Early fruiting and growth rate of apple trees of new varieties of Belarusian breeding on clonal rootstock with different growth vigor

Abstract

The studies to assess the early fruiting and growth rate of new Belarussian apple varieties, in particular the Aksamit and the Palanez varieties included in the State Register of Agricultural Plant Varieties in 2021, as well as the Krapach and the Ranak varieties, currently being tested by the State Inspectorate for Testing and Protection of Plant Varieties, on clonal rootstock with different growth vigor – 54-118 (semi-dwarf), М-26 and 62-396 (dwarf) were carried out in the garden of Department of Fruit Growing Technology in 2021–2023.

In the second year after planting, only trees of the Aksamit variety on the dwarf rootstock 62-396 began to bear fruit, when 100 % of the accounting trees began to bear fruit and an average yield of 1.65 kg/tree was obtained.

In the third year after planting, trees of the Krapach and Aksamit varieties began to bear fruit on all the studied root-stocks, trees of the Palanez variety began to produce fruits on dwarf rootstocks M-26 and 62-396, and trees of the Ranak variety began to produce fruits only on the dwarf rootstock 62-396.

In the varietal section, trees of the Aksamit and Krapach varieties were characterized by greater growth vigor, while trees of the Ranak variety were characterized by the least growth vigor. The apple trees of the studied varieties on semi-dwarf rootstock 54-118 were more vigorous (in terms of the cross-sectional area of the trunk (CSSA) and the growth rate of the trunk).