THE RESPONSE OF SOME ROMANIAN AND FOREIGN APPLE CULTIVARS TO THE NATURAL INFECTIONS CAUSED BY PODOSPHERA LEUCOTRICHA, IN BISTRIȚA AREA

It is desirable that in the newly established apple orchards to be promoted as many Romanian cultivars that have genetic resistance to diseases. That is why we considered important the evaluation of some Romanian apple varieties whose expansion in culture is desired, in terms of their behaviour to the attack of the fungus Podosphera leucotricha, one of the most harmful pathogens that damage apples. The evaluation of the cultivars was performed in the period 2019 – 2021, in the experimental plots of Research Station for Fruit Growing (RSFG) Bistrita and targeted six Romanian cultivars and five foreign cultivars. Observations were made both in the untreated plots and in the plots where conventional treatment schemes were applied. The results highlight the varieties created at SCDP Bistriţa: 'Bistrițean' and 'Starkprim' which, together with 'Starkrimson', stood out due to the absence of powdery mildew symptoms in the three years of study.The cultivars known to be sensitive to powdery mildew, 'Idared' and 'Jonathan' were most affected, followed by 'Golden Delicious'. The cultivars 'Florina', 'Generos' and 'Auriu de Bistrița' showed a medium to low sensitivity and 'Aura' and 'Salva' very low sensitivity.