The knowledge on nematodes occurrence in Polish vineyards is poor. The surveys of the species from the rhizosphere of plants were conducted between 2013 and 2014 in 12 vineyards in the northwestern part of Poland. Recovery of the nematodes was made in two steps. First, through incubation of 50 g of the roots on sieve. Second, by centrifugation method using 200 g of soil. Nematodes obtained were killed by hot 6% formaline and then processed to glycerine. Permanent slides were determined to the species using keys. During this process there were obtained nematode species from which 12 belonged to genus of fungivorous, 4 to genus of bacteriavorous and 38 to plant parasitic species. Ten of them are known as nematode vectors of plant viruses (GYFV, CLRV, TRV, AMV, SLRV, GLRaV-1, -2, -3, GVA, GVB, GVE, GFLV, GCMV, GrSPaV, GFkV, GRSPaV). Nematode fauna of vineyards needs broadly searching, especially nematode vectors of plant viruses, which are serious enemy to the vineyards. Studies on Aphelenchoides ritzemabosi in vine plants disease complex are necessary.

Dwarf and semidwarf apple trees planted at high density orchard are poorly illuminated when they come into full bearing. Insufficient illumination has adverse effect on apple red blush. Studies were carried out in years 2009–2013 in the Institute of Horticulture at Skierniewice. The object of the study were 12-year-old apple trees of ‘Jonagold’ and ‘Gala’. Trees were grafted on semi-dwarf M.26 rootstock, planted at 4 × 2 m, trained to the spindle system, had been pruned until the spring of 2009 by the renewal method. Prior to the trial the trees were 3 m of height and 2.5 m in spread. To improve fruit quality, additional four pruning treatments were applied in 2009–2013. They were: 1. Removing the lowest branches up to 1 m above the ground; 2. Heading annual shoots at the tree top and the base of the canopy; 3. Cutting out a slim waist in the middle part of the canopy; 4. Slimming the tree top; 5. Trees in the standard spindle form treated with renewal pruning served as the control. All the pruning systems ensured high yields. Only the pruning to a slim waist and slimming the tree top improved light penetration to the interior part of the tree canopy, fruit size and color. Pruning treatments slimming tree silhouette can solve the problem of poor quality apples in densely planted orchards.

In principle, in vitro propagation results in uniform batches of plants, which grow, flower and fruit normally. However, phenotypic changes often observed in the field performance of tissue culture-produced strawberry plants might affect their agronomic value. So, it is of utmost importance to assess the field performance of in vitro propagated plants to verify their fidelity to conventional propagated plants. In this study, the agronomic value of the strawberry plants derived from cultivars ‘Filon’ and ‘Teresa’ via in vitro propagation and their first vegetative progeny was compared to conventional plants. During the field experiments, agronomic traits such as plant vigor, abundance of flowering and yield components were evaluated. The results showed the different field response of cultivars tested to in vitro propagation. In spite of the phenotypic changes observed in in vitro derived plants, their agronomic value was equal or superior in comparison with conventional plants. In conclusion, it should be stated that in vitro propagation method can be safely recommended for the reproduction of these strawberry cultivars.

Coriander is a herbal plant, whose fruit has medicinal and aromatic use. The field research described herein was conducted in 2006–2008, where a controlled, one-factor experiment was set up in a random block design with four replications. The experimental factor was nitrogen fertilization in doses of 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 kg N∙ha^-1 and a control treatment (no nitrogen fertilization). The objective was to determine the effect of nitrogen fertilization on the yield and quality of coriander herbal material (fruit). The experimental results showed that the weather conditions during the research determined the morphological traits and yield components as well as the volume of unprocessed herbal material obtained from coriander plants. The yield of coriander fruit was significantly higher in the season with high precipitations than in the other two years with lower precipitations. The respective differences were 44 and 32%. Nitrogen fertilization did not differentiate the number of plants per plot surface area, weight of fruits per plant or 1000 fruit weight, meaning that the fruit yields were not differentiated, either. However, a significant relationship has been shown between coriander yields and nitrogen fertilization in the years of the experiment. The experiment evidenced that the chemical composition of coriander fruits was more strongly determined by the weather conditions during the growing season than by nitrogen fertilization. A higher content of essential oil in fruit (1.50%) was obtained by coriander growing under drier weather; when the growing season was much wetter, the content of essential oil was much lower (1.07%). The major component of coriander oil was linalool, which made up 67.4% of the chemical profile. Nitrogen fertilization did not differentiate the chemical profile of coriander essential oil.

Phenolics are believed to inhibit the shoot formation in magnolia in vitro. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of sucrose, nitrogen salts and cytokinin concentrations on the phenolics content in relation to shoot formation in Magnolia × soulangiana ‘Coates’ in vitro. The results showed that the concentration and ratios of benzylaminopurine (BAP), sucrose and nitrogen salts in the Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium had a significant effect on the leaf and axillary shoot formation as well as on the phenolics content. The highest multiplication rate (4.8 shoots/explant) and shoots of good quality were obtained on medium containing 0.2 mg·dm^-3 BAP, 100% nitrogen salts in relation to the MS medium and 20 g·dm^-3 sucrose. At this sucrose level, increasing BAP concentration from 0.2 to 1.0 mg·dm^-3 resulted in the inhibition or slight stimulation of shoot formation depending on the nitrogen levels (100 and 75/50%, respectively). At low sucrose-to-nitrogen ratio in the medium, increased BAP levels induced the leaf browning. The highest inhibition of M. × soulangiana ‘Coates’ shoot formation has been observed on medium containing 30 g·dm^-3 sucrose, reduced nitrogen salts levels and BAP at concentration 1.0 mg·dm^-3. A medium with a high sucrose-to-nitrogen ratio stimulated also phenolics production in magnolia shoots. The addition of BAP lowered phenolics production compared with the control medium. At high sucrose-to-nitrogen ratio, increasing BAP levels significantly stimulated phenolics production. The results of the study showed that not in all the treatments did the enhanced phenolics levels in the shoots of M. × soulangiana ‘Coates’ coincide with decreased shoot formation.

In recent years there has been an increasing interest in lawns and their appearance. Diseases affecting lawns, of which the causative agents can be various pathogens, reduce their quality. The study was conducted in two urban centers in the region of south-eastern Poland – in the years 2006 and 2007 in Lublin and in 2007 in Zamość, both in sunny and in partly shaded places. The species composition of the grass sward and the severity of leaf infection were determined as well as mycological analysis of infected plants was carried out. In the case of the lawns in Lublin, the mean values of the disease indices for the leaves of the investigated turfgrasses were from 53.75 to 83.00 in the spring of 2006, while in spring of 2007 from 6.75 to 29.00. The mean values of the leaf disease indices determined in autumn of 2006 were from 16.00 to 86.25, whereas in autumn of 2007 from 4.50 to 21.25. The mean values of the disease indices for leaves of the turfgrasses studied in Zamość were from 24.50 to 48.25 in the spring of 2007, while in the autumn of that year they ranged from 28.00 to 54.75. Microdochium nivale was a great threat to turfgrasses in lawn culture in spring, whereas the cause of leaf spot of turfgrasses in the autumn were species B. sorokiniana and D. siccans. As far as the lawns in both cities are concerned, species of the genus Fusarium, in particular Fusarium culmorum, had a high percentage in root infection both in the spring and in the autumn.

A complete set of procedures comprising of the induction of haploid embryo development by pollination with irradiated pollen, embryo isolation and in vitro culture, haploid plant development, chromosome doubling by regeneration from leaf explants, acclimatization, self-pollination of DH plants and assessment of DH lines was performed in cucumber. Haploid and doubled haploid plants were obtained from all eight genotypes used in the study. The donor plant genotypes were evaluated by comparing the number of haploid embryos and DH plants obtained from each genotype. The influence of the donor plant genotype and its age on the regeneration and the yield of DH plants were evaluated. In order to optimize the method of chromosome doubling, the composition of medium was modified and the explants were divided into four groups with regard to the leaf sector used for regeneration. Acclimatization of DH plants to the greenhouse conditions was improved. Uniform, useful in breeding, DH lines were obtained.

Hop (Humulus lupulus) is one of the basic raw materials employed in brewing. All hops secondary metabolites exhibit pronounced bioactive effects. Therefore beer is the most important source of hop bioactive compounds in the human diet. Xanthohumol is the major prenylated flavonoid occurred only in the hops plant. The aim of this study was to determine the content of selected biologically active compounds in organic hops in comparison with conventional depending on plant protection and fertilization regimes. Organic hops had higher contents of the most important biologically active substances as xanthohumol, flavanols and alpha-acids, especially affected by probiotic microorganisms with plant extracts as plant protection agent. Significant differences in the content of xanthohumol were found between all types of tested organic fertilizers, but the highest content of this compound was recorded in result of plant fertilization with basalt meal. Both the probiotic microorganisms enhanced plant extracts as plant protection agents and basalt meal and basalt meal with manure and probiotic microorganisms as organic fertilizers the most positive influenced the biochemical parameters of hops.

There are seed propagated walnut (Juglans regia L.) populations with the vast genetic variation in different part of Turkey. There are also lots of monoecious and dichogamous genotypes in Turkey due to continuing sexual propagation. This study was conducted to determine genetic variability and to select superior walnut genotypes within seedling population grown in Kemah district in Eastern Anatolia during 2009–2012. In the study over 25.000 walnut trees were examined with high heterozygosis from point of yield (lateral fruitfulness), tolerance to anthracnose, bacterial blight and nut quality parameters. The ratio of lateral fruitfulness of selected genotypes was ranged from 50 to 80%. Leafing time in selected genotypes are found medium group according to international well-known ‘Franquette’ cultivar that is late leafing characteristic. Nut weight, length, diameter (at suture) and shell thickness varied from 11.18 to 15.20 g, 32.55 to 36.62 mm, 31.58 to 36.15 mm and 1.11 to 2.33 mm, respectively. Kernel weight and percentage varied from 6.14 g to 8.00 g and 47.08 to 58.57%. Kernel fat and protein content were between 55.18 to 65.70% and 14.70 to 20.10%, respectively.

Pesticides are chemicals that are used to control and avoid crop losses from pests, diseases and weeds. Various kinds of pesticides have been used in sweet cherry growing to increase yield and farm income in Turkey. This study was conducted to analyze the farm-level of pesticide use in sweet cherry growing in West Mediterranean region of Turkey. Data was collected from 89 growers using the simple random sampling method. Results of this research show that average usage of agricultural chemicals are 53 349.50 g per hectare as an active ingredient in the sweet cherry growing. The percentages of used agricultural chemicals are 79.82 and 20.18% copper sulfate and pesticides respectively. It was calculated that economic loss was €162.92 per hectare due to overdose of agricultural chemicals. Chi square test analysis showed that, there was a significant relationship between dosages of pesticides used by farmers and farm size, listening agriculture related program on radio, information needs in disease, insects and pests management, applying protective pesticides and use personal protecting equipment.

Genetic and phenotypic stability of plants obtained via somatic embryogenesis may be disrupted. The reason can be an indirect regeneration of somatic embryos via callus or a high concentration of growth regulators added at the induction stage of somatic embryos. Somatic embryogenesis of ‘Lady Salmon’ (chimeric) and ‘Lady Vitroflora’ (non-chimeric) cultivars was induced on modified Murashige and Skoog (MS) media, supplemented with 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and kinetin (KIN) or 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP). Flow cytometry (FCM) revealed that the plants derived from somatic embryos of both cultivars maintained the ploidy of control plants obtained from the meristem. The colour and pigment content of the inflorescence of plants derived from somatic embryos of ‘Lady Vitroflora’ were similar to the original control plants. However, the ray florets of clones of ‘Lady Salmon’ did not contain carotenoids, characteristic for this cultivar, and consequently produced flowers of different colours. Thus, somatic embryogenesis in chrysanthemums can be applied for separating periclinal chimera components for chimeric cultivars and for receiving an additional source of variation in the breeding of cultivars. In the case of genetically homogeneous cultivars it can be used in production laboratories for cloning plants in vitro via somatic embryogenesis.

The quality of fresh herbs used mainly as food products, is dependent on a number of factors, including the agronomic and environmental ones. The pharmacopoeial material of summer savory is the whole or ground herb, which besides essential oil, contains many other biologically active compounds, such as tannins, carotenoids, flavonoids, and minerals. The aim of the study was to evaluate the yielding of summer savory intended for bunches harvest and mineral composition of the raw material depending on the sowing time and harvesting time. The savory seeds were sown directly into the field on two dates: 23 April and 7 May 2010–2011. The raw material was collected twice: on 1 July and 16 August. Both the first sowing date and the first harvest date affected most preferably the yield of fresh savory herb. Biological value of the ground herb was high and depended on the time of plant harvest. Significantly the greatest content of L-ascorbic acid (39.60 mg 100 g^-1 FW), chlorophyll a + b (88.25 mg 100 g^-1 FW), carotenoids (26.15 mg 100 g^-1 FW), and essential oil (1.79 ml 100 g^-1) was found at plants from the first harvest. More nutrients were found at savory plants collected in the first date as compared to the second date. The results show the possibility of using the dry summer savory herb as a source of microelements in a human diet. Analyzing all test parameters affecting the quality of raw material, it is clear that the savory plants used for bunches should be collected at the beginning of July, regardless of the sowing date.