Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
needed in many areas. The firm cherries are more susceptible to fruit cracking than
soft flesh varieties, so areas with low incidence of early summer rain are preferred.
Sweet cherry trees are more hardy than peach but less than pear and plum. Cherry
varieties have a chilling requirement ranging from 900 to 1,200 h.
The sour cherry (
Prunus cerasus
) originated from the same area, is mainly cul-
tivated for processing industry, and is less susceptible to fruit cracking, so it can be
cultivated in areas with a higher incidence of rainfall. In general, sour cherries are
hardier than the sweet ones.
Plum
At least 6 species of plum are commonly grown, but the most important are
Prunus domestica
and the Asian Plum,
Prunus salicina
. The
P. domestica
probably
originated in South-Eastern Europe and is widely planted at middle latitudes. It is
as hardy as common pear and requires 140-170 days to mature the fruits. It has a
quite valuable chilling requirement ranging from 800 to 1,100 h. Asian plum is usu-
ally less hardy and requires less chilling than the European ones. Asian plum fruit
mature earlier than the
Prunus domestica
ones, and orchard must be established
on frost free sites, since it blooms very early. Other plum species from Europe and
North America are about as hardy as apple, and they can grow at middle to high
temperate latitudes.
Apricot
Apricot (
Prunus armeniaca
) originated in China, Manchuria and Siberia.
It requires less winter chilling than peach. Many varieties are hardy when grown at
high latitudes, but are often injured by late winter freezes at lower-middle latitudes
areas. Like most high latitude species with low to moderate chilling requirement,
endo-dormancy is overcome by middle winter after which buds swell and deharden
to early in middle latitude, and bloom is very early and subjected to spring frost. The
crop mature in 100-120 days.
Almond
Almond (
Prunus amygdalus
) originated from Western Asia. Almonds are
among the first specie to bloom and area where moisture is high, fruit set can be
negatively affected. In general, almond in hot Mediterranean areas 180-240 days
are required to mature the nuts. Almond are less hardy than peach.
Olive
Olive (
Olea europea
) is native to Mediterranean areas of Syria, Greece and
North Africa. The tree needs considerable winter chilling and hot growing season
to produce yields of high quality fruits. During bloom, however, extreme condi-
tions such as high temperatures, dry winds and wet cool are undesirable. Frost kill-
ing occurs below about − 11 °C. Since ripening occurs at the middle/end of fall in
Northern hemisphere, fruits can be injured by frost.
Strawberry
Strawberry is derived mostly from the new world (
Fragaria virginiana
and Fragaria chiloensis
). It is widely adapted because of its low chilling require-
ment and small plant size, which allow the cultivation under plastic tunnels to pro-
tect plants against winter freeze. In subtropical climates, strawberry can be grown
as an annual and will crop from early spring until late fall. Because a fruit matures
in 30-40 days, the strawberry can be grown at higher latitudes than those required
by many other fruit species.
