Effects of peach or hybrid rootstocks on growth and cropping of two cultivars of peach trees (Emeraude and Zephyr)

Abstract

Effects of peach or hybrid rootstocks on growth and cropping of two cultivars of peach trees (Emeraude and Zephyr). Abstract - Introduction. Rootstock is an important consideration for a productive peach orchard, especially in a replanting situation. A peach and two hybrid rootstocks, grafted with an early and a late-season peach cultivar, were planted and their growth compared. The experimental area had been used since 1970, for two generations of successive peach crops. Materials and methods. Emeraude (early-season) and Zephyr (late-season) were grafted onto GF 305 (peach rootstock), GF 677 and Cadaman Avimag (hybrid rootstocks), and were planted in a split-plot experimental design. Fruit yield and vegetative growth were assessed annually. Results. Vegetative growth was greater with the hybrid rootstocks than with the peach rootstock. Fruit production was higher with Cadaman than with GF 677, which was higher than with GF 305. Yield differences associated with rootstocks were greater with Emeraude in comparison with Zephyr, as suggested by the rootstock × cultivar interaction. Discussion. Compared to the previous peach plantation on the same land, the differences observed in this current experiment, between the peach rootstock GF 305 and the hybrid rootstock GF 677, widened, suggesting a replanting decline with the peach rootstock. In the given conditions, the hybrid rootstock Cadaman appeared to be better suited than GF 677 to improving peach production.