The Phenology of Flowering and Ripening of Almond Cultivars Nonpareil, Texas, Ferraduel and Genco in Herzegovina

Abstract

Aims: The area of sub-Mediterranean Herzegovina, including the area of Mostar, is favourable for growing of almonds. However, this advantage has not been sufficiently exploited so far. A wide selection of almond varieties is available, so it is a challenge to select the best variety for successful cultivation in the agroecological conditions of Herzegovina, and to justify the economic investment. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate their phenological characteristics in order to determine their adaptability to environmental conditions of Herzegovina. This paper describes the dynamics of flowering and fruit ripening of four varieties of almonds in climatic conditions of Herzegovina, in Mostar. The goal of this paper is to establish the dynamics of flowering in the Mostar area of these cultivar almond types: Nonpareil, Texas, Ferradueland Genco. Study Design: For the purposes of research work, there was an experiment set up by the method of random pool arrangement, with three trees of each cultivar. Place and Duration of Study: The experimental part of this work was carried out in a part of private property located near the village of Gnojnice, Municipality of Mostar. The survey was conducted on two occasions, more precisely in two vegetations, during 2013 and 2014. Methodology: The dynamics of flowering were recorded for each cultivar through three phenophases:    •  Beginning of flowering - the date when 10% of tree flowers are opened;    •  Full flowering - the date when 90% of tree flowers are opened;    •  End of flowering - the date when more than 90% of leaf petal fell of the tree. Results: The research results showed a big correlation between flowering phenophases flow and meteorological conditions in some research years. In 2014, the flowerings began 14 to 18 days earlier (depending on variety) in comparison to 2013. The earliest flowering was recorded for the variety “Texas”, and the latest was recorded for varieties of Ferraduel and Genco. Conclusion: Flowering duration was pretty equal for all the varieties (from 17 to 21,3 days), while the shortest duration was recorded for the varieties Genco (17) and Ferraduel (17,3) in 2013. All the varieties had earlier fruit ripening in 2014 in comparison to 2013. Fruits of Texas variety had the latest ripening, while the varieties Nonpareil, Ferraduel and Genco ripened at the same time. All the monitored varieties showed an extreme adaptability to agro-ecological conditions of Herzegovina and may be recommended for commercial cultivation.