101(1)_str12

ISSN 1392-3196 / e-ISSN 2335-8947
Zemdirbyste-Agriculture, vol. 101, No. 1 (2014), p. 85–90
DOI  10.13080/z-a.2014.101.012

Rootstock effect on the performance of sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) cv. ‘Vytėnų rožinė’

Juozas LANAUSKAS, Darius KVIKLYS, Nobertas USELIS, Pranas VIŠKELIS, Nomeda KVIKLIENĖ, Loreta BUSKIENĖ

Abstract

In 1999–2009, at the Lithuanian Institute of Horticulture promising clonal rootstocks for sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) cv. ‘Vytėnų rožinė’ were evaluated: Ž1 (Prunus cerasus L.), PN (‘Vladimirskaya’ × ‘Polevka’ × Padus mackii (Rupr.) Kom.), P3 and P7 (both – Cerapadus × (Prunus cerasus L. × P. avium L.)). Seedlings of a mahaleb cherry (P. mahaleb L.) served as a control. The trees on the rootstocks P3 and PN grew like the ones with P. mahaleb seedlings. At the end of the experiment their trunk diameter was 18.0–18.4 cm. The trunk diameter of sweet cherry trees on the rootstocks Ž1 and P7 was smaller – 13.8 and 16.1 cm, respectively. The trees on P3 rootstock gave the highest cumulative yield (50.44 kg plant^-1); the trees on P. mahaleb seedlings produced the lowest yield (21.17 kg plant^-1). The yield on the rest of the rootstocks was similar – 30.26–34.28 kg plant^-1. The highest tree die back was on rootstocks Ž1 and P7 – correspondingly 44% and 63%. All the trees survived on P. mahaleb seedlings during the experiment. The highest cumulative yield efficiency was recorded on Ž1 and P3 rootstocks – 0.321–0.325 kg cm^-2 of trunk cross-sectional area. Trees on P. mahaleb seedlings were the least yield efficient – 0.119 kg cm^-2 of trunk cross-sectional area. The smallest fruits were from trees on Ž1 rootstock – 4.7 g. Fruit size on the rest of the rootstocks was significantly higher. Fruits on P. mahaleb seedlings had the best taste. Rootstocks P3 and P7 produced numerous suckers. Only slight suckering was recorded for rootstocks PN and Ž1.

Key words: Cerapadus, Prunus, root suckers, trunk diameter, yield, yield efficiency.

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