Occurrence of phenological stages in currant cultivars (Ribes sp.)

An experiment was conducted over a period of three years to systematically examine patterns of occurrence of periodic life-cycle events or phenological stages (beginning of leaf unfolding, full leaf unfolding, inflorescence emergence, beginning of flowering, full flowering, beginning of berry set and berry ripening) in currant cultivars (Ribes sp.). The experiment included nine black currant cultivars, ten red currant cultivars and three white currant cultivars. The phenological properties of tested currant cultivars were determined using international descriptors for black currants (CPVO-TP/040/2 – UPOV, 2009), and for red and white currants (CPVO-TP/52/1 – UPOV, 2004). The tested cultivars showed differences in the phenological traits. Under the agro-environmental conditions of Čačak, black currant cultivars entered earlier into phenological stages compared to red currant and white currant cultivars. The earliest occurrence of phenological events was observed in black currant cultivars ‘Čačanska Crna’ and ‘Tisel’, red currant cultivar ‘Junifer’, and white currant cultivar ‘Primus’. On the other hand, almost all phenological stages of the latest were recorded in cultivars ‘Titania’ (black currant), ‘Rovada’ (red currant), and ‘Weisse аus Juteborg’ (white currant), except for the ripening phase, which occurred the latest in ‘Ben Lomond’(black currant) and ‘Industria’ (red currant). The results indicated that the tested cultivars are suitable for growing under the agroclimatic conditions of Čačak, Western Serbia, given their late entry into the flowering stage as their important characteristic in terms of preventing damage due to late spring frosts.