Effect of variety and rootstock on growth and yielding of sweet cherry tree

Abstract

Abstract. The research objective was assessment of growth and yielding of four cultivars of sweet cherry trees grafted on two rootstocks. The studies were carried out over the years 2011-2013 in the orchard located in the Sandomierska Upland area. The research material included four 3 to 5 years old sweet cherry trees of `Kordia`,`Regina`,`Summit`,`Vanda` cvs budded onto GiSelA 5 and Colt rootstocks. The growth of four sweet cherry cultivars estimated by the trunk cross-sectional area, volume of the crown, cropping efficiency coefficient and productivity of the crown significantly depended on a cultivar and rootstock type. On average, the ‘Summit’ cv. trees produced the significantly highest yields throughout the study period, whereas ‘Kordia’ and ‘Vanda’ the significantly lowest. The trees grafted on the GiSelA 5 rootstock had the significantly decreased trunk cross-sectional area and the crown volume together with significantly higher cropping efficiency coefficient, productivity of the crown and average yielding over the research period as compared to the trees developed on the Colt rootstock. The significantly highest fruit and stone weight was determined for the ‘Regina’ cv. The sweet cherry fruit of ‘Kordia’ and ‘Regina’ cultivars showed a significantly higher extract content as against the others. A rootstock type did not affect significantly sweet cherry fruit and stone weight, stone percentage in fruit or extract content

Keywords

• sweet cherry
• extract
• cultivar
• rootstock
• colt
• gisela 5