VARIABILITY IN POTENTIAL AND EXPRESSION OF NONINFECTIOUS BUD-FAILURE AMONG NURSERY PROPAGULES OF ‘CARMEL’ ALMOND

Variability in the potential for noninfectious bud-failure (BF) was assessed within the ‘Carmel’ cultivar by progeny testing individual source trees of eleven commercial nursery sources.
The percentage of trees with BF and average BF rating of progeny trees after six years in a high temperature summer area in a test orchard was used to produce an estimate of BF-potential.
A continuous range of BF potential from zero to 100 percent was found (horizontal variation). BF -potential increased in commercial orchards during consecutive generations of clonal propagation (vertical variation) modified by specific conditions at the orchard site involving vigor and summer temperature.
Control of BF in commercial orchards can be attained by propagating from low BF-potential source trees in a three step program: 1) selection of single tree sources (foundation trees), 2) maintenance in a foundation orchard in a hedge row or scion orchard (foundation clones) and 3) multiplication with reduced vegetative generations.

II International Symposium on Pistachios and Almonds

D.E. Kester, K.A. Shackel, W.C. Micke, T.M. Gradziel, M. Viveros

noninfectious bud-failure, genetic disorder, Registration, Certification, Foundation Clones

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1998.470.37