Articles
THE EFFECT OF THE EXCESS OF POLLEN ON THE FRUITSET OF WALNUTS IN BALATONBOGLÁR
As the blossoming of their male and female flowers is in different time the orchard was planted mixed with protandros varieties in 197374. At the age of 1314 years the trees were yielding only 6 kg per tree, and we weren’t satisfied with it.
After analysing many aspects of our fields, we realised an astonishing symptom: The variety M 10 was yielding pourly in that field where we had polleniser trees in each second row, and much more in the fields far away from the pollenisers.
According to a soviet publication (KAVECKAJA,A.A.-TOKAR, L.O; 1963) the excess of pollen of walnuts can inhibit the fruit set.
We have been looking for the answer of this conception since 1987, for 3 years with artificial pollenisation.
In one treatment we put very little pollen on isolated female flowers in an other one much more.
Furthermore we counted on hundreds of flowers the degree of the fruitset with free pollenisation, near to the polleniser tree and for away from them.
The results of the experiments of 3 years prouved the surprising symptom, that the fruitset of walnuts is much worse in case of excess of pollen than, with less pollen.
As a result of the experiment, we pulled out most of the polleniser trees in that field, where we had 50 % pollenisers.
In this field the trees, which were yielding earlier only 12 kg per year, yielded 15 kg.