Morphological characteristics of cherry fruit-bearing branches as an element for determining pomotechnical treatments

The morphological characteristics of the fruit-bearing branches were examined in nine of the most important cherry cultivars grown in Serbia (‘Bigarreau Hatif Burlat’, ‘Carmen’, ‘Grace Star’, ‘Vega’, ‘Black Star’, ‘Sunburst’, ‘Kordia’, ‘Germersdorfer Grosse Kirsche’, ‘Regina’). The tests included three groups of fruit-bearing branches: fruiting spurs, short fruit-bearing shoots, and long fruit-bearing shoots.
The dimensions of the branches, the number of flower buds and vegetative buds, and their ratio were examined.
The morphological characteristics of the fruiting branches differed significantly between the tested cultivars.
The number of fruiting spurs per 1 m length varied between 26.3 (‘Kordia’) and 36.4 (‘Germersdorfer Grosse Kirsche’). The average length of the short fruiting shoots was 10.1 cm and varied between 6.5 cm for ‘Regina’ and 12.9 cm for ‘Sunburst’. The number of flower buds on these branches was between 4.3 (‘Grace Star’) and 7.0 (‘Black Star’). Long fruiting shoots provide the best fruit quality.
Their length ranged from 22.9 cm (‘Sunburst’) to 36.7 cm (‘Regina’). The number of flower buds per long fruiting shoot ranged from 5.3 (‘Bigarreau Hatif Burlat’) to 7.7 (‘Vega’). The length of the branch part with flower buds was related to the number of flower buds per branch.
The differences observed among the cherry cultivars studied in the morphological characteristics of fruit-bearing branches can serve as an important parameter for pruning, especially in orchards with high planting density.

EHC2024: International Symposium on Fruit Production Systems for Sustainable and Resilient Development

A. Radović, D. Milatović, Đ. Boškov, I. Bakić, G. Vico

Prunus avium, cultivar, fruiting spurs, short fruiting shoots, long fruiting shoots, flower buds

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2026.1457.64