The effects of fruiting and defoliation on seasonal trends in new root production on apple trees

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Abstract
Complete defoliation of 9- and 10-year-old apple trees, 4–6 weeks before natural leaf-fall, greatly reduced the amount of white unsuberized root recorded in glass observation panels for the remainder of the year. The reduction was noticeable within 2 weeks of treatment. In one experiment defoliated trees were slower than control trees in starting root growth in the spring following the treatment. Relatively light crops of fruit greatly reduced new root development from July onwards, compared with deblossomed trees. Together with othei data published earlier, these results help to explain some of the year-to-year and tree-to-tree variability found in the seasonal periodicity of root growth on fruit trees.

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