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- Author or Editor: Asadolah Aslani Aslamarz x
The objective of this work was to determine the chilling and heat requirements of Persian walnut cultivars and genotypes using excised twigs. The experiment was carried out from Nov. 2006 and 2007 to Mar. 2007 and 2008. One-year-old twigs were prepared from four cultivars and four domestic genotypes of Juglans regia L. After leaf fall, the twigs were taken and placed in plastic bags and kept at 4 ± 1 °C to stimulate 400 to 1500 chilling hours. After chilling, the excised twigs were transferred to the greenhouse with a natural photoperiod and a temperature from 18 to 27 °C. The evaluation of budbreak was made three times a week and the number of accumulated growing degree hours (°C) was determined until the buds reached the balloon or green tip stage. The chilling requirements were lowest (400 h) for catkins and highest (1000 h) for lateral buds. The Serr cultivar and ‘Z30’ genotype had the lowest chilling requirements (650 and 650 h). ‘Lara’, ‘Z63’, ‘Z53’, ‘Pedro’, and ‘Z67’ showed intermediate chilling requirements with values of 900, 900, 800, 750, and 750 h, respectively. Finally, ‘Hartley’ completed its dormancy after an accumulation of 1000 h, being the walnut cultivar with the highest chilling requirement in our study. As the final result, the cultivars and genotypes were classified into three groups based on their heat requirements: low requirement (‘Z30’ and ‘Serr’), medium requirement (‘Z53’, ‘Z67’, ‘Lara’, and ‘Pedro’), and high requirement (‘Hartley’ and ‘Z63’).
To study the cold-hardiness of Persian walnut cultivars and selections, three methods were compared: 1) thermal analysis; 2) evaluation of tissue health after controlled freezing; and 3) field observations after a severe midwinter freeze. Stem segments and buds were collected from eight Persian walnut genotypes (four commercial cultivars and four promising Iranian selections). Thermal analysis was conducted using thermoelectric modules (TEM) to measure the high (HTE) and low (LTE) temperature exotherms produced when water and tissues freeze. TEM signals were recorded as the temperature of the samples was decreased at a rate of 2 °C/h. Tissue injury under controlled temperatures was evaluated using pre-chilled stem segments cooled at 2 °C/h to set temperatures ranging from –5 to –30 °C and then held at these temperatures for 16 h. Frozen samples were thawed and visually evaluated for severity of injury. Cold damage under field conditions was evaluated after an unusually severe winter freeze. Twigs from affected trees were removed in mid-February and in April and visually rated for extent of injury and ability to recover. The occurrence of LTEs was correlated with death of the tissues as assessed by tissue browning. Both the capacity to supercool and the cold-hardiness of cultivars and selections tested increased with accumulated seasonal chilling and decreased as they approached spring budbreak. Thermal analysis showed a tendency for buds and stems to exhibit multiple LTEs at peak dormancy. The cultivars and selections were classified into three groups based on their cold-hardiness: sensitive (‘Z30’ and ‘Serr’), semihardy (‘Z53’ and ‘Z67’), and hardy (‘Lara’, ‘Hartley’, ‘Z63’, and ‘Pedro’).