Effects of Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) on Growth, Yield and Fruit Quality of Sour Cherry (Prunus cerasus L.)

The sour cherry cv. 'Kutahya' is one of the most produced cultivars in Turkey. This study was conducted with cultivar 'Kutahya' cultivated on Prunus mahalep both 2010 and 2011 years. In this study, the effects of Bacillus mycoides T8 and Bacillus subtilis OSU-142 bacteria strains on yield, fruit properties and plant growth was aimed to investigate. Floral and foliar applications of T8, OSU-142 and T8+OSU-142 on sour cherry significantly increased the yield per tree, shoot length and leaf area, compared with the control. The highest shoot length was found in the T8+OSU-142 (51.74 cm) application while the least value was found in the control (46.71 cm). The yield increased from 8.229aEuro-kgtree(-1) (in control) to 13.663 (T8 application) and to 11.660aEuro-kgtree(-1) (T8+OSU-142 application) in average of two years. The results of the present study suggested that Bacillus T8 and Bacillus OSU-142, alone or in combination, have a great potential for the enhancement of yield and plant growth of sour cherry and therefore they have been suggested in growth promotion in sour cherry cultivation.