Articles
EFFECT OF DIFFERENT HYBRIDIZATION TECHNIQUES ON FRUIT SET IN PLUMS
As a result from a joint breeding program between the Norwegian Crop Research Institute and the Lithuanian Institute of Horticulture concerning fruit breeding, a common experiment of hybridization techniques in plums was carried out.
The cultivar ‘Victoria’ was selected as a common pollen parent, whereas four different seed parents were used at the two locations.
In Norway, ‘Jubileum’ and ‘Reeves’ were selected, in Lithuania ‘Kadri’ and ‘Stanley’ were chosen.
A factorial experiment design with 4 replicates for each combination was carried out in the field in 1995 and 1996, with a total of 15–40 flowers per treatment.
Three experimental factors were examined.
Firstly, the effect of pollination immediately after emasculation compared to pollination 24 hours later.
Secondly, the effect of fenological status, where flowers were emasculated at first white, compared to full white.
Finally, degree of emasculation was examined.
Removal of sepals, petals and stamens was compared to removal of stamens and petals.
Emasculation of full-white flowers gave the highest fruit set, while degree of emasculation and time of pollination within the period examined, did not show any significant effects.