Jerzy Lisek

A field study was conducted on the plants of two grapevine cultivars, ‘Solaris’ and ‘Regent’, grafted onto an SO 4 rootstock (V. berlandieri × V. riparia) and characterized by strong growth and yield. The effect of twelve treatments on the concentration of macroelements in leaf blades in the véraison phase, as well as selected soil parameters, was assessed in the sixth, seventh and eighth year of their application. The following treatments were tested: control (no fertilization), NPK (mineral fertilization 70 kg N/ha; 40 kg P/ha; 120 kg K/ha), mycorrhizal substrate (AMF—arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi), NPK + AMF, manure before planting, NPK + manure before planting, BioIlsa, NPK + BioIlsa, BF-Ecomix, NPK + BF-Ecomix, Ausma, NPK + Ausma. The aim of the study was to assess the nutritional status of the two cultivars after long-term use of mineral fertilizers, organic fertilizers, biofertilizers and biostimulants under Polish conditions in soil with a low organic matter (SOM) content prone to acidification. AMF, organic fertilizers and biostimulants were not a sufficient alternative to mineral fertilizers, especially with regard to N supply. BF-Ecomix treatment increased the content of Mg in the soil and the soil pH value. Regular use of NPK fertilization increased the concentration of leaf N and K, but did not improve the nutritional status of plants with P, despite doubling its content in the soil compared to control. NPK fertilizers worsened the availability and accumulation of Mg and caused soil acidification, but resulted in a slight increase in total soil N and SOM. No significant differences were noted in the mineral status of both cultivars under the same fertilization treatments but liming improved the leaf Ca status in ‘Solaris’. Fertilization of grapevines, which have started to be cultivated in Poland due to the warming climate, requires further study. Mineral fertilization should not be routine, but rather constantly readjusted, taking into account the soil fertility and mineral status of plants, in order to use the nutrients more effectively and avoid their unfavorable effects on plants and soil.

Vine damage caused by spring frosts remains one of the main factors threatening grapevine yields in Central European countries, such as Poland. April frosts that followed a very early and warm spring in 2024 caused massive damage to young shoots and primary buds after budburst. This study was conducted on vines of fifty cultivars belonging to Vitis vinifera, interspecific hybrids, and inter-intra- or intra-interspecific hybrids (classified by some sources as V. vinifera), which were obtained via field collection. The aim of this study was to obtain primary results regarding the fertility of secondary, basal, and latent buds. The presence of inflorescences in these buds determines the ability to compensate for yield, i.e., produce a crop after damage to the primary buds. The tested cultivars, which were within the three groups mentioned above, differed significantly in their ability to compensate for yield. The majority of the analyzed V. vinifera cultivars were characterized by lower fertility in their secondary, basal, and latent buds and a reduced ability to compensate for yield after post-budburst freeze damage compared to interspecific hybrids and inter-intra- or intra-interspecific hybrids. Future research, with more comprehensive data collected over a longer period, will provide stronger suggestions for suitable cultivars in regions at risk of spring frost damage.

The effect of five methods of in-row weed management on the species composition and diversity of summer weed communities in a plum orchard was evaluated. Different methods of orchard floor management (OFM) were implemented for seven consecutive years from 2009 to 2015. Festuca rubra L. ssp. rubra–rhizomatous perennial grass was sown as a cover crop in the alleys of the orchard, in the tree planting year. In the seventh year of OFM implementation, the treatments were ranked according to the decreasing value of the Shannon–Wiener floristic diversity index as follows: tillage, post-emergence herbicides spraying, mowing, mulch, and weedy control. The highest value of Simpson dominance index was found in the control treatment. In plots with such treatments as control, mowing, tillage, and mulch, the dominant species was F. rubra. This meant that the rhizomatous cover crop from the alleys penetrated and affected the in-row flora. Vegetation of mulched plots was characterized by low value of density and soil cover. The obtained results indicated that the flora developing in the control, sprayed with post-emergence herbicides, tilled and mowed plots had greater potential to provide ecosystem services, than the flora of mulched plots.

The effect of beneficial soil fungi, bacteria and mineral fertilizers containing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium on the level and species composition of weed infestation, uptake of macronutrients by weeds and the nutritional status of ‘Sampion’ apple trees with nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg) and calcium (Ca) was assessed in three-year studies. In the field experiment, the effect of thirteen treatments was investigated, where fungal or bacterial inocula and mineral fertilizers at a standard dose and a dose reduced by 40% were applied individually or together. The fungal inoculum contained two species: Aspergillus niger and Purpureocillium lilacinum. The bacterial consortium consisted of three Bacillus strains: Bacillus sp., Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and Paenibacillus polymyxa. The weight of weeds and the uptake of macronutrients by weeds in the apple orchard increased significantly more after the application of mineral fertilization than after the application of beneficial organisms. The increased uptake of macronutrients by weeds did not significantly change the mineral nutritional status of apple trees expressed as the content of N, P, K Mg and Ca in apple leaves. After the use of NPK mineral fertilization, also with the addition of beneficial organisms, the uptake of N by both weeds and apple trees increased. P and K were more efficiently absorbed by weeds and they achieved greater benefits from fertilization with these two macroelements than trees.

The aim of this study was to assess the resistance to sour rot of twenty-eight valuable cultivars of grapevine for wine production and twenty-five cultivars of table grapevine with diverse geographic and genetic origins, and to explain the causes of varied resistance based on the features related to the morphology, biology and ecology of assessed genotypes. The study was conducted for six years in the grapevine field collection of the National Institute of Horticultural Research in Skierniewice (Poland, latitude 51.9627 N, longitude 20.1666 E). Sour rot was severe in three seasons with abundant rainfall during the berry ripening stage. The number of wine and table cultivars in particular classes of resistance (mean value for three years) was as follows: very little or little—9 (wine) and 9 (table), medium—9 (wine) and 3 (table), high or very high—10 (wine) and 13 (table). The severity of bunch sour rot was positively correlated with single berry weight (moderate or weak correlation), bunch density and single bunch weight (very weak or weak correlation), and negatively correlated with thickness of berry skin (strong correlation) and the time of the beginning of veraison (weak correlation). Cultivars that were characterized by such agrobiological and ecological features as easy detachment of the berry from the pedicel, sensitivity to berry skin cracking, frequent damage to the skin by insects, and sensitivity to sunburn, were more heavily exposed to sour rot.

The aim of this study was to compare the cold resistance of grapevine cultivars in field conditions. Following the winters of 2016/2017 and 2017/2018, an assessment of frost damage was carried out on the vines of 42 wine cultivars and 45 table grape cultivars grown in central Poland (Skierniewice, latitude 51.9627 N, longitude 20.1666 E). The minimum temperature for each of the two winters was recorded on 2017-01-07 (-20.9°C) and on 2018-02-27 (-20.1°C). Among the assessed cultivars, 19 (13 wine grape cultivars and six table grape cultivars) belonged to V. vinifera species and 68 were inter- or inter-intraspecific hybrids. Cultivars were divided into five classes of different frost tolerance, with information on the proportion of primary buds frozen given in the brackets: very resistant (below 1.9%), resistant (2% to 24.9%), medium susceptible (2% to 74.9%), susceptible (75% to 95.9%) and very susceptible (above 96%). The number of wine and table grape cultivars in particular classes (mean for two winters) was as follows: very resistant – 20 (wine) and 10 (table), resistant – 15 and 13, medium susceptible – six and 20, susceptible – one and two. Both the V. vinifera cultivars and the interspecific hybrids were highly diversified in terms of frost tolerance. In most cultivars, the number of frozen buds after the winter of 2016/2017 was greater than after the winter of 2017/2018. Among V. vinifera, ‘Riesling’, ‘Pinot Noir’, ‘Chasselas Dore’ (reference) and ‘Tauberschwarz’, ‘Veltliner Frührot’ (‘Fruehroter Malvasier’), ‘Turan’, ‘Domina’, ‘Tressot Panache’, ‘Blue from Tychy’, and ‘Irsai Oliver’ were very resistant or resistant. Other cultivars of V. vinifera were medium susceptible or susceptible.

The aim of this study was to identify the spores of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in the rhizosphere of Solaris and Regent grapevine plants grafted onto SO4 rootstock and treated with bioproducts. The bioproducts Ausuma, Bioilsa, manure and BF Ekomix were tested and applied on their own, or combined with standard mineral fertilisation (NPK). The applied bioproducts contributed to an increase in the number of species of mycorrhizal fungi in the rhizosphere soil of the grapevines. The most frequently occurring AMF species was Claroideoglomus claroideum . Biopreparation BF Ekomix was a promising agent for increasing the number of AMF spores in the rhizosphere of Regent grapevines. In the rhizosphere of Solaris, a positive influence on the number of spores occurred after the application of Bioilsa.

The study shows genetic diversity of 38 Vitis vinifera L. cultivars and hybrids originating in North America and Europe, including cultivars selected in Poland, which have not been characterized with the use of DNA markers yet. The agrobiological features of the genotypes selected for testing, indicate that they may be useful for the breeding of new cultivars and grape production. The use of 12 ISSR primers allowed to obtain 94.4% of polymorphism. The polymorphic information content (PIC) value was high and varied between 0.829 and 0.953 with an average of 0.897. The resolving power (Rp) ranged between 3.678 and 8.892 with an average of 6.347. Primers UBC 809, UBC 810, UBC 812, UBC 855, UBC 891 and UBC 810 were found to be highly effective (informative). Similarity coefficient ranged between 0.167 and 1.0, which indicates high degree of diversity of tested grape cultivars. Tested cultivars were grouped in 3 main clusters; one of them was further divided into 6 subclusters. ‘Pannonia Kincse’ and ‘Danmarpa Polonia’ were not differentiated. Phenotypic differences among those two cultivars suggest that ‘Danmarpa Polonia’ might be a clone of ‘Pannonia Kincse’ and other molecular techniques must be used to differentiate them. Morphological and agrobiological characters of cultivars support the results obtained by ISSR markers.