Precocity of sour cherry cultivars influenced by using woodchip mulch and drip irrigation

Precocity of fruit plants enables early obtaining of yield and income. But precocity can be influenced by drought. In some cases precocity is related to insufficient growth and insufficient yield in the succiding years. The precocity of sour cherries was investigated in the trial established at the Latvia State Institute of Fruit Growing. Soil moisture treatments - woodchip mulch and drip irrigation as well as cultivars 'Bulatnikovskaya', 'Desertnaya Morozovoi', 'Latvijas Zemais', 'Orlica', 'Shokoladnica', 'Tamaris', and 'Zentenes' were used as trial factors. The flowering and yielding was observed in 2008 and 2009. Flowering, fruit set, fruit mass, and yield were characterized in order to evaluate precocity of cherries in different soil moisture treatment variants. The use of drip irrigation did not influence the yield of sour cherries, but the use of woodchip mulch decreased the yield in the third growing year. The cultivar 'Tamaris' was the most precocious, and the cultivar 'Bulatnikovskaya' was the most productive.