Agronomie 24 (2004) 93-100
DOI: 10.1051/agro:2004004

Growth and phenological stages of Búlida apricot trees in south-east Spain

A. Pérez-Pastor^{a, b}, Mª C. Ruiz-Sánchez^{c, b}, R. Domingo^{a, b} and A. Torrecillas<sup>a, c, b

a</sup>  Dpto. Producción Vegetal, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena (UPCT), Cartagena, Murcia, Spain
^b  Unidad Asociada al CSIC de Horticultura Sostenible en Zonas Áridas (UPCT-CEBAS), Murcia, Spain
^c  Dpto. Riego y Salinidad, Centro de Edafología y Biología Aplicada del Segura (CEBAS-CSIC), PO Box 164, 30100 Espinardo, Murcia, Spain

(Received 10 January 2003; accepted 8 January 2004)

Abstract - The different phenological stages of mature apricot trees (Prunus armeniaca L., cv. Búlida), drip-irrigated and grown under typical Mediterranean conditions, are described using the traditional nomenclature of Baggiolini and according to the BBCH General Scale. The predominant dates of each stage are indicated in days and as the number of accumulated growing degree hours. When the annual pattern of root, shoot and fruit growth was studied, alternating root and shoot growth was observed, and also a relative separation between the main periods of shoot and fruit growth, which is an advantageous characteristic when applying deficit irrigation. This study will improve apricot culture by expressing the timing of most agricultural operations on a standardised scale.

Key words: apricot / growth pattern / Prunus armeniaca / phenological stages

Corresponding author: Mª C. Ruiz-Sánchez mcruiz@cebas.csic.es

© INRA, EDP Sciences 2004