Studies on Chilling, Bud Drop and Fruitset in Some New Apricot Cultivars in Çanakkale

This experiment was carried out between the years of 2006 and 2014 on 11 foreign apricot cultivars located at the Horticultural Experimental Farm of Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University. The influence of chilling on bud drop and fruitset of new apricot cultivars namely Ante, Bebeco, Ferriana, Goldrich, Hariot, Nebeb, Palstein, Paviot, Priana, Roxana and Wilson, and the chilling requirements were monitored in Çanakkale. Daily temperatures (after each hour) were recorded in Çanakkale, which is close to the experimental orchard. Accumulated chill units were calculated from the beginning of November to the end of February during 8 consecutive years (2006–2014). Chill units in Çanakkale during 8 consecutive years were calculated between 659 and 1345 hours. Bud drop differed among cultivars. Priana, Palstein and Nebeb had over 50% bud drop in two years (2013 and 2014) of experiment. In two years (2013 and 2014) of experiment, all apricot cultivars had low fruitset percentages (≤ 6%). Palstein and Goldrich varieties had fewer than 17% fruit set in all years of trial except for 2013 and 2014. The percentage of fruitset in Hariot was the highest (63%).