The effect of the time of budding of mahaleb cherry (Prunus mahaleb L.) seedlings on the quality of maiden trees of sour cherry (Prunus cerasus L.) ' utówka'

The present study was conducted at the Felin Experi- mental Farm, belonging to the University of Life Sciences in Lublin, during the period 2005–2008. The experimental material consisted of maiden trees of sour cherry ' utówka' budded on seedlings of mahaleb cherry (Prunus mahaleb L.) of unknown origin. The experiment evaluated the effect of four budding times: 15 July, 1 August, 15 August, and 1 September, on the quality of cherry trees in a nursery. The mean for the three years showed that budding time did not have a significant effect on the quality of cherry trees in the nursery. It was observed that the budding of mahaleb cherry performed on the two August dates (1st and 15th) had a more beneficial effect on the growth and branching of trees than the budding done on 15 July and 1 September. The quality of maiden cherry trees ' utówka' in the nursery was primarily dependent on weather conditions in a given growing season, which is evidenced by the significant differences between production cycles, high variation in the quantitative results in individual years, and the absence of significant differences in the mean for 2006–2008.