Articles
Testing of sweet cherry cultivars in Belgium
Article number
1408_29
Pages
209 – 216
Language
English
Abstract
The two main sweet cherry cultivars grown in Belgium are ‘Kordia’ and ‘Regina’. Besides also ‘Lapins’ and ‘Sweetheart’ still have an important place in the assortment.
But all of them have some disadvantages under Belgian climate conditions. ‘Kordia’ is susceptible to frost, with ‘Regina’ the fruit set is variable, ‘Lapins’ is susceptible to cracking and Sweetheart’ has a tendency to crack and rot and has a small harvest window.
New cultivars already grown on a commercial scale in Belgium are ‘Samba’, ‘Korvik’ and ‘Grace Star’. Ideally, the assortment should be completed with a self-fertile cultivar that is not susceptible to frost or cracking.
The ideal cultivar should be productive, early or late ripening, low in vigour and have a good fruit quality (firm, large and dark). Our research institute evaluates a high number of cherry cultivars every year.
In the first screening 5 trees per cultivar grafted on ‘Gisela 5’ are planted, with ‘Kordia’ as a standard.
These cultivars are assessed for at least 4 production years.
The best cultivars from the first screening are planted at a larger scale (second and third screening) as soon as possible, with the intention to find phytotechnical solutions to their weaknesses.
From the cultivars planted in the first screening since 1999, ‘Poisdel’, ‘Folfer’ and ‘Rubin’ are currently evaluated in the second or third screening.
Other interesting cultivars are ‘Areko’, ‘Hertford’, ‘Irena’ and ‘Sweet Gabriel’.
But all of them have some disadvantages under Belgian climate conditions. ‘Kordia’ is susceptible to frost, with ‘Regina’ the fruit set is variable, ‘Lapins’ is susceptible to cracking and Sweetheart’ has a tendency to crack and rot and has a small harvest window.
New cultivars already grown on a commercial scale in Belgium are ‘Samba’, ‘Korvik’ and ‘Grace Star’. Ideally, the assortment should be completed with a self-fertile cultivar that is not susceptible to frost or cracking.
The ideal cultivar should be productive, early or late ripening, low in vigour and have a good fruit quality (firm, large and dark). Our research institute evaluates a high number of cherry cultivars every year.
In the first screening 5 trees per cultivar grafted on ‘Gisela 5’ are planted, with ‘Kordia’ as a standard.
These cultivars are assessed for at least 4 production years.
The best cultivars from the first screening are planted at a larger scale (second and third screening) as soon as possible, with the intention to find phytotechnical solutions to their weaknesses.
From the cultivars planted in the first screening since 1999, ‘Poisdel’, ‘Folfer’ and ‘Rubin’ are currently evaluated in the second or third screening.
Other interesting cultivars are ‘Areko’, ‘Hertford’, ‘Irena’ and ‘Sweet Gabriel’.
Publication
Authors
J. Vercammen, A. Gomand, S. Herinckx, D. Bylemans
Keywords
production, fruit weight, picking time, crack and disease sensitivity and firmness
Groups involved
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