Gräb Nursery, the German specialist in stone fruits, visited the United Kingdom this summer to meet leading cherry growers and assess how their Kir® varieties are performing under British climatic conditions.
The visit marks another milestone in the collaboration with Frank P Matthews Trees, as both organisations continue to advance the development of new rootstocks and fruit varieties.
The Kir® varieties, bred by Hilmer Gräb, were developed to extend and bridge the harvesting gap in late cherry production.
The range begins ripening around Regina harvest time and extends up to two weeks after Sweetheart®.
During the tour, Gräb inspected commercial orchards growing the late Kir® Lamour, Vulcano, Rio and Rosso varieties, evaluating traits such as fruit firmness, colour, cracking tolerance and flavour under UK climatic conditions.
Kir® Lamour and Kir® Vulcano showed exceptional fruit quality, while Kir® Rosso, in addition to being by far the latest variety, also stores very well, remaining firm for several weeks towards the end of August.
In parallel, discussions were held on trials of the Apricor and Miroper rootstocks, which are showing promising results in vigour control and yield.
Image 1. Kir Vulcano, ripens a few days before Regina
Image 2. Kir Lamour, ripens around Sweetheart timing
Image 3. Kir Rio, ripens two weeks after Regina (Staccato period)
Image 4. Kir Rosso, ripens one week after Staccato
With innovation at its core, Gräb also presented a new plum variety named Sigi and shared previews of additional new cherry varieties under development, designed for a longer season, improved disease resistance and better storage performance.
Nick Dunn, Director at Frank P Matthews Trees, commented: “We are delighted with what we saw in August: the late Kir® cherries are performing extremely well here.
The quality of Vulcano and Lamour is truly exceptional. Our collaboration with Gräb continues to bring UK growers the very best of varietal innovation.”
Source: hortnews.com
Image source: Graeb
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