J. Japan. Soc. Hort. Sci. 82 (3): 215–221. 2013.

Available online at www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/jjshs1

JSHS © 2013

Shoot Growth and Fruit Production of ‘Masui Dauphine’ Fig Trees Having High
Limb Position with Downward Shoots

Akihiro Hosomi1*, Yuka Miwa1 and Takashi Mano2

1
Research Institute of Environment, Agriculture and Fisheries, Osaka Prefecture, Habikino 583-0862, Japan
2
Hyogo Prefectural Technology Center for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Kasai 679-0198, Japan

Shoot growth and fruit production of ‘Masui Dauphine’ fig trees (Ficus carica L.) were compared between a novel
training method and a control method, with various tree spacing. In the novel training, the shoots were elongated
downward from a horizontal limb at 180 cm height, whereas control training had upward growing shoots from
a horizontal limb at 40 cm height. Sprouted shoots of the novel training trees leafed a few days earlier than
controls. The difference in training did not significantly affect longitudinal growth (the internode length and leaf
area) of the shoots but, on the apical portion of the shoots, the shoot diameter and leaf weight per area in novel
training were less than in controls. Many lateral shoots sprouted on the shoots of the novel training in autumn.
The novel training prevented failure of fruit set, which was observed on the basal portion of control shoots with
excess vigour owing to narrow tree spacing. The novel training promoted coloring of fruit on the basal portion
of the shoots and depressed it on the apical portion. The size and weight of fruit tended to be reduced on the
shoots that underwent novel training. The observed characteristics of novel training may be due to the change
of lighting conditions and reduced photosynthetic rate due to downward shoot positioning.

Key Words: Ficus carica, illuminance, planting density, shoot bending, straight line training.

of fruit (Kabumoto et al., 1985), and freezing injury to

Introduction
trees (Horimoto et al., 1994). We present here a new
In the Japanese fruit industry, fig trees are cultivated form of training for fig trees. This training is distinct
mainly around city areas, and second crops of common- from normal straight line training and involves a long
type figs are shipped with fresh fruits. ‘Masui Dauphine’ trunk and high limb position. We call this the “high limb
(‘San Piero’ sensu Condit, 1955) is a major fig cultivar style” and its advantages were confirmed as preventing
in Japan. Second cropping fruit is borne on every node freezing injury (Mano et al., 2012a) and animal (raccoon)
of shoots and is harvested from the base to approximately invasion (unpublished), but the effect on fruit production
the 20th node from August to November. For this was unknown. The high position of the limb will force
cultivar, “straight line training” has been successfully shoots to be elongated on the horizontal trellis or be bent
adapted (Kabumoto et al., 1985). Straight line training downward from the limb. In this study, downward
involves bilateral horizontal limbs, and greatly improves positioning was adopted for the shoots, anticipating less
the efficiency of cultivation (pruning, disbudding, and harvesting labor than horizontal positioning. Inhibition
harvesting etc.), because the fig-bearing shoots are of vegetative growth and the promotion of fruit set is
elongated in line in a regular fashion. Nevertheless, the expected to take place in the bent shoots. These effects
training has some disadvantages, including discoloring are well known (Downing, 1869) and are termed
“gravimorphism” as a reaction to gravity (Wareing and
Nasr, 1958). The effect of shoot bending in fig trees is
Received; October 17, 2012. Accepted; February 8, 2013. unknown, however. This study investigated how the
Part of this paper was presented at the 2010 Autumn Meeting of the novel training (high limb style with downward shoots)
Japanese Society for Horticultural Science. This study was one of the
Research and Development Projects for Application in Promoting
affects shoot growth and fruit productivity in various
New Policy of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries, Japan. vigour types of fig tree. The usefulness of this training
*Corresponding author (E-mail: [email protected]. was then assessed.
or.jp).

215
 216 A. Hosomi, Y. Miwa and T. Mano

training were tied down to cords descending from the

Materials and Methods
trellis to the ground, and the shoots of control trees were
Growing the test trees tied up along the cords. All of each shoot, once the
An experimental field of ca. 10 a was used at the number of shoot nodes reached ca. 20, was pinched and
Research Institute of Environment, Agriculture and the date was recorded. Lateral shoots, which had sprouted
Fisheries, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. Nursery stock of from the bearing shoots, and other shoots which had
‘Masui Dauphine’ fig trees had been planted in the sprouted from the tree apart from the bearing shoots,
summer of 2004 with various tree spacing (0.2 m, 0.6 m, were removed weekly from May to November, and their
1.0 m, and 6.6 m) in north-south rows with 2.5 m spacing numbers were recorded as “removed lateral shoots” and
between rows. Growth commenced with normal straight “removed shoots” for each tree. “Removed shoots”
line training, with shoots upward from a horizontal limb included the shoots removed at bearing-shoot selection
of 40 cm height. These trees were cut short in March mentioned above. Failure of fruit set was counted on
2006 and redirected to the novel training, i.e. the whole each node of the shoots in July and November. After
of the limbs was cut off leaving one dormant shoot harvesting, the shoots were measured: total length,
nearest to the trunk, and new shoots from the apical part internode length, basal diameter (diameters of the 2nd
of the dormant shoot were adjusted twice to 180 cm with or 3rd internodes from the base), and apical diameter
a straight line for new primary scaffolds. The next year, (diameters of apical internodes).
primary scaffolds were prolonged with newly apical
shoots, and the reconstruction of the training was Lighting condition and leaf growth
completed at the end of the growing period in 2007, as In October 2008, when leaf enlargement was estimated
shown in Figure 1. The primary scaffolds involved a to be complete, the light conditions in the tree canopy
trellis of 180 cm height. The mother shoots were arranged and growth of the leaves were examined in the trees
on the primary scaffolds with equal intervals of ca. 20 cm. with spacing 6.6 m. Eight shoots (every two shoots
The numbers of mother shoots were 1, 3, 5, and 33 per located on the north, south, east, and west sides) of each
tree, according to the tree spacing. Eighteen, 15, 12, and tree, were examined. The relative illuminances, above
3 trees were trained with tree spacing of 0.2 m, 0.6 m, and below the side of the canopy, were measured using
1.0 m, and 6.6 m, respectively, and corresponding an illuminance meter (LX-204; Custom Co., Tokyo,
numbers of un-reconstructed trees acted as controls with Japan), in the vicinity of the 3rd, 8th, 13th, and 18th
normal straight line training. Other details of cultivation, shoot nodes from the basal portion, at noon on a cloudy
such as irrigation, fertilization, and pest management, day. The leaves on the 3rd, 8th, 13th, and 18th shoot
followed the normal schedule for fig orchard manage- nodes were sampled and each leaf area and leaf weight
ment. were measured.

Shoot growth and fruit set Harvesting fruit and quality

In April 2008, the date of first leafing of the earliest One, 2, 3, and 16 shoots per tree with tree spacing
sound shoot from each mother shoot was recorded as 0.2 m, 0.6 m, 1.0 m, and 6.6 m, respectively, were
the “day of leafing”. One shoot per mother shoot was selected for examination. Every fruit, judged “soft as
elongated as a bearing shoot; the other shoots were mature fruit”, was harvested. Mature fruits on the nodes
removed. The shoots of the trees to undergo the novel of the 3rd, 8th, 13th, and 18th of selected shoots were
examined, and the harvesting days, skin color, fruit
length, fruit width, fresh weight, and Brix of fruit juice
were all recorded. The fruit length was measured from
the calyx top to the stylar end of the fruit; the fruit width
was the diameter of an equatorial section of the fruit.
The skin color of the fruit was categorized via a coloring
index from faintly (1) to complete (5). The fruit juice
was filtered from the flesh near an equatorial section
through gauze, and Brix was measured using a digital
refractometer (PR-101; Atago Co., Tokyo, Japan). The
total weight of fruits on the shoot from the base to 20
nodes was estimated as the yield (Y kg/10 a) of each tree:
W = mF · N,
Y = mW · S · T,
Fig. 1. Pattern diagrams of training for fig trees. At left is novel
training. A long trunk and high limb (primary scaffold) position
where W is product of the mean of fresh weights of
with downward shoots are structural features of this training. At fruits (mF) and the number of fruit set (N) at the base
right is normal straight line training, for control. to 20 nodes of each shoot; estimated yield (Y) is the
 J. Japan. Soc. Hort. Sci. 82 (3): 215–221. 2013. 217

product of the mean of W (mW), shoot number (S) and lateral shoots from apical dominance (Wareing and Nasr,
the tree number per 10 a (T) for each tree in each tree 1958). Fig shoots show no exception to the law of apical
space. dominance.
Illuminance in the canopy of the trees with 6.6 m
Results and Discussion
spacing on a cloudy day in October was measured to
Shoot and leaf growth and lighting conditions characterize the lighting condition in the mature season
Shoot growth is shown in Table 1. Shoots of the novel of fig fruit (Fig. 3). The relative illuminance was strongly
trained trees that had sprouted leafed 2–3 days earlier influenced by the height of the shoot nodes. Greater
than the control trees. The internodes of shoots tended relative illuminance above was observed for basal nodes
to be longer for novel trained trees and were significantly in novel training shoots, and for apical nodes in control
longer than controls in the trees with 0.6 m spacing. The shoots. The relative illuminance below was apparently
shoot diameters tend to be larger with narrower tree less than above, but values for basal nodes were greater
spacing; this can be explained by enhanced shoot vigor with novel training than in controls. Similar results for
with dense planting (Mano et al., 2011). The basal the lighting condition are expected for other tree
diameters of novel training shoots were significantly spacings, because all shoots were arranged with equal
larger than in controls with 0.6 m and 6.6 m tree spacing. intervals of ca. 20 cm, although these were not recorded
The apical diameters of novel training shoots were directly. Figure 4 shows leaf sizes. The leaf area
significantly smaller than in controls with 1.0 m and increased with the order of the shoot node. A slightly
6.6 m tree spacing. Trends observed in the shoots of decrease of the leaf area was observed in novel training,
novel training trees were that basal diameter is larger but no significant difference was detected between both
and apical diameter is smaller than in controls. trainings, apart from the 8th node of shoots. The specific
The growth of superfluous shoots is shown in Figure 2. leaf weight (dry weight/surface area) was influenced by
The total number of removed shoots was greatest in May the height of the shoot nodes. Greater specific leaf
or June (upper group of Fig. 2). Narrower tree spacing weights were observed at basal nodes of novel training
increased the number of removed shoots, continuing to shoots, but at apical nodes on control shoots.
autumn. The novel training did not lead to more removed An effect of the shoot position, especially a downward
shoots than controls, although these showed a slight position, can be detected for apple (Kato and Ito, 1962),
increase in autumn with 0.6 m tree spacing. Growth of grapevine (Lovisolo and Schubert, 2000; Oinoue, 1932;
lateral shoots is shown in the lower group in Figure 2. Schubert et al., 1995; Somkuwar and Ramteke, 2008),
Narrower tree spacing also led to a greater number of persimmon (Fujimura, 1932), and others, and depression
lateral shoots, with two peaks in June/July and of shoot growth is common. We did not find clear
September. The novel training led to more lateral shoots evidence of depressed vertical elongation in figs, because
than controls. It is well known that shoot bending releases there was no delay in the pinching date and rather longer

Table 1. Effect of training methods on the shoot growth of ‘Masui Dauphine’ figs with various tree spacing.
Size of shoot Failure of fruit setx
Day of Day of
Tree space Training Tested Total Internode Basal Apical
leafingz pinchingy 1–5 6–10 11–15 16–20
(m) methods Shoots length length diameter diameter
(m/d) (m/d) (%) (%) (%) (%)
(cm) (cm) (mm) (mm)
0.2 Novel 18 4/24 7/16 139.4 6.1 28.6 12.7 8.2 2.4 3.8 4.0
0.2 Control 18 4/26 7/9 129.2 6.0 27.8 13.4 16.1 2.8 7.2 3.3
NSw ** NS NS NS NS * NS NS NS
0.6 Novel 30 4/23 7/9 138.5 6.4 27.9 12.5 2.0 1.3 4.1 2.1
0.6 Control 30 4/26 7/9 121.8 5.6 25.5 12.9 16.6 9.7 6.2 4.4
** NS ** ** * NS ** NS NS NS
1.0 Novel 36 4/21 7/6 135.0 6.5 26.0 11.7 5.6 2.2 4.1 1.2
1.0 Control 36 4/24 7/8 127.9 6.2 25.9 13.1 11.1 1.1 1.7 2.9
** NS ** NS NS ** * NS NS NS
6.6 Novel 48 4/23 7/7 128.2 6.7 23.3 10.6 3.8 1.7 3.4 3.5
6.6 Control 48 4/25 7/10 128.8 6.4 22.1 11.4 5.0 1.3 2.1 0.4
** ** NS NS * * NS NS NS NS
z
Day of first leafing of the earliest sound bud from each mother shoot.
y
Every shoot of each mother shoot was elongated. Each shoot was pinched when the number of its nodes reaches approximately 20. Values are
mean days of pinching 80% shoots from first pinching.
x
Percentage of nodes without fruit at 4 binnings of node order (1–5th, 6–10th, 11–15th, and 16–20th).
w
Significances among training methods for each tree spacing (* P < 0.05; ** P < 0.01; NS, non-significant by t-test). The failure percentage of
fruit set was analyzed via angular transformation.
 218 A. Hosomi, Y. Miwa and T. Mano

Fig. 2. Effect of training methods on seasonal sprouting of the superfluous shoots in ‘Masui Dauphine’ figs with various tree spacing (t.s.). The
superfluous shoots were removed weekly, and these monthly numbers are summarized per ground area (m2). Consecutive charts show the
lateral shoots from bearing shoots (lower group) and the shoots from the other parts of the tree (upper group). Vertical bars represent ± SE.

Fig. 3. Effect of training methods on relative illuminance in the Fig. 4. Effect of training methods on leaf growth of ‘Masui Dauphine’
canopy of ‘Masui Dauphine’ figs with 6.6 m tree spacing. figs with 6.6 m tree spacing. Surface area of the leaves (Left)
Vertical bars represent ± SE (n = 24). Significances are shown and specific leaf weight (dry weight/surface area) of the leaves
among training methods at each shoot node (* P < 0.05; ** P < (Right) for various shoot nodes. Vertical bars represent ± SE (n
0.01; NS, non-significant by t-test). = 24). Significances are shown among training methods at each
shoot node (* P < 0.05; ** P < 0.01; NS, non-significant by t-test).
internodes for the downward shoots, although pinching
prevented the comparison of final shoot lengths. The enlargement under poor illuminance offsets the
leaf area reduction by training was also unclear; however, inhibition due to downward positioning, and reduced the
the width of the shoots and specific leaf weights were thickening growth mainly.
depressed in the apical part of novel training shoots.
Kobayashi and Yoshimura (1953) reported that fig trees Fruit production
are readily able to adapt to poor lighting conditions. Table 1 shows the failure percentages of fruit set
Matsuura and Araki (1995) also reported that shading (FPFS). A high FPFS value was often observed in the
below 40% increased the length of fig shoots and the basal portion of the shoots, and in trees with narrower
leaf area and reduced the shoot diameter. In our novel tree spacing. Narrower tree spacing not only enhanced
training trees, the relative illuminance in apical and semi- shoot vigour, but probably induced high FPFS due to
apical regions (13–18th nodes) was 23–62% of controls. excess growth of shoots (Kabumoto, 1986). The FPFS
It is possible that the greater shoot elongation and leaf of the novel training trees tended to be low even with
 J. Japan. Soc. Hort. Sci. 82 (3): 215–221. 2013. 219

narrow tree spacing, and was significantly less than for tendency was observed for fruit size (length and width);
controls at the 1–5th node except with 6.6 m tree spacing. fruit width was more closely synchronized with fruit
These findings suggest that bending prevented excess weight. Severe shading (Matsuura and Araki, 1995) or
growth of shoots and prevented the failure of fruit set, artificial defoliation (Hosomi et al., 1989) reduces the
but these effects are unclear in the case of normal shoot fruit weight of figs. Hino et al. (1974) reported that, for
vigor promising good fruit set. It is well known that fig trees, the photosynthetic activity of leaves declined
shoot bending promotes flower-bud differentiation and with age after the maturation stage. In our study, low
fruit set in various fruit tree species (Wareing and Nasr, illuminance presumably inhibited the photosynthesis in
1958). Our results suggest that shoot bending leads to younger mature leaves, which were located in the apical
the same effect in fig trees. portion of the shoots, and insufficient carbohydrate
For novel training and controls, we compared production reduced fruit growth. Otherwise, a com-
harvesting days and fruit qualities for each node order pletely opposite relation was observed between
of shoots and each tree spacing (Table 2). Regarding the illuminance and fruit size; the size of fig fruit increased
harvesting day, no difference was detected from controls under slightly reduced relative illuminance (Matsuura
except for the 13th node with 0.2 m and 6.6 m tree and Araki, 1995) or by direct shading of the fruit
spacing. Narrower tree spacing tended to inhibit the (Kabumoto, 1986). Studies should be made of whether
coloring of fruit. On the basal portion of the shoots, the the tendency to promote fruit growth was involved in
fruit coloring indexes of the novel training trees were the low illuminance condition of this novel training.
significantly greater than for controls with every tree We should consider the possibility that downward
spacing, but less than controls in the apical portion of shoot positioning affected not only the light condition
the shoots. The coloring index of matured fig fruits is but also sap flow in the shoots. Schubert et al. (1995)
closely related to direct light impinging on the fruit reported that downward positioning reduced the shoot
(Kabumoto, 1986). The opposite trend of fruit coloring growth of grapevines (Vitis vinifera cv. Cortese), and
for the portions of shoots in the two trainings must be such shoots had a smaller xylem transectional area and
due to the differing lighting conditions. The Brix of flesh lower hydraulic conductance than upward shoots. They
tended to be lower in trees spaced more narrowly but also found that conductivity was more severely affected
was not influenced by training, apart from the 18th node at the point of bending than at other internodes. The
with 0.6 m tree spacing and the 8th node with 1.0 m tree downward fig shoots in our test were bent close to the
spacing. 5th node, and some inhibition of sap flow possibly takes
Table 3 shows the fruit size, weight, and yield. The place in the downward shoots of figs. Hosomi and Dan
fresh weights of the fruit in novel training trees were (1997) reported that strangulation of the base of fig tree
significantly lower than for controls in the 8th nodes shoots, which would disturb sap flow physically, did not
with 0.6 m tree spacing, the 18th nodes with 1.0 m tree affect fruit growth. It is not easy to relate reductions in
spacing, and the 3rd and 8th nodes with 6.6 m tree fruit growth to lower hydraulic conductance in
spacing, except for larger fruit weight for the 3rd node downward shoots.
with 0.2 m tree spacing. In general, the novel training
tended to reduce the fruit weight slightly. A similar

Table 2. Effect of training methods on the fruit maturation and quality of ‘Masui Dauphine’ figs with various tree spacing.

Tree space Training Harvesting day (m/d) Coloring indexz Brix of fruit juice (%)
(m) methods 3rd 8th 13th 18th 3rd 8th 13th 18th 3rd 8th 13th 18th
0.2 Novel 8/28 9/7 9/19 10/9 3.3 3.0 2.9 2.6 12.0 12.2 13.3 12.8
0.2 Control 8/21 9/1 9/12 9/28 2.7 2.8 3.3 3.5 13.0 11.9 13.0 13.6
NSy NS ** NS * NS NS (**) NS NS NS NS
0.6 Novel 8/21 8/30 9/12 10/13 3.6 3.2 3.0 2.7 13.8 12.9 13.2 13.2
0.6 Control 8/18 8/27 9/15 10/6 3.0 3.1 3.4 3.4 14.2 13.7 13.5 14.3
NS NS NS NS * NS NS (**) NS NS NS (*)
1.0 Novel 8/19 8/28 9/13 10/6 3.7 3.1 2.9 2.5 14.5 13.7 13.7 13.8
1.0 Control 8/18 8/29 9/14 10/3 2.9 3.0 3.6 3.5 14.2 12.8 13.5 14.1
NS NS NS NS ** NS (**) (**) NS * NS NS
6.6 Novel 8/17 8/26 9/19 10/18 3.8 3.4 3.3 2.9 15.4 14.3 14.5 14.5
6.6 Control 8/15 8/28 9/13 10/11 3.3 3.1 3.5 4.2 14.9 13.8 15.0 16.1
NS NS ** NS ** ** NS (**) NS NS NS NS
z
Coloring index of fruit skin, from faintly (1) to complete (5).
y
Significances among training methods in each tree spacing (* P < 0.05; ** P < 0.01; NS, non-significant). The markers in ( ) denote significantly
lower values for novel training. The statistical methods used are the U-test for color index and t-test for the others.
 220 A. Hosomi, Y. Miwa and T. Mano

Table 3. Effect of training methods on the fruit size and yield of ‘Masui Dauphine’ figs with various tree spacing.

Tree space Training Lengthz (mm) Widthy (mm) Fresh weight (g) Estimatedx
yield
(m) methods
3rd 8th 13th 18th 3rd 8th 13th 18th 3rd 8th 13th 18th (t/10a)
0.2 Novel 103.2 77.4 73.8 67.4 64.1 55.4 53.2 54.5 118.5 87.0 78.9 76.3 3.46
0.2 Control 84.7 84.5 84.3 74.4 53.1 56.0 54.9 55.5 84.7 94.4 90.7 90.1 3.41
**w NS (**) (*) ** NS NS NS ** NS NS NS NS
0.6 Novel 97.9 80.7 78.4 67.9 57.9 52.1 55.7 52.6 104.4 81.5 90.5 77.6 3.46
0.6 Control 88.1 85.6 82.3 69.3 56.3 54.8 56.1 54.2 98.1 93.4 95.1 82.8 3.36
* NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS (**) NS NS NS
1.0 Novel 98.3 79.5 75.9 71.1 58.3 56.5 55.0 55.9 107.6 94.4 89.8 86.6 3.67
1.0 Control 93.0 87.3 83.3 75.0 59.0 56.4 56.3 59.0 112.6 97.3 96.4 103.4 3.92
NS (**) (**) NS NS NS NS (*) NS NS NS (**) NS
6.6 Novel 95.1 78.8 68.0 63.4 57.7 54.1 54.8 56.6 109.4 88.2 84.7 84.1 3.50
6.6 Control 95.3 83.3 78.1 62.4 60.1 58.0 55.0 53.4 121.3 102.4 89.1 77.9 3.80
NS (**) (**) NS (*) (**) NS * (*) (**) NS NS NS
z
Length from the calyx top to the stylar end of fruit.
y
Diameter of equatorial section of the fruit.
x
The yield (Y) of each tree was estimated from the equations: W = mF · N, Y = mW · S · T, where W is product of the mean of fresh weights of fruits
(mF) and the number of fruit set (N) at the base to 20 nodes of each shoot; estimated yield (Y) is product of the mean of W (mW), the shoot
number (S) and the tree number per 10 a (T) for each tree of each tree space.
w
Significances among training methods in each tree spacing (* P < 0.05; ** P < 0.01; NS, non-significant by t-test). The markers in ( ) denote
significantly lower values for novel training.

Application for practical use position is possible (unpublished). The total labor,
We have confirmed elsewhere the beneficial effect of including disbudding, shoot training, and harvesting, for
the novel training in preventing injury due to freezing, cultivation in novel training must be assessed in a future
probably because of the smaller temperature differences demonstration study.
on the primary scaffold (Mano et al., 2012a). Another A further problem is the decrease in fruit weight,
benefit is the reduction of animal invasion in the early because the weight of each fruit will restrict the total
harvest season when a high market price is expected. In yield and reduce profit. In our study, the yield per area
this study, two additional beneficial effects of the novel was estimated as 3.36 to 3.92 t/10 a (Table 3). A lower
training with downward shoots were identified, fruit weight correlated with lower yield in the novel
promoting fruit set and coloring on the shoot in the basal training with 1.0 m or 6.6 m tree spacing, and no
portion. Fruit set was promoted only with narrower tree significant difference was detected. In the next study,
spacing. Such dense planting is not yet common, but is suitable shoot positioning will be investigated to
promising for early tree maturation (Mano et al., 2011). overcome these problems, because the lighting condition
Fruit set promotion by the novel training will become may be an important factor in relation to shoot bending.
more useful with the diffusion of dense planting. The A year-by-year constant effect of training is important
promotion of fruit coloring is particularly useful because in practical use. Similar studies have confirmed that the
the coloring disorder in the basal portion of the shoot is advantages (promoting coloring) and disadvantages
a structural problem encountered in straight line training (more removed lateral shoots and reduction of yield) of
in fig culture (Kabumoto et al., 1985). Novel training novel training were reproducible annually (unpublished).
can resolve this problem. Fruit coloring in the apical No reserve nutrient reduction was observed in those
portion of the shoots of novel training trees was worse. studies. For instance, the starch and water soluble sugar
The commercial harm due to reduced coloring will be content in dormant shoots of novel training was equal
slight, because the season of maturity for such fruits is to or greater than values in normal training (Mano et
late and the market price will be fairly low. al., 2012b). Premature defoliation, disorders in germi-
Two technical problems arose in this novel training. nation, and failure of fruit set in the novel training were
One problem is increasing the number of lateral shoots. not observed in subsequent years. These observations
From 2 to 3 times the number of shoots sprout in autumn, were based on trials of only a few years. Longer
and the farmer must pay labor costs for disbudding. continuous research and physiological investigation are
Estimating other labor for novel training is important in required to characterize better the advantages of the
practical use. The lobar in harvesting was lower in the novel training.
novel training than controls, because of the larger
Acknowledgments
proportion of fruit on the shoot in the upper half (120–
180 cm GL) of the tree where working in a standing We thank Dr. Hino Motosugi of Kyoto Prefectural
 J. Japan. Soc. Hort. Sci. 82 (3): 215–221. 2013. 221

University, Dr. Tsuneo Ogata of Kochi University, and Center for Experiment, Extension and Education 33: 74–78
Dr. Kunihiko Suzuki for their valuable advice. We are (In Japanese).
also grateful to Ms. Akemi Nanno, Ms. Akemi Kato, T. and H. Ito. 1962. Physiological factors associated with
the shoot growth of apple trees. Tohoku Journal of
Matsukiyo, and Ms. Emiko Sakakura for their kind Agricultural Research 13: 1–21.
support of the surveys, and Mr. Yoshitaka Saikyo for his Kobayashi, A. and F. Yoshimura. 1953. Growth of young fruit
assistance in maintaining the trees. trees as related to shading. Studies from the Institute of
Horticulture, Kyoto University 6: 64–68 (In Japanese with
English summary).
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