Comparative study of Wavit® rootstock with two plum and two apricot cultivars in nursery

Abstract

In order to expand the knowledge about the behavior of Wavit® rootstock, we compared the growth characteristics which it induces on two plum and two apricot cultivars in nursery together with two commonly used rootstocks in Bulgaria for these species, Prunus cerasifera seedling and M29C. The study was conducted in the period 2012‒2014 in a commercial nursery near Plovdiv. Plum cultivars Jojo and Cacanska Lepotica were T-budded on P. cerasifera seedling and Wavit® rootstocks, and apricot cultivars Pricia and Primaya were T-budded on Wavit® and M29C rootstocks. All trees were grown in the same conditions with individual support stakes and drip irrigation. It was found that Wavit® induced less vigor in plum cultivars Jojo and Cacanska Lepotica compared with the commonly used P. cerasifera seedling rootstock. Similarly, Wavit® induced less vigor in apricot cultivar Primaya compared with the commonly used M29C rootstock, but in the other tested apricot cultivar Pricia, no significant differences between these rootstocks were found for this trait. The percentage of bud take on Wavit® rootstock in combination with plum and apricot cultivars tested, does not differ significantly compared with the percentage of bud take on commonly used P. cerasifera seedling and М29С. In our study, the influence of rootstocks on lateral branching and length of lateral shoots in different cultivars was not found.

Keywords

• plum
• apricot
• lateral branching
• vigor
• bud take
• nursery tree quality