CROTCH ANGLE DEVELOPMENT IN PEACH TREES AS INFLUENCED BY SCION AND ROOTSTOCK CULTIVARS

Selection of wide-angle scaffold branches is encouraged in the training of young peach trees to impart maximum structural strength to the framework. Narrow crotch angles foster extensive inclusions which block the transport of food reserves in phloem tissues, causing a delay in wood maturation. Localized winter injury, adverse wind conditions and excessive crops weaken and reduce the overall tree structure. Narrow crotches also contribute substantially to the extensive tree losses associated with the peach canker disease caused by V alsa leucostoma and to a lesser extent, V. cincta (4).