VARIATION OF FLOWERING PERIOD AMONG 60 ALMOND GENOTYPES

H.A. Daneshvar, H. Sardabi
The aim of the study was to identify almonds (Prunus dulcis (Mill) with late flowering time characteristic within different genotypes, in order to avoid economical loss to farmers caused by blossom frostbite at the beginning of growth period. For this reason, scions of 60 almond genotypes were collected in 1997 from six provinces of Iran (Esfahan, Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari, Fars, Markazi, East Azerbaijan, and Hamadan) and budded on rootstocks of one-year-old Prunus dulcis var. amara, then planted in Shahid Fozveh's Experimental Station in Isfahan province as almond collection by 3 x 4 m planting space, using five seedlings for each genotype. The seedlings were irrigated at 12-day intervals in the first year, and then reduced to 45-day intervals in the other years. The Experimental Station is located 20 km. west of Esfahan and its environmental characteristics are as follows: longitude: 51 22’ east, latitude: 38 33’ North, altitude: 1620 m. above sea level, average annual precipitation: 120 mm., and average absolute minimum and maximum air temperature: -15 and + C, respectively. Data collection started in 2002 and ended in 2004 at two times each year: beginning and end of flowering period. The results show that the local genotypes of Esfahan province blossomed earlier and the genotypes from Fars (numbers 6, 8, and 9) and Azerbaijan (Azar, Harir, Sahand, and Spanish) provinces blossomed later than the other genotypes. There was up to 21 days difference between the early and the late blossoming almond genotypes in respect to early and late blossoming.
Daneshvar, H.A. and Sardabi, H. (2006). VARIATION OF FLOWERING PERIOD AMONG 60 ALMOND GENOTYPES. Acta Hortic. 726, 273-278
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2006.726.43
https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2006.726.43
scion, budding, blossoming, almond, rootstock.
English

Acta Horticulturae