Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
ABOVE:
B) Top view. Use thinning cuts to produce renewal fruiting wood
on each scaffold branch.
Quad-V System
The quad-V system is another adaptation of open center training. It uses
four permanent scaffold limbs that are spaced approximately 90 degrees
apart, perpendicular to and parallel to the crop rows. The design is somewhat
more difficult and labor intensive to establish than the system for
perpendicular-V trees. Quad-V orchards use fewer trees per acre than
perpendicular-V orchards, and they create greater early yields by doubling
the number of fruit-bearing scaffolds per tree. Plant the trees 9 feet apart in
rows that are 18 feet apart, for a density of 269 trees per acre. This design
can be used for home and commercial high-density peach and nectarine pro-
duction, but it requires greater management skill and labor than the open
are trained to a quad-V design.
