COMPARISON OF 22 ROOTSTOCKS OF DIFFERENT VIGOUR AND ORIGIN USED FOR ‘ELISE’ APPLE TREES

At the Wilanów Experimental Station, Central Poland, on an alluvial silty loam soil, twenty two rootstocks of different origin and different vigour were compared.
In the spring of 1995, the rootstocks were planted in the nursery and budded with ‘Elise’ scion.
Tree diameter, tree height and length of laterals were measured before lifting the trees.
Maidens produced in the nursery were used to set up an orchard trial in the spring of 1997. The rootstocks used were classified into three groups: super dwarfing M.27, P 22, P 16, PB–4, 57-146 (B 146) and P 59; dwarfing B 9 and different M.9 subclones (EMLA, T337, T339, 751, 984, RN29, Pajam 1 and Pajam 2); semi-dwarfing P 60, P 14, P 2, 62–396 (B 396), M.7, M.26 and Nr 47. After 5 years in the orchard, the real tree vigour did not always conform to the pre-designated classification category.
In particular, trees on B 146, P 59 and B 9 showed higher vigour, both in the nursery and in the first three years in the orchard, than other rootstocks considered more vigorous, and M.26, M.7 and P 2 were smaller than expected.
This fact could be related to better drought and transplanting resistance linked to root system development.
Yield per tree was associated with tree size; yield per ha was related to planting density, which was assigned according to the assumed tree vigour on different rootstocks.
Mean fruit mass, in general, was not affected by rootstocks.
There were no significant differences between M.9 subclones in the nursery or in the orchard.

I International Symposium on Rootstocks for Deciduous Fruit Tree Species

A. Słowiński

Malus x domestica, TCSA, CEC, cumulative yield, productivity, precocity, nursery, orchard, M.9 subclone

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2004.658.39