Evaluation of Nine Sweet Cherry Cultivars on 'Gisela® 5' Rootstock

In spring 2001, 'Burlat' (the control), 'Nalina', 'Kordia, 'Regina', 'Katalin', 'Hudson', 'Summit', 'Sunburst' and 'Lapins' sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) trees on 'Gisela 5' rootstock were planted to evaluate their vegetative and reproductive performance. Vegetative measurements included crown volume, trunk cross-sectional area and shoot growth rate. The trees were grouped into three categories: vigorous growth - 'Buriat', 'Nalina', 'Katalin' and 'Hudson'; moderate growth 'Kordia', 'Regina' and 'Lapins'; and weak growth - 'Sunburst' and 'Summit'. The highest yields were from 'Regina' (17.7 kg/tree), 'Katalin' (13.3 kg/tree) and 'Lapins' (11.5 kg/tree), while the lowest were from 'Burlat', 'Nalina', 'Hudson' and 'Sunburst'. 'Sunburst' had the highest mean fruit weight (14.0 g) followed by 'Summit' (13.4 g). Fruit of 'Nalinal, 'Kordia', 'Lapins' and 'Katalin' had a mean weight of about 10 g, while those of 'Burlat', 'Regina' and 'Hudson' were less than 10 g. As a result of a 82 mm precipitation event in the first week (between 2 and 7) of June 2004, serious fruit cracking was recorded for 'Sunburst' (60.3%), 'Lapins' (34.8%) and 'Summit' (25.7%). The other midseason cultivars, 'Regina' and 'Kordia', had 14.1% and 5.6% cracked fruit, respectively.