Adaptation of Eight American Blackberry (Rubus Fructicosus L.) Cultivars for Central Anatolia

Abstract

Blackberry is an important fruit plant cultivated for its delicious fruit throughout Europe and America. Although the fruit has wide acceptance in Turkey, it is not cultivated on large scale. The study aimed to evaluate the performance of Arapaho, Black Satin, Cherokee, Chester Thornless, Dirksen Thornless, Jumbo, Navaho and Loch Ness cultivars of American origin for adaptation under Central Anatolian conditions at Ankara during 2002-06. The results showed that changes in the environmental conditions affected yield, performance of number of canes, cane length, cane diameter, yield per plant, fruit weight and total acid content (g/l) significantly. Overall comparison of the results showed that cv. Chester Thornless is most suitable for the environmental conditions of Central Anatolia.