INFLUENCE OF THE ROOT TYPE ON THE FRUIT QUALITY OF THREE SOUR CHERRY CULTIVARS

The investigations were conducted in the period 2003-2005 at the Institute of Agriculture in Kyustendil /Bulgaria/ with three sour cherry cultivars – Heimanns rubinveichsel, M-15 and Nefris, self-rooted and grafted on IK-M9 mahaleb rootstock. The yield per tree, the fruit weight and the content of dry matter, the total sugars and total acids of the fruits were evaluated. The fruit yield of the self-rooted trees was smaller than that of the grafted ones in all experimental years, but the statistical analysis showed significant differences only for cv. Nefris. The rootstock used or its absence did not have considerable influence on the fruit weight. Significant differences in the fruit chemical composition between the grafted and self-rooted trees were not found and it depended mainly on the cultivar and to a smaller extent on the rootstock or its absence.