The influence of pruning on vegetative growth, yield and quality of cherry fruits of the ʻKordiaʼ variety grafted on ʻMaxma 14ʼ (Prunus avium)

Abstract

The paper refers to the influence of tree pruning on vegetative growth, harvest and fruit quality of the Kordia cherry cultivar grafted onto the MaxMa 14 rootstock. Investigations at SRL "StarAgro Group" (Ustia village, Criuleni district) were organized in the central fruit-growing area of the Republic of Moldova, with the Kordia cultivar, grafted onto the Maxima 14 rootstock. The vegetative growth of the trees in the cherry variety under study is expressed, in quantitative terms, by the volume of vegetative growth accumulated annually through the height and width of the tree crown, through the size of the surface and volume of the crown, as well as the level of soil coverage by the vegetative ensemble of the trees. The cherry variety, Kordia, grafted on the MaxMa 14 rootstock, had yields from 18.10 kg/tree where pruning was performed during the dormant period, to 19.78 kg/tree in the variant where pruning was performed in early autumn.