Influence of dense planting on productivity and fruit quality of dessert plum cultivars

Abstract

The paper presents the research into the influence of dense planting on the generative potential and major properties of the fruit of dessert plum cultivars. The research was conducted in plum orchards with four different planting distance patterns (4.0×1.0 m with 2500 trees ha-1; 4.0×1.5 m with 1666.6 trees ha-1; 4.0×2.0 m with 1250 trees ha-1; 5.0×4.0 m with 500 trees ha-1) and five stone plum cultivars ‘Boranka’, ‘Čačanska Rana’, ‘Čačanska Lepotica’, ‘Timočanka’, and ‘Čačanska Najbolja’, created in the Fruit Research Institute, Čačak. The obtained results revealed significant differences among the tested cultivars, density of planting, and years of growth, concerning the tested parameters. Among the tested cultivars, the highest yield was recorded in ‘Čačanska Najbolja’ (9.48±0.54 kg), while the lowest yield was reached by the ‘Boranka’ (6.80±0.61 kg). ‘Čačanska Najbolja’ recorded the highest yield per unit of area (13.42±1.32 t ha-1), while the lowest value of this parameter was recorded in ‘Boranka’ (10.23±1.10 t ha-1). The largest fruit weight was recorded in a planting distance of 4×1.5 m, while the smallest fruit weight was recorded with ‘Boranka’, in 4×2.0 m planting distance.