Abstract: In order to investigate the effects of root distribution on the growth and development of dwarf anvil apples at young ages, 3-year-old dwarf anvil apples were used as test materials, using profile mining and grid sampling, and the dynamic and distribution characteristics of root growth in three key periods： Flowering period, fruit expanding period and harvesting period were investigated. The development law of apple root with the growth process was analyzed in different growth periods. The results showed that the densest root system areas of dwarf stock apples were horizontal 0~30 cm and vertical 0~40 cm, and the root system development was most vigorous during the harvest period, followed by the flowering period, and the third during the expanding period; from a horizontal distribution perspective, the maximum values of root dry weight density, root length density, and root surface area density appeared in the 0~10 cm region during flowering and harvesting periods. Except for the root dry weight density during the expanding period, the extreme values of other root configuration indicators all appeared in the 10~20 cm region; from a vertical distribution perspective, the root system development was most vigorous in the area 20~30 cm away from the surface during the flowering period, while the peak of the root system configuration index appeared at 10~20 cm or 20~30 cm region during the expanding and harvesting periods; the root length density and root surface area density accounting for 80% of the total amount was the main areas for root activity. The flowering period was at horizontal 0~70 cm, vertical 0~40 cm region, the expanding period was at horizontal 0~130 cm, vertical 0~40 cm region, and the harvesting period was at horizontal 0~80 cm, vertical 0~50 cm region. Therefore, water and fertilizer management needed to adopt different measures based on the characteristics of root growth and development, especially during the fruit expanding period, field management measures should be taken to increase root growth to ensure tree vitality.

Key words: dwarfing rootstock, apple, root growth and development, horizontal distribution, vertical distribution