Yield and fruit quality of selected cherry hybrids

Anita Stoeva

Abstract: The research was conducted in 2020-2022 at the Institute of Agriculture - Kyustendil with 5 sweet cherry hybrids - 3419 (Schmidt × Stella), 5938 (Stella × Drogan’s yellow), 5752 (Mizia × Star), 3353 (Van × Stella) and 5750 (Mizia × Star). Two standard sweet cherry varieties Van and Kozerska were used as controls. The trees were grafted on mahaleb rootstocks and were planted in the spring of 2000 at distances of 6 x 5m. They were grown under non-irrigated conditions and formed into a free-growing crown. Each hybrid was represented by 3 experimental trees and each separate tree was counted as a replicate. It was found that hybrid 5938 bloomed the earliest three days before that of the standard Van, and the other hybrids had almost simultaneous flowering with that of Kozerska. Hybrids 3419, 5752, 5938, 3353 and Van belong to the group of mid-ripening varieties, and late-ripening are 5750 and Kozerska. It was found that hybrids 3353 and 5750 had the highest yields, and 3419 and 5938 – the lowest. The results showed that the fruits of most of the studied hybrids belong to the class “Extra” (fruit diameter more than 20 mm) the only exception is hybrid 5750, whose fruits belong to class I (fruit diameter not less than 17 mm). The highest dry matter content was found in the fruits of hybrids 3353 (22.0%), 5938 and 5750 (20.1%), which was not significantly different from that of Van (21.0%). The fruits of hybrid 3353 had the highest sugar content (11.7%), and the fruits of 5752 and 5750 had the highest acid content - 0.66%, respectively 0.53%.

Keywords: chemical composition; cherry; flowering; quality; yield

Date published: 2023-08-24