Tree vigour, striking a balance between vegetative growth and fruit set
The choice of rootstock is known to influence the vigour of the variety and to offer numerous cultivation benefits. In this study, conducted over eleven years - including ten years of production - the vigour of the Buckeye® GALA Simmons P.V.R cultivar was found to be comparable between the Pajam®2 Cepiland and the Geneva® G 11 P.V.R rootstocks, regardless of the training system studied (see box 'Eight Buckeye® GALA Simmons P.V.R orchard systems'). For several decades, the Pajam®2 Cepiland P.V.R rootstock has been a major benchmark in French orchards. The Geneva® G 11 P.V.R rootstock, which has a vigour comparable to that of Pajam®2 Cepiland P.V.R, allows the same orchard layouts and identical cultivation practices to be maintained.
After eleven years, the total circumference of trees trained using a double-axis system (fruiting wall and Aximum©) was between 42% à 62% greater than that of trees trained using a single-axis system. Although the individual vigour of each branch on a double-axis tree is lower than that of a single-axis tree, the sum of the circumferences of the two branches is consistently greater than that of a single-axis tree. Consequently, the fruiting wall and Aximum© training systems with a double-axis structure exhibit greater vigour than the Aximum© single-axis training systems and the vertical-axis control (Figure 1).