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$^{\circledR}$ 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.