characteristics for 20 of the test cultivars/selections grown at 18 sites across North America. Information developed by this regional project will provide a valuable resource for cultivar selection for tree fruit extension, fruit consultants and fruit growers.

Technical Abstract: A multi-site experiment to evaluate the performance of apple cultivars was established in 1995 with twenty different cultivars. The purpose of the experiment was to evaluate new and promising apple cultivars in a range of geographical and climatic areas within North America. All trees were propagated on M.9 and minimally pruned to encourage early bearing. At the end of the fifth growing season, 'Shizuka' were the largest trees and had the highest yields. 'Honeycrisp' and 'Braeburn' were among the smallest trees and had low cumulative yields. 'Gala Supreme', 'Golden Supreme' and 'Pristine' were among the least yield efficient. Across all sites 'Fortune', 'Golden Supreme', 'Pristine', 'Suncrisp' and 'Yataka' had biennial bearing indices (BI) that suggested that they were more prone to biennial bearing. 'GoldRush' had the highest cumulative yield efficiency and cumulative crop load of all the cultivars tested. 'Arlet' had the highest mean number of fruit per year, while the largest fruit were produced by 'Shizuka'. 'Pristine' and 'Golden Supreme' had high levels of preharvest fruit drop. Days from full bloom to harvest varied depending upon the cultivar, with 'Pristine' maturing first and 'GoldRush' last. A stability analysis was performed for all variable measured. No cultivar proved perfectly stable, however, 'Fuji' had the fewest significant stability variances while 'Honeycrisp' had the most significant variances.