Effectiveness of two types of pruning of crown of the sour cherry cultivar Erdi Bötermö

Iliana Krishkova, Denitsa Serbezova

Abstract: The influence of two types of pruning, a voluminous crown with different numbers of skeletal branches (5–6 and 15–18) of trees of the sour cherry cultivar Erdi Bötermö on the growth characteristics, chemical composition of the fruits and leaves, and the economic performance was examined. The investigations were carried out during the period 2006–2015 in the experimental field of the Institute of Agriculture – Kyustendil, Bulgaria. The orchard was established with sour cherry trees grafted on mahaleb rootstock and planted at distances of 5 x 4 m (500 trees/ha). The free-growing crown with 15-18 clones induced a better growth than that in the trees with 5–6 branches. The trees with 5–6 branches entered earlier the period of full fruit-bearing and had higher yields compared to those of the trees with 15–18 branches. The latter trees were more vigorous, and their yield and average fruit weight were greater. The number of skeletal branches exerted no effect on the content of dry matter, sugars, and acids in the fruits and leaf chemical composition. The resulting balance value amounted to 2,430 €/ha. The economic evaluation confirmed that a crown with 5–6 skeletal branches provided higher economic returns.

Keywords: economic impact; forming a crown; planting distances; sour cherry

Date published: 2017-09-13