Evaluation of some cherry cultivars grafted on Gisela 5 rootstock grown in the hilly area of the south of Romania

During 2020-2022, determinations regarding the tree vigour, yield, and fruit quality of 12 sweet cherry cultivars grafted on the rootstock Gisela 5 grown in a high-density orchard (1,667 trees ha^‑1), were made at the Research Institute for Fruit Growing Pitesti, Romania, in the Sub-Carpathian hills area.
Lower and upper baselines for crop water stress index (CWSI) for sweet cherry cultivars were calculated and the cultivar’s sensitivity to water stress conditions during the summer was evaluated.
Sweet cherry ‘Areko’, followed by ‘Fertard’ and ‘Regina’ was the least vigorous, while ‘Burlat’ and ‘Karina’ had the highest tree vigour.
The results indicated that an average fruit yield over 10 t ha^‑1 was obtained for ‘Bellise’ and ‘Karina’, while for ‘Folfer’, ‘Regina’, ‘Merchant’, and ‘Burlat’ the fruit yield exceeded 9 t ha^‑1. ‘Areko’ stood out mainly for its high fruit weight (12.17 g) and was followed by ‘Penny’, ‘Folfer’, ‘Kordia’, ‘Fertard’, ‘Vanda’, and ‘Regina’, with fruit weight over 9 g. ‘Fertard’ and ‘Kordia’ presented the highest fruit firmness and ‘Vanda’ the highest pH. ‘Regina’, as well as ‘Penny’, ‘Kordia’, ‘Vanda’, and ‘Merchant’, had above average total soluble solids.
For most cultivars, large fruits showed high firmness and total soluble solids. ‘Burlat’, ‘Merchant’, and ‘Bellise’ were the earliest ripening cultivars, and the latest ones were ‘Kordia’, ‘Fertard’, ‘Penny’, and ‘Regina’. The least adapted to water stress, which most easily lost water from their tissues through transpiration and are prone to dehydration, were ‘Bellise’ and ‘Folfer’, while ‘Merchant’ proved to have the lowest water stress sensitivity.

V Balkan Symposium on Fruit Growing

M.F. Calinescu, I.C. Mazilu, E. Chitu, F. Plaiasu, M. Chivu

high-density orchard, yield, fruit quality, hydric stress sensitivity, CWSI baselines

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2026.1449.25