Partitioning of Above-ground Dry Matter in `Lambert' Sweet Cherry Trees With or Without Fruit

Abstract

The effect of fruit on shoot growth, leaf area, and on dry weight (DW) partitioning into leaves, fruit, trunk, and branch sections was investigated using 7-year-old `Lambert' sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) trees. Dormant trees were sampled in the spring, and fruiting and deblossomed trees were sampled and compared at fruit harvest and just before leaf fall. Fruiting reduced shoot growth, leaf area, and above-ground DW accumulation of the trees. The annual above-ground DW accumulated was 13.4 kg for fruiting trees and 16.0 kg for nonfruiting trees. The greatest proportion of above-ground DW was partitioned to wood, whereas the least was partitioned to fruit. Current-season's growth (wood and leaves) appears to be a greater sink for photosynthates than is fruit because a greater proportion of above-ground DW was partitioned to current-season's growth than to fruit.