Summary: The objectives of this project were: To field-validate balanced cropping model and develop and evaluate practical strategies for moderating sweet cherry crop load. 1. To investigate the relationships among tree vigor (i.e., leaf area, shoot growth, trunk expansion, root growth), fruit yield, fruit quality, and yield potential in subsequent years (i.e., flower bud initiation, bloom density, fruit set and yield); in short, investigate whole-tree source-sink relations. 2. To quantify the acquisition and partitioning of cropping resources, such as photosynthates and nitrogen, between the developing tree canopy, flower buds, and fruits to balance yields with optimized fruit size.
