<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Severe climate alterations that seriously challenge fruit production, combined with the demand for healthy, pesticide-free fruits, continuously direct rootstock/cultivar selection towards high adaptable varieties breeding. This study aimed to investigate the rootstocks’ influence on the performance of grafted ‘Summit’ cherry trees, including potentially dwarfing <italic>Prunus cerasus</italic>, <italic>Prunus fruticosa</italic> and <italic>Prunus mahaleb</italic> rootstock candidates. Anatomical properties of rootstock and scion stems were investigated to determine variation among different rootstocks and scion-rootstock combinations and to establish the link between trunk hydraulic conductivity, effective tree crown volume and yielding potential. Cross-section anatomical characteristics varied significantly both in rootstock and scion stems, indicating a clear influence of rootstock genotype on grafted sweet cherry trees. It was observed that all investigated cherry rootstock candidates belong to the low-vigorous rootstocks, based on the estimated effective crown volume of grafted trees compared to ‘Gisela 5’, with values ranging from 0.86 to 2.97 m<sup>3</sup> in the fifth year after planting. Results showed a statistically significant positive correlation between trunk hydraulic conductivity, effective tree crown volume and yielding potential, with correlation coefficients up to 0.96. Significantly higher effective crown volume and trunk hydraulic conductance of trees grafted on <italic>P. cerasus</italic> compared to the trees on control, as well as highest yielding potential, showed better adaptation of these rootstock candidates in the trial without irrigation implemented. It was found that PC_05_04 rootstock candidate could be considered as the most appropriate choice when raising the high-density sweet cherry plantations, due to assessed parameters of vegetative and generative growth.</p>
</abstract>

Severe climate alterations that seriously challenge fruit production, combined with the demand for healthy, pesticide-free fruits, continuously direct rootstock/cultivar selection towards high adaptable varieties breeding. This study aimed to investigate the rootstocks’ influence on the performance of grafted ‘Summit’ cherry trees, including potentially dwarfing Prunus cerasus, Prunus fruticosa and Prunus mahaleb rootstock candidates. Anatomical properties of rootstock and scion stems were investigated to determine variation among different rootstocks and scion-rootstock combinations and to establish the link between trunk hydraulic conductivity, effective tree crown volume and yielding potential. Cross-section anatomical characteristics varied significantly both in rootstock and scion stems, indicating a clear influence of rootstock genotype on grafted sweet cherry trees. It was observed that all investigated cherry rootstock candidates belong to the low-vigorous rootstocks, based on the estimated effective crown volume of grafted trees compared to ‘Gisela 5’, with values ranging from 0.86 to 2.97 m3 in the fifth year after planting. Results showed a statistically significant positive correlation between trunk hydraulic conductivity, effective tree crown volume and yielding potential, with correlation coefficients up to 0.96. Significantly higher effective crown volume and trunk hydraulic conductance of trees grafted on P. cerasus compared to the trees on control, as well as highest yielding potential, showed better adaptation of these rootstock candidates in the trial without irrigation implemented. It was found that PC_05_04 rootstock candidate could be considered as the most appropriate choice when raising the high-density sweet cherry plantations, due to assessed parameters of vegetative and generative growth.

Investigation of stem anatomy in relation to hydraulic conductance, vegetative growth and yielding potential of ‘Summit’ cherry trees grafted on different rootstock candidates

Department for Fruit Growing, Viticulture, Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Agriculture

Folia Horticulturae

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Severe climate alterations that seriously challenge fruit production, combined with the demand for healthy, pesticide-free fruits, continuously direct...

Investigation of stem anatomy in relation to hydraulic conductance, vegetative growth and yielding potential of ‘Summit’ cherry trees grafted on different rootstock candidates

Article Category: Original Article

Published Online: Sep 02, 2021

Page range: 248 - 264

Received: Jun 08, 2021

Accepted: Jul 29, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/fhort-2021-0019

Keywords
crown volume, rootstock selection, semi-arid conditions, size-controlling, sweet cherry

© 2021 Tijana Narandžić et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Investigation of stem anatomy in relation to hydraulic conductance, vegetative growth and yielding potential of ‘Summit’ cherry trees grafted on different rootstock candidates

Article Category: Original Article

Published Online: Sep 02, 2021

Page range: 248 - 264

Received: Jun 08, 2021

Accepted: Jul 29, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/fhort-2021-0019

Keywordscrown volume, rootstock selection, semi-arid conditions, size-controlling, sweet cherry

© 2021 Tijana Narandžić et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
crown volume, rootstock selection, semi-arid conditions, size-controlling, sweet cherry