Apple Rootstocks John Cline, University of Guelph, Horticultural Experiment Station, Simcoe
What are the criteria for adopting new rootstocks? Improved Vigor control Disease resistance - fireblight Winter hardiness Without sacrificing Precocity, productivity, mortality or fruit quality New Benefits Plant architecture (branch angle, crop loads) 2
Apple Rootstock Breeding Programs (1970-1980) (Fazio et al, 2005) 3
Primary Apple Rootstock Sources Country Polish Czech Great Britain Russia Canada Japan Germany USA Series P series (eg. P.22) JTE AR Series (East Malling) Budagovsky Vineland (Ontario), SJP (Quebec) JM Supporter Cornell Geneva 4
East Malling- Long Ashton Rootstock Characteristics Roostock MM.111 MM.106 M.7 EMLA, M.7a M.26 M.9, M.9-T337 & other M.9 strains Size 80-85% 70-80% 60-65% 55-60% 40-45% Fruiting Moderately slow bearing, medium productivity. Early bearing, productive Early bearing, moderate productivity. Very early bearing, productive Very early bearing, very productive Precocity Moderate Good Good Very Good Very Good Productivity Moderate Productive Moderate Productive Very productive Anchorage Well anchored Good on most soils Free-standing but leans with some cultivars. Hardiness Moderate Very susc. early, hardy late winter Soil Adaptability Adapted to most soils; drought tolerant, but does not tolerate wet feet. Best in loam and sandy loam soils. Avoid poorly drained soils. Moderate; roots tender, snow cover for best protection Well adapted on most soils except heavy clay. May need support in early years Hardiest M. or MM. series rootstock; somewhat slow to harden-off Well drained soils Needs support Slightly hardier than M.7a. Well drained soils Crown Rot Tolerant on well drained soils. Very susceptible Fireblight Tolerant Moderately susceptible Remarks Tree form is more up-right. Little suckering; prone to burrknots 2. Semidwarf with spur-type Delicious strains. Moderately susceptible to Very little suckering; prone to burrknots 2. Very susceptible to tomato ringspot virus 3. Slightly susceptible on poorly drained soils. Moderately susceptible on poorly drained soils Resistant on most soils Tolerant Very susceptible Very susceptible Suckers heavily; somewhat prone to burrknots 2. Most widely adapted clonally propagated rootstock. Very little suckering; very prone to burrknots 2. Susceptible to tomato ring-spot virus 3. Compatibility problems have been Suckers heavily; prone to burrknots 2. 5
Budagovskvy Rootstocks Roostock Bud.9 Bud.10 (Bud.62396) Bud.118 Size 35-40% 35-40% 95% Fruiting Very early bearing, very productive Early bearing, very productive Somewhart early bearing, moderately productive Precocity Very Good Very Good Moderate Productivity Very productive Very productive Moderate Anchorage Needs support Needs support Well anchored Hardiness Hardier than M.9? Hardy but requires further testing Soil Adaptability Well drained soils; does to not tolerate wet soils? Well drained soils Crown Rot Resistant? Resistant Fireblight Displays some resistance? Moderately resistant Remarks Promising new rootstock. Some suckering; very few burrknots 2. Drought susceptible. Susceptible to tomato ringspot virus 3. Promising new rootstock that will be sold in North America Bud 118 is extremely winter hardy and reportedly has survived temperatures of -28 C with no root damage. Bud 118 has a yield efficiency that compares to M.111 and is recommended for production in cold climates as well as under replant conditions. The vigor of Bud 118 is particularly valuable on dry, sandy orchard sites.
B.10 cv. Mich 96 [Tested as Bud.62396] Included in 2003 NC-140 Test Budagovsky 10 developed in Russia Selected for improved winter hardiness. A 10-year trial with Golden Delicious showed that trees on this rootstock were similar in size to trees on G.935 and M.9 T337 (15 percent smaller). More vigorous than M.26 in Simcoe Wide scaffold branch angles High production efficiency => M.9 T337 Good tree survival Substitute for M.9 7
B.118 Budagovsky B.188 developed in Russia A more vigorous clone from the Minsk breeding program. Imparts a high degree of winter-hardiness. Propagates easily in stool beds and does not sucker. Moderate resistance to fire blight but is susceptible to Phytophthora. Because of the high vigor is only recommended for spur strains of apple or in weak soil or replant situations. 8
Cornell Geneva Rootstocks
Select Nurseries Selling Cornell-Geneva Rootstocks (as of Dec 2017) Nursery G.11 G.41 G.202 G.210 G.214 G.890 G.935 G.969 Willow Drive Treco Copen- Haven 10
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Geneva 11 G.11 The most common Cornell rootstock that will be available initially Works well on virgin soil not tolerant to replant disease Vigor = approx. M.9 Light suckering Fireblight resistant Not WAA resistant Source: www.cctec.cornell.edu/plants/#apple-rootstocks 12
Geneva 41 G.41 The second most common Cornell rootstock that will be available initially Replant resistance Slightly more vigorous than M.9 Light suckering Fireblight resistant Crown rot resistant Graft union prone to breakage, therefore requires staking Source: www.cctec.cornell.edu/plants/#apple-rootstocks 13
Geneva 935 G.935 The third most common Cornell rootstock that will be available initially, however supply currently low M.26 vigor category Good for spur type cultivars Replant, fireblight resistant Flat branch angles Crown rot resistant Not WAA resistant Cold hardy Displays signs of leaf yellowing in Simcoe Sensitive to latent virus causes tree decline Source: www.cctec.cornell.edu/plants/#apple-rootstocks 14
Geneva 202 G.202 Semi-dwarf rootstock (M.26 size) Performs well on various soils Needs support Fireblight resistant Soil replant tolerant WAA resistant Availability - currently very low In Simcoe experiment, less vigorous than M.9 T337 (weakest trees in study) Low yield and crop load Source: www.cctec.cornell.edu/plants/#apple-rootstocks Tree are not healthy - stressed 15
Geneva 16 G.16 Dwarf rootstock (M.9 size) Needs support Fireblight resistant Some resistance to soil replant disease Not WAA resistant Source: www.cctec.cornell.edu/plants/#apple-rootstocks Hypersensitive to at least one latent virus, only virus free budwood should be used with this rootstock Good mid-winter hardiness, but poor early winter hardiness 16
Geneva 210 G.210 Semi-dwarf rootstock (M.7 size) Needs support Fireblight resistant Resistant to soil replant disease WAA resistant Resistant to crown and root rots Currently low availability Prone to suckering in NC140 tests Source: www.cctec.cornell.edu/plants/#apple-rootstocks 17
Vineland Rootstocks
Excluded V.5 and V.6 Description Developed by Dr. Alec Hutchinson Kerr applecrab x M.9' rootstock Seven rootstocks in the series ( V.1, V.2 - V.7') Tested in 1980 (Washington, Ohio) Tested in 1994-2003 (NC-140) Tested in Simcoe 1997, 2002 Tested in Manitoba and Edmonton (1997-)
Summary of the characteristic and availability of the the Vineland Apple Rootstocks Characteristic Tree Vigor Availability Yield Performance Yield Efficiency Commercially Available Under Test Will not be commercial-ized V.1 V.3 V.5 V.6 V.7 V.2 V.4 M.26 size M.9E size M.9E Size or M.9E Size or M.7 Size* M.26 Size MM.106-MM.111 or slightly slightly slightly Size smaller smaller* smaller* Cameron Nurseries (cameronnurser y.com) Similar or better than M.26 Similar or better than M.26 Prairie Tech Propagation, Alberta, Canada Similar to M.9E Similar to M.9E Not commercially availableunder development Not commercially availableunder development Not commercially availableunder development NA NA Excellent, better than M.26E NA NA Better than M.26 Not commercially available Similar or better than M.26 Similar or better than M.26 Not available Similar to M.26 Current Research NC-140 Exp't 2014 NC-140 Exp't 2014 NC-140 Exp't 2014 Features Cold Hardy, displays fireblight resistant Cold Hardy, displays fireblight resistant NA NA Cold Hardy, displays fireblight resistant * - based on observations in the nursery only. Orchard tests have not been conducted to confirm Cold Hardy, displays fireblight resistant Cold Hardy, displays fireblight resistant
80 Dwarfing Dwarfing Characteristics Characteristics of of the the Vineland Vineland Series Series Apple Apple Rootstocks Rootstocks Vigour as % of Standard 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 M.27 V.3 M.9E B.9 M.26 V.2 V.1 M.7 V.5, V.6 V.7 MM.106 21
V.3 Gala V.1 M.26 22
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2014 NC-140 Honeycrisp Rootstocks Objectives: Experiment Increased production efficiency through the development of new high-density precocious orchard systems that intercept more light and produce a greater percentage of target fruit with the goal of reducing grower cost of production (for example, labour saving technologies). Science-based apple rootstock evaluation for Ontario s unique growing regions. 25
2014 NC-140 Rootstock Planting Honeycrisp 15 locations (Mexico, Canada, USA) 16 rootstocks 10 rootstocks/location Completely randomized design Planted in 2014. Tall Spindle Spaced 1.2m x 3.6 m 26
Tree Growth (Trunk Cross-sectional Area) 15 a a ab ab TCSA (cm 2 ) 10 5 bc c c cd cde cde def def ef ef f 0 V.5 V.7 V.6 G.30 B.10 G.214 MM.106 M.26 EMLA M.7 G.969 M.9 T337 Figure 1. Tree growth, expressed as the trunk cross-sectional area (TCSA), of 'Honeycrisp' trees on various rootstocks at the end of the fourth growing season (2017) at the University of Guelph Simcoe Research Station. All data are expressed as means. Rootstocks with the same letter are not significantly different according to the Tukey-Kramer test at P=0.05. G.41 G.11 G.935 G.202 27
Cumulative yield (2016-2017) 15 Cumulative yield (kg/tree) 10 5 0 a V.5 ab abc a-d B.10 V.7 V.6 a-e b-f b-f b-f b-f c-f c-f def G.969 G.214 M.9 T337 G.935 G.41 G.30 MM.106 M.7 G.11 M.26 EMLA Figure 2. Cumulative yield of 'Honeycrisp' trees on various rootstocks at the end of the fourth growing season (2017) at the University of Guelph Simcoe Research Station. All data are expressed as means. Rootstocks with the same letter are not significantly different according to the Tukey-Kramer test at P=0.05. ef ef f G.202 28
Cumulative yield efficiency (after 2 growing seasons) Cumulative yield efficiency (kg/tree/cm 2 TCSA 2017) 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.0 a G.935 M.9 T337 ab abc a-d a-e a-e a-f G.202 G.41 G.969 B.10 G.11 a-f V.5 b-f G.214 b-f c-f def def ef V.7 M.7 V.6 MM.106 M.26 EMLA Figure 3. Cumulative yield efficiency of 'Honeycrisp' trees on various rootstocks at the end of the fourth growing season (2017) at the University of Guelph Simcoe Research Station. All data are expressed as means. Rootstocks with the same letter are not significantly different according to the Tukey-Kramer test at P=0.05. f G.30 29
3-yr-old Honeycrisp (2017) Simcoe V.6 M.9 T337 V.5 G.935 30
How to Decide on What Rootstock to Chose? Assuming availability, price and quality are equal 1. Determine final tree canopy size (height & spread) This a function of soil and cultivar vigor, orchard system 2. Do you plan to support your tree with wires or posts? 3. What are the major factors that might limit tree performance? Soil replant disease Cold winter temperatures affecting rootstock Fireblight Crown and root rots (phythphthora), wet soils Heavy textured soils There is no perfect rootstock select the rootstock that meets all or most of your criteria 31
Conclusions For M.9 rootstock, pay careful attention to the clone. They are not all equal. M.9T337 appears most readily available in North America. Plant the graft union 10-15 cm above the soil line to avoid scion rooting Insist upon virus-free (certified) scion budwood Plan ahead at least two years to obtain the scion/rootstock combination desired Rootstock performance can differ based on soil, site, and scion. Relative vigor is usually the most stable characteristic amongst locations. 32
Scion vigor Matching Rootstock & Scion Vigor Culivar Rootstock Avoid Low Honeycrisp, spur Use M.9 Pajam 1 or 2, M.26 (graft union breakage) M.9 NAKBT337, Bud.9 or G.41 High Jonagold, Mutsu Bud.9 or M.9 Brittle scions: Golden Delicious, Jonagold, Gala, Honeycrisp Brittle rootstock: M.26, G.16, G.30
Apple Future Rootstock Interests Continue evaluating the Vineland and Geneva series Coordinating the 2014 NC140 apple planting with Honeycrisp and Aztec Fuji on 20 locations, 17 rootstocks Weakness of graft union on Honeycrisp on M.9 and M.26 Peach Continuing research on Krymsk 86, Rootpac 20, 40, 70 90, and Rootpac-R May include Guardian, HBOK10, HBOK32, Controller 5 Cherry Tart Cherries size controlling rootstocks for higher density tart cherry hedgerows 34
Future Predictions Increasing planting densities and costs to establish higher density spindle/hedge row orchard will force growers to evaluate the high cost of feathered trees. Tissue cultured or trees from cuttings may provide better rooting and transplant Planting of less expensive whips, bench grafts, or sleeping eyes and then sprayed with 6-BA to induce branching may be a more cost effective method of establishment. 35
Future Predictions Mitigate risk by using several rootstocks that show promise rather than rely solely on one rootstock until it is proven 36
Other Sources of Information www.nc140.org www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/facts/0 0-007.htm#v1 extension - www.extension.org http://www.cctec.cornell.edu/plants/#applerootstocks 37
Acknowledgements OMAFRA and University of Guelph Ontario Apple Growers NC-140 Colleagues 38