Behaviour of plum varieties in fruiting period in the northen zone of the Republic of Moldova

This study evaluated the growth, development and productivity of plum trees in an intensive cropping system during the fructification period. The research was carried out in 2024 in the plantation of the enterprise SRL "Agrofields", founded in the spring of 2018, with 6 plum varieties of the European assortment: Piteșteanca (control), Cacanska Najbolia, Empresso, Stanley, Blue Free and President, grafted on the Myrobalan seedling rootstock, tree spacing 5.0x3.0 m, with improved pyramid-shaped crown. During the research, trunk diameter and growth, trunk cross-sectional area, phenological phases, productivity of the plantation and fruit weight as well as yield per unit cross-sectional area were studied. Trunk diameter increment was largely influenced by plum production in the crown as well as by the biological characteristics of the variety. At the end of the growing season of 2024 the trunk diameter increment ranged from 8.3 mm (President) to 9.9 mm (Cacanska Najbolia). The onset of flowering took place over 6 days. The varieties Cacanska Najbolia and President were characterized by early flowering (05.04.2024). The varieties Piteștean and Stanley were characterized by later flowering (10.04.2024). The ripening phenophase started 103 days after flowering for the earliest variety Piteștean and 152 days after for President. The lowest mean fruit weight was recorded for Stanley (38.8 g), and the highest for President (54.7 g). It was established that the varieties under study allow to obtain yields from 11.7 to 25.4 t/ha of competitive quality, distributed over 45 harvesting days.