Articles
The field performance of the sweet cherry cultivars ‘Paula’ and ‘Artis’ on trees with restricted height
Article number
1457_18
Pages
137 – 144
Language
English
Abstract
The demand for sweet cherry orchards with height-restricted trees is increasing, considering the use of cover systems, work safety, and effectiveness issues.
Besides the introduction of vigour-reducing rootstocks, the lowering of existing vigorous trees was also applied.
The aim of the research was to test the newly developed Latvian sweet cherry cultivars ‘Paula’ and ‘Artis’ as well as control cultivars ‘Radica’ and ‘Bryansk 3-36’ for growing on the rootstocks Prunus cerasus (‘Latvijas Zemais’), P7 and P. mahaleb in the orchard, where the trees were restricted to the height of 2.5-3 m.
Between 2015 and 2023, vegetative growth was characterized by changes in trunk circumference and shoot growth.
The health of the trunk, canopy, and leaves was evaluated.
Between 2020 and 2023, the yield and yield efficiency were determined.
The trees of ‘Paula’ showed good health of the trunk and leaves on all rootstocks tested. ‘Artis’, ‘Radica’, and ‘Bryansk 3-36’ were prone to slightly increased trunk or canopy damage on the ‛P7’ rootstock.
In the first yielding years, the productivity of ‘Paula’ and ‘Artis’ was higher than that of the control cultivars (10 and 7 kg per tree vs. 5 and 4 kg tree-1). In 2022, with low fruit set in the cool spring, the productivity did not differ between the new and the control cultivars.
In 2023, with the spring frosts, the control cultivars showed higher productivity than the new ones (4 and 2 kg per tree vs. 6 kg per tree). The yield of ‘Paula’ did not differ between the rootstocks. ‘Artis’ on the ‛P7’ rootstock had the highest yield under favorable conditions for fruit set, but the lowest under unfavorable weather conditions, which coincided with tree height restriction.
Fruit mass of ‘Artis’ (8.5 g) was higher than that of the other cultivars (5.1-6 g).
Besides the introduction of vigour-reducing rootstocks, the lowering of existing vigorous trees was also applied.
The aim of the research was to test the newly developed Latvian sweet cherry cultivars ‘Paula’ and ‘Artis’ as well as control cultivars ‘Radica’ and ‘Bryansk 3-36’ for growing on the rootstocks Prunus cerasus (‘Latvijas Zemais’), P7 and P. mahaleb in the orchard, where the trees were restricted to the height of 2.5-3 m.
Between 2015 and 2023, vegetative growth was characterized by changes in trunk circumference and shoot growth.
The health of the trunk, canopy, and leaves was evaluated.
Between 2020 and 2023, the yield and yield efficiency were determined.
The trees of ‘Paula’ showed good health of the trunk and leaves on all rootstocks tested. ‘Artis’, ‘Radica’, and ‘Bryansk 3-36’ were prone to slightly increased trunk or canopy damage on the ‛P7’ rootstock.
In the first yielding years, the productivity of ‘Paula’ and ‘Artis’ was higher than that of the control cultivars (10 and 7 kg per tree vs. 5 and 4 kg tree-1). In 2022, with low fruit set in the cool spring, the productivity did not differ between the new and the control cultivars.
In 2023, with the spring frosts, the control cultivars showed higher productivity than the new ones (4 and 2 kg per tree vs. 6 kg per tree). The yield of ‘Paula’ did not differ between the rootstocks. ‘Artis’ on the ‛P7’ rootstock had the highest yield under favorable conditions for fruit set, but the lowest under unfavorable weather conditions, which coincided with tree height restriction.
Fruit mass of ‘Artis’ (8.5 g) was higher than that of the other cultivars (5.1-6 g).
Publication
Authors
D. Feldmane, G. Sebre
Keywords
Prunus avium, Prunus cerasus, Prunus mahaleb, rootstock, productivity
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