FIELD BEHAVIOUR OF SELF-ROOTED WALNUT TREES OF DIFFERENT CULTIVARS PRODUCED BY TISSUE CULTURE AND PLANTED IN MURCIA (SPAIN)

Vitrotech Biotecnología Vegetal, S.L. has produced more than 200.000 self-rooted walnut plants of several species and cultivars by tissue culture during the last three years.
The plants have been acclimatised and hardened in a greenhouse and shadow tents during one year, and a sample of more than 20.000 were planted out in a 115 Ha farm located close to Calasparra (Murcia) during 1997 and 1998 to test their agronomic behaviour.
The cultivars used have been Chandler, Serr, Vina, Sunland and Sorrento.
The present paper describes their behaviour during their first three leaves after the plantation.
All the cultivars have shown an excellent vigour, even when the plants were less than 10 cm tall at planting.
The most vigorous cultivar has been Sunland, and in order, Serr, Chandler and Sorrento.
Vina was planted in 1998 and shown to be the less vigorous variety at its second leaf, but it was assumed to be due to the lower quality of the parcel in which this variety was planted out.
Some nuts have been produced in plants of all of the cultivars during the second leaf after the plantation, showing that the micropropagated origin of these plants does not delay the nut production compared with the grafted ones.
The present work shows the viability of a commercial walnut micropropagation system and the excellent quality of the plants produced through this method.

IV International Walnut Symposium

J.M. Lopez

walnut, micropropagation, in vitro, Juglans spp., field behaviour

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2001.544.76