TOWARDS NEW CULTIVARS OF STEVNSBÆR SOUR CHERRIES IN DENMARK

K. Kristiansen, M. Jensen
Breeding of fruit trees is a long process due to slow and erratic seed germination, long juvenile periods, and several years for testing and selection of potential new cultivars. Methods to reduce breeding time are thus very important. Germination of sour cherry (Prunus cerasus) seeds within 40 days after sowing and high germination percentages (above 70%) were achieved after removal of endocarps and cold stratification at 4°C. Germination started within one week if embryo culture followed by removal of parts of cotyledons or cytokinine (200 mg BA L-1) was applied. Growing seedlings after germination in October in warm greenhouses until May followed by field transplantation resulted in flowering three years after crossing for between 40 and 90% of the seedlings, depending on the cross combination; thus first selection for fruit characteristics can be made 40 months after crossing.
Kristiansen, K. and Jensen, M. (2009). TOWARDS NEW CULTIVARS OF STEVNSBÆR SOUR CHERRIES IN DENMARK. Acta Hortic. 814, 277-284
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2009.814.42
https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2009.814.42
Prunus cerasus, seed germination, juvenility, flowering
English

Acta Horticulturae