‘SUMMIT’ SWEET CHERRY CULTIVAR ON DIFFERENT ROOTSTOCKS

The goal of this study was to examine the effect of seven cherry rootstocks (‘Gisela 5’, ‘Gisela 6’, ‘CAB 6P’, ‘Alkavo 2’, ‘F 12/1’, ‘MaxMa14’ and ‘MaxMa 60’) on the growth and productivity of ‘Summit’ sweet cherry cultivar. The trees were planted in the spring of 2008 at distances of 4.0 x 3.0 m, shaped in freely growing crown and irrigated by spraying over the crowns. Tree vigour (trunk cross-sectional area and crown volume), yield, yield efficiency and fruit quality were recorded each year in the period 2008-2016. The results clearly showed the influence of rootstocks on the trees growth. Nine years after planting the most vigorous rootstock was ‘MaxMa 60’ and the weakest were ‘Gisela 5’ and ‘Gisela 6’. The highest 4-year cumulative yield per tree was obtained with ‘MaxMa 60’, followed by ‘CAB 6P’ and ‘MaxMa 14’. Rootstocks ‘Gisela 5’ and ‘Gisela 6’ negatively influenced yield and fruit size.