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Three cultivars and three selections from Oregon State University's (OSU) hazelnut (Corylus avellana) breeding program were investigated in a yield trial during the period 1997 to 2007 in northeastern Slovenia with the Italian ‘Tonda Gentile delle Langhe’ as the standard. All OSU genotypes had higher cumulative yield and yield efficiency than the standard, all exceeded the kernel percentage of 45%, and all had at least 76% good kernels. OSU 228.084 is promising due to good vegetative growth and the highest yields and yield efficiency. It set many catkins and had the highest percentage of marketable kernels. Its disadvantage could be early flowering and large yield reduction due to low temperatures in early spring. Cultivars/selections that were late flowering (‘Lewis’ and OSU 244.001) had longer durations of pistillate flower receptivity (‘Willamette’ and OSU 238.125) and had lower sensitivity to unfavorable weather conditions in early spring (‘Clark’) expressed the best climatic adaptation. Unmarketable nuts were mainly blanks and poorly filled nuts. ‘Clark’ is precocious early maturing, and well-suited to the kernel market. Due to its upright growth habit, ‘Clark’ could be planted more densely than others. ‘Lewis’ yielded well and had medium yield efficiency, and is suitable for in-shell and kernel markets. Excellent pellicle removal was observed in OSU 244.001 and OSU 238.125. All OSU cultivars and selections showed relatively low susceptibility to hazelnut weevil (Balaninus nucum).
Prohexadione-calcium (ProCa), formulated as Regalis, was tested as a vegetative growth inhibitor in rejuvenated annual shoots of 14-year-old mother trees in the ‘Franquette’ walnut cultivar. ProCa was applied three times during growing seasons in 2005 (Y5) and 2006 (Y6). This was during the second half of spring growth flush, the resting phase between the first and second growth flushes, and in the middle of summer growth flush. As a result, treated shoots in the upper part of the canopy were shorter than untreated ones during the whole growing season in both years. In Y5, two treatments of ProCa (250 mg·L−1), applied until the middle of June, inhibited shoot elongation during summer growth, which was the main purpose of the experiment. The reduction of shoot elongation was between 18% [lower shoots in the canopy (LS)] and 33% [upper shoots (US)]. After three ProCa applications, also the final length of the shoots was reduced by 5% (US) and 18% (LS). In Y6, when 100 mg·L−1 of ProCa had been used, strong reduction (24%) was observed only in US after two treatments. Summer growth was not reduced, probably as a result of an interaction between lower concentration of ProCa and stress caused by a water deficit and extremely high temperatures during the summer. On the base of the shoots, three treatments of ProCa (100 mg·L−1) in Y6 increased the ratio between wood and pith and, consequently, increased the quality and uniformity of the scion wood. Further research into additional cultivars and ProCa concentrations is recommended to optimize the terms of application.