Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
ABOVE:
4) Use heading and thinning cuts to maintain a conic shape.
Vogel Central Leader
The Vogel central leader system uses dwarfing rootstocks, such as Gisela 5
or Gisela 6, to produce moderately high-density orchards that contain trees
spaced 8 to 12 feet apart in rows that are 15 to 18 feet apart. Trees in this
system are easy to develop and maintain, produce high early yields when
used with highly productive varieties, and are easy to harvest. Because the
trees are taller, the Vogel central leader design is better suited to frosty sites
than the Spanish bush. This design tends to produce lower yields than do
the other sweet cherry systems we are covering here. For home and market
fruit growers, however, the Vogel central leader can be a good fit and is a
replacement for the old open center training systems for cherries.
Because the trees grow 10 to 12 feet tall, the design is not ideal for U-pick
orchards. By heading the leaders back to weak lateral branches, however,
you can keep the trees shorter. Use the pruning practices described above
for highly productive rootstocks in order to maintain commercially accept-
able fruit size.
