GROWTH PARAMETERS AND YIELD OF SIX APPLE CULTIVARS GROWN IN A HIGH DENSITY ORCHARD IN THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA

The main aim of this research was to investigate the growth parameters of six apple cultivars such as ‘Reinette Simirenko’, ‘Golden Delicious’, ‘Idared’, ‘Generos’, ‘Champion’ and ‘Florina’ and their yield grown in a high density orchard located in the Republic of Moldova. To determine the differences between the cultivars regarding their growth the trunk diameter, tree height, annual shoot growth, canopy volume and trunk cross-sectional area were measured and calculated. To compare their yielding capacity, yield/ha and yield efficiency were recorded and calculated. The results showed that in terms of growth parameters the most vigurous cultivar was ‘Golden Delicious’ followed by ‘Reinette Simirenko’ with average trunk diameters of 119.23 and 119.13 mm. Tree height was also very similar between these two cultivars ranging between 2.69 and 2.83 m. However, the longest annual shoots were recorded in ‘Generos’ (33,53 cm) followed by ‘Champion’ (29.08). The lowest values in terms of growth parameters were recorded in ‘Florina’ and ‘Generos’. Regarding yielding capacity, the most productive cultivars were ‘Idared’ and ‘Champion’ with yields of 40.48 and 40,23 tones/ha. The lowest yield was recorded in ‘Florina’.