FLORAL PHENOLOGY OF COMMERCIAL CULTIVARS AND CHILEAN POLLINIZERS OF HAZELNUT (CORYLUS AVELLANA L.) IN CHILE

Flowering and dichogamy phenology of ten introduced hazelnut cultivars and three Chilean ecotypes used as pollinizers, growing in the INIA Quilamapu Research Centre (latitude: 36°31’34” S, longitude: 71°54’40” W, Chillán, Chile), were evaluated during seven consecutive years (1996-2002). For most of the commercial cultivars and the Chilean pollinizers female and male flowering started from 15th May to 15th June, while in ‘Morell’ and ‘Daviana’ it occurred later on. Depending on the cultivar, the type of dichogamy varied markedly from one year to another. On average 62% of the cultivars evaluated were protandrous, while the other cultivars were protogynous. In ‘Tonda Gentile delle Langhe’, protandry was associated with the warm season (temperatures above 12°C). Pollen shedding was earliest in the ‘Naranjo’ pollinizer, and latest in ‘Amarillo’ and ‘Verde’. In the ‘Naranjo’ ecotype, the duration of pollen shedding ranged from 43 days when the mean temperature was 10°C, to 80 days when the temperature did not exceed 6°C. Data from this research suggest that dichogamy and flowering phenology of Chilean hazelnut selections and commercial cultivars are strongly influenced by local thermal conditions. Therefore, obtaining phenological data under local conditions is recommended before orchard plantation, in order to make an appropriate selection of pollinizers and commercial cultivars.