2021 Volume 20 Issue 2 Pages 163-170
We investigated the growth and flower setting characteristics of young satsuma mandarin (Citrus unshiu Marc. ‘Aoshima unshu’) trees utilizing two scaffoldings to implement a branch training method that places buds at a high position along the rootstocks to obtain an early yield and stable fruit quality. Buds were placed on rootstocks at heights of 5 cm (normal) and 30 cm (budding height). The two-scaffold training treatment at normal height increased the number of leaves and canopy volume compared with treatment open center training. The number of flowers at budding height with the two-scaffold training treatment was increased at 1 year after planting; this treatment tends to increase the percentage of leafy flowers 2 and 3 years after planting. The number of vegetative shoots for the budding height with the two-scaffold training treatment was significantly lower compared with the normal height with the same training. On the other hand, the fruit diameter of plants that underwent the training treatment with the two scaffolds tended to be smaller than that of open center training. These results indicate that two-scaffold training for ‘Aoshima unshu’ facilitates fast initial growth, and slightly increases the percentage of leafy flowers at a budding height of 30 cm.
