World overpopulation, scarcity
of water and finite arable land mandate a more efficient use of these natural resources. To
remainsustainable,modern-day apple (Malus domesticaBorkh.) fruit production utilizeshigh-density orchards on semi-dwarfing, precocious rootstocks.Nonetheless, little attention has been paid to the
use of size-controlling practices such as trunk girdling in these modern
orchard systems. The impact of two rootstocks, two tree architecture (training) systems, and three levels of girdling (in
spring) on chlorophyll index (CI), proline,
chlorophyll content (Chl; a, b, a+b),
carotenoids, anthocyanin, yield, fruit weight and leaf nitrogen (N) in “Aztec
Fuji” were studied in 2015 and 2016. Trees on “Bud9” had up
to5% higher chlorophyll indices in leaves on side branches than those on “Nic
29”at each sampling time in 2015 and 2016. However, trees on “Nic 29” had up
to 5.5% chlorophyll index in terminal branches, 14% higher Chl b, 54% higherleaf
proline in 2015, up to 5% higher leaf
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