IMPACT OF PLANTING DENSITY ON THE INCIDENCE RATE OF FRUITING BRANCHES OF LATE-RIPENING PLUM CULTIVARS INTENDED FOR PROCESSING

The paper examines the incidence rate of fruiting branches of plum (mixed-type, long and short fruiting branches, thorn shoots and May blossoms), depending on the planting density in the newer plum cultivars, Krina and Mildora. A simultaneous study was conducted comparing the said cultivars intended for processing, with the standard cultivars of the same purpose, Čačanska rodna and Stanley. The study established that the differences in the quantitative share of the corresponding types of fruiting branches occur as a result of the conditions and systems of cultivation, as well as the cultivar traits and the development phase. May flowers are the most frequent type of fruiting branches in all of the examined cultivars, with a higher percentage share in the dense planting treatments; at the same time, the other types of fruiting branches recorded a higher incidence in the classical cultivation treatments, compared to the dense planting treatments.