Monica Popescu, Gheorghe Cristian Popescu
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chlorophyll, dwarf Gisela 5 rootstock, high-density sweet cherry orchards, physiology, Prunus avium L.
Gisela 5 rootstock is most important in terms of reducing the vigor of growth. The varieties grafted on Gisela 5 had good horticultural results in terms of yield, adaptability and dwarf growth. This study was aimed to evaluate the growth and physiological behavior of the most popular sweet cherry cultivars in Europe grafted of Gisela 5 rootstock in one of the most important fruit growing area from Romania. The rootstock – scion combinations namely Skeena, Kordia and Ferrovia were grafted on Gisela 5 dwarf rootstocks. Gisela 5 influenced significantly the trunk cross section area among all the tested cultivars (p<0.05). Ferrovia cultivar was the most vigorous in terms of trunk cross sectional area and total annual growth length. Total annual growth was lower for Kordia (1225.61 cm). The ratio between Chl a and Chl b seems to be constant in all grafted plants. The photosynthesis rate [μ mol (CO2) m-2 s-1] varied from 24.12 μ mol (CO2) m-2 s-1 in the Kordia grafted sweet cherry variety to 25.80 μ mol (CO2) m-2 s-1 in the Ferrovia sweet cherry cultivar. Data obtained from field measurements and laboratory observations demonstrated that the Gisela 5 rootstock is compatible with foreign sweet cherry varieties under the selected growing area and can be sed to achieve highdensity sweet cherry orchards.
