Teleki 5C

History of Origin and Economic Significance

The grape rootstock Berlandieri x Riparia Teleki 5C was bred by the well-known Hungarian researcher Sandor (Alexander) Teleki in 1922 using the method of clonal selection. According to reports from ampelographic sources, a group of little-studied clones exists under this name in France, characterized by semi-drooping shoots with purple nodes. Some of these clonal forms possess a male flower type and leaves bent downwards (including clones 5C Ravat, 5C Richter, 5C Chabrol), which generally correspond to the main described type of Teleki 5C. Other clones (such as 5C Clavel, 5C Saumur) have female flowers and show greater morphological similarity to the rootstock variety Berlandieri x Riparia Kober 5BB.

The rootstock variety Berlandieri x Riparia Teleki 5C has not yet received wide commercial distribution in European vineyards. In particular, in France, the area under this variety amounted to only 0.43 hectares. On the territory of the USSR, the Teleki 5C variety occurs mainly in the Transcarpathian region of the Ukrainian SSR, where it grows as part of variety mixtures in mother plantations together with Kober 5BB and Teleki 8B. The most notable distribution of these variety mixtures was observed in the Vinogradov and Mukachevo districts (for example, in the "Klyucharsky" state farm, about 5 hectares of mother plantations were allocated for this rootstock). Local viticulturists note that the Teleki 5C rootstock somewhat exceeds Kober 5BB and Teleki 8B in its combination of economic qualities, since the harvest of European scion grape varieties grafted on it ripens slightly earlier. For this reason, the Teleki 5C variety is officially included in the zoned assortment of rootstocks for the Transcarpathian region.

Morphological Description of the Rootstock Variety Berlandieri x Riparia Teleki 5C

Approbation traits and botanical description of the rootstock organs were performed on the collection plot of the Ukrainian Research Institute of Viticulture and Winemaking named after V. E. Tairov in Odessa:

• Young shoot (tip): the apex of the growing shoot is light green, bullate, with weak pubescence. The petioles of developing leaves, veins, and the upper part of the shoot axis have a pure green color without a pronounced wine-red or anthocyanin tint. This feature is the main difference from the Kober 5BB variety.
• Mature leaf: has a strong resemblance in shape to Kober 5BB. The leaves are rather large, rounded, entire, light green in color. The texture of the leaf blade is reticulate-wrinkled. The upper side of the leaf is glabrous and shiny. On the lower side of the blade, a short bristly down is present along the veins, which may be completely absent on some leaves. At the base of the petiole, the leaf is corrugated. The petiole sinus is open, V-shaped, asymmetric with a rounded base.
• Teeth of the leaf: marginal teeth of the leaf are wide-triangular, low, with a pointed apex. Teeth at the ends of the lobes are high, distinctly elongated into a sharp point, and characteristically curved.
• Mature shoot: the annual cane is colored in light brown tones. Formed eyes (buds) are sharp, beak-shaped.
• Reproductive organs: the flower type is functionally male. The pistil is very weakly developed; the flower contains five upright stamens with an average stamen filament length of about 3 mm. The rootstock variety Berlandieri x Riparia Teleki 5C does not form berries.

Features of Agricultural Practices in Nursery Production

The growing season of the Teleki 5C variety is characterized by late dates of phenophases passing. Bud break on the vines begins at the end of April (mid-April on average, around April 25), simultaneously with Kober 5BB and Teleki 8B, which is later than most other common grape rootstocks. Flowering occurs in the first decade of June (around June 6). Vines of the Teleki 5C variety possess high growth vigor, forming a total annual cane growth within 25–30 meters per vine. By the end of the growing season, annual shoots ripen satisfactorily.

The grape rootstock Berlandieri x Riparia Teleki 5C is characterized by high unpretentiousness to soil conditions, which allows its successful cultivation on stony areas and steep slopes. The variety features high phylloxera resistance and is not subject to chlorosis disease when the total lime content in the soil is up to 30%, which corresponds to 13% of active lime according to the Galet scale. The variety is fully resistant to damage by fungal diseases — mildew and oidium. The frost resistance of the root system, as in all representatives of the Berlandieri group, is inferior to Riparia x Rupestris hybrids, in connection with which, under the soil and climatic conditions of Ukraine and Moldova, the planting depth of cuttings in the nursery field must be at least 45 cm to protect the main roots from winter freezing.

Technological indicators in nursery production are high. With a standard vine feeding area of 2.0 x 2.0 meters, the average commercial yield of half-meter cuttings ranges from 60 to 75 thousand pieces per hectare of a mother plantation. Cuttings of the Teleki 5C variety possess good rooting capacity, demonstrate excellent grafting compatibility with many European grape varieties, and guarantee a high yield of first-grade grafted plants from the nursery field.

*Publisher's note: the ampelographic overview is compiled based on the variety description from the book "Ampelography of the USSR. Little-distributed grape varieties", Volume III, published in 1966. The text has been processed and edited only in terms of formatting, while, for the sake of preserving the authenticity of historically valuable material, the formulations and style of description inherent in the Soviet ampelographic school were not changed.