Vineland plum cultivars perform well on dwarf and vigorous rootstocks in early production

Abstract

European plum (Prunus domestica L.) cultivars, and selections developed at the Horticultural Research Institute of Ontario, Vineland Station, were evaluated, over a range of rootstocks of differing vigour, in the Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia. Cultivars and number selections included: Vanette (V66071), Victory (V72331), Voyageur (V63002), V63015, Valerie (V70031), Valor, Veeblue, Vision, Verity, and the standards, Stanley and Italian Prune. The four prunus rootstocks were: Pixy (P. insititia L.), St. Julian A (P. insititia L.), Brompton (P. domestica L.), and Myrobalan B (P. cerasifera Ehrh.). The largest cultivars were Italian Prune, Vision, and Veeblue, particularly on St. Julien A, Brompton, and Myrobalan B. Trees on Pixy were the smallest and had the smallest range of sizes. Yield and efficiency was the greatest for Vision, for all rootstocks. Victory, Voyageur, Valor, and Veeblue performed well with some of the rootstocks. The cultivars Vision, Vanette, Victory, Voyageur, and Valerie were the most precocious. The three cultivars with the largest fruit size were Victory, Valerie, and Vision. Italian Prune produced the smallest fruit. The combination of Stanley/Pixy also produced small fruit. For the Annapolis Valley, Vision is highlighted as a very productive cultivar for which tree size can be contained by the rootstocks Pixy and St. Julien A. Key words: Plum, cultivars, rootstocks, yield, precocity