Performance of Peach Rootstocks Propagated as Seedlings vs.

Cuttings
T.G. Beckman and A.P. Nyc'zepir S.C. Myers
SE Fruit and Tree Nut Research Lab Dept. of Horticulture and Crop Science
USDA-Agricultural Research Service Ohio State University
Byron, Georgia Columbus, Ohio
USA USA

Keywords: Prunus persica, clonal propagation, peach tree short life. PTSL

Abstract
Following the release of 'Guardian' (BY520-9) peach rootstock in 1993,
nurseries experienced significant problems with seed germination when fall-planted
directly into the nursery . Rooted cuttings were proposed as a possible alternative.
'Cresthaven' peach trees budded onto 'Nemaguard' seedlings, 'Guardian' cuttings
and seedlings, and 'Lovell' cuttings and seedlings were established in 1997 in a high
density orchard and trained to a 2-arm open center system. Through 2003, trees on
'Nemaguard' seedlings displayed the highest vigor when measured as trunk cross-
sectional area (TCSA). Trees on 'Lovell' seedlings displayed the smallest TCSA.
There was no significant difference in the TCSA observed in trees propagated on
'Guardian' cuttings vs. 'Guardian' seedlings. Through three harvest seasons, trees
on 'Guardian' cuttings produced the largest cumulative yield but were not
significantly different from that observed on 'Guardian' or 'Lovell' seedlings. Trees
on 'Lovell' cuttings had the smallest cumulative y ield. Trees on 'Lovell' seedlings
displayed significantly higher cumulative yield efficiency than all other rootstock
treatments. Trees on 'Nemaguard' seedlings displayed significantly lower
cumulative yield efficienc y than all other rootstock treatments except 'Lovell'
cuttings. There was no significant difference iii the cumulative yield efficiency of
trees on 'Guardian' cuttings and those on 'Guardian' seedlings. There appears to be
no clear horticultural advantage or disadvantage to the use of 'Guardian' cuttings
over 'Guardian' seedlings at this time.

INTRODUCTION
IN (BY520-9) peach rootstock was introduced for commercial trial in
'Guardian'
1993 as a rootstock with superior performance on peach tree short life (PTSL) sites (Okie
et al., 1994). Because the original mother tree was lost during the evaluation process,
'Guardian' has been distributed as a bulked seedlot. This bulked lot has been collected
from a subset of the 69 plus surviving seedlings from the field trial in which 'Guardian'
was identified (Beckman et al., 1997). Initial seed germination was very poor when fall-
planted directly into the nursery, ranging from 28% to 41% (Beckman et al., 1997).
Efforts were undertaken to identify lines with superior seed germination so that inferior
lines could he dropped from the bulked lot. One of the first 'Guardian lines with superior
seed germination to be identified was SC'3-17-7. Nevertheless, the initial poor seed
germination gave impetus to the possibility that rooted cuttings might provide an
alternative means of propagation. The primary purpose of this experiment was to
determine if rooted 'Guardian' cuttings would provide satisfactory horticultural
performance compared to 'Guardian' seedlings.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Trees of 'Cresthaven' budded onto rooted cuttings of 'Guardian' (SC3-17-7
selection) and 'Lovell', and seedlings of 'Guardian' (SC3-17-7 selection). 'Lovell' and
'Nemaguard' were planted in March, 1997 at a spacing of 6.1 in (between rows) by 1.83
in (within row) at the Byron location. Guard trees were planted at the ends of the rows
and in adjacent flanking rows. Soil type was a Greenville fine sandy loam, a clayey,
kaolinitic, thermic, typic Rhodudult, representative of soils typically utilized for peach

Proc. 6" Intl. Peach Symposium 289

Ed. R. Infante
Ada Hon. 713. ISHS 2006
 production in the middle Georgia area. Trees were trained to a 2-arm open center system
and maintained according to standard commercial recommendations (Myers, 1989). A
weed flee zone ca. 2.4 m wide, centered on the tree row was maintained with herbicides.
No supplemental irrigation was provided. Each spring, trees were judged to be at full
bloom when ca. 70% of flowers had opened (based oil inspection). Fruit were
harvested in the years from 2001 to 2003 at 3- to 4-day intervals at a commercially
mature stage, i.e. as ground color changed from green to yellow. No attempt was made to
sort cullage hence, weights reported are gross yields. Trunk diameter was measured 30
cm from the soil surface shortly after planting and each fall thereafter following
defoliation (typically late November). Diameters were converted to trunk cross sectional
area for analysis. Plot design was a randomized complete block with 12 single-tree
replicates of each of the rootstock treatments. Data were analyzed by the General Linear
Models (GLM) program of the Statistical Analysis System for personal computers (SAS.
2003). Mean separation was performed by Wailer-Duncan k-ratio t tests.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Through 2003, 'Cresthaven' trees oil seedlings displayed
significantly larger trunk cross-sectional area (TCSA) than all other rootstock treatments
except those oil cuttings as shown in Table 1. Trees oil seedlings had
the smallest TCSA though this may have been due, in part, to their significantly smaller
size at planting. There were no significant differences in the TCSA of 'Cresthaven' trees
on either 'Guardian' cuttings or 'Guardian' seedlings during the course of this
experiment.
Through three harvest seasons, 'Cresthaven' trees on 'Guardian' cuttings
displayed the highest cumulative yield, but were not significantly different from that
observed on 'Guardian' or 'Lovell' seedlings as shown in Table 2. Trees of 'Cresthaven'
grafted on 'Lovell' seedlings displayed significantly higher cumulative yield efficiency
than all other rootstock treatments, as shown in Table 3. Trees on 'Nemaguard' seedlings
displayed the lowest cumulative yield efficiency. There was no significant difference in
the cumulative yield efficiency of 'Cresthaven' trees on 'Guardian' cuttings compared to
those on 'Guardian' seedlings.
Rootstock effects oil average harvest date (Stembridge and Gambrel],
1974) were small and variable as shown in Table 4. Average fruit weight of all treatments
would have been deemed marketable in all three seasons as shown in Table 5. It has been
our experience that 90-100 g fruit will typically meet the 57 mm (2.25 in) diameter grade
and 125-150 g fruit will meet the 62 mm (2.50 in) diameter grade (Beckman, unpublished
data). Differences in the suckering tendencies of the rootstocks were generally small as
shown in Table 6. However, of some potential interest is the smaller number of rootstock
suckers produced by 'Guardian' cuttings compared to 'Guardian' seedlings and the
similar pattern observed with 'Lovell' cuttings compared to 'Lovell' seedlings.
CONCLUSIONS
The results of this trial indicate that there is no clear horticultural advantage or
disadvantage in the use of 'Guardian' cuttings vs. 'Guardian' seedlings. Both rootstocks
provide similar vigor and yield. 'Guardian' cuttings appear to provide a small advantage
in regards to reduced suckering when compared to 'Guardian' seedlings. Since 1993 the
'Guardian' selections being used to construct the bulk commercial lot have changed
considerably, due in large part to seed germination considerations. At this time the bulked
'Guardian' seed distributed to nurseries is dominated by one line, SC3-17-7. Recent seed
germination has been deemed satisfactory, ranging from 60-80% over the past 3 years
(Beckman, unpublished data). Hence, interest in the use of rooted cuttings has waned,
especially considering the likely higher per unit cost associated with clonal propagation.
Moreover, one critical issue not addressed in this trial is any possible difference in the
longevity of peach trees budded to 'Guardian' cuttings vs. 'Guardian' seedlings when
planted on a peach tree short life (PTSL) site. This area needs to be addressed before any

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recommendation for the use of 'Guardian' cuttings over 'Guardian' seedlings, or vice-
versa, can be made.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors gratefully acknowledge the technical assistance of Roger Laster,
Deborah Mooney, Amy Savelle and Madelis Valdes in the establishment and
management of this project.

Literature Cited
Myers, S.C. (ed.). 1989. Peach Production Handbook. Georgia Extension Handbook No.
I. 221 p. Coop. Ext. Serv., Univ. of Georgia, Athens, Ga.
Beckman, T.G., Reighard, G.L., Okie, W.R., Nyczepir, A.P., Zehr, E.I. and Newall, W.C.
1997. History, current status and future potential of Guardian' 1 (BY52-9) peach
rootstock. Aeta Hort. 451:25 1 -258.
Okie. W.R., Beckman, T.G., Nyczepir, A.P., Reighard, G.E., Newall. W.C. and Zehr, E.I.
1994. Guardian (BY520-9), a peach rootstock for the southeastern United States that
increases scion longevity. llortScience 29:705-706.
SAS Institute, Inc. 2003. SAS for Windows. Version 9. 1, SAS Institute. Inc., Cary NC.
Stembridge, G.E. and Gambrel], C.E., Jr. 1974. Measuring peach thinning and maturation
responses. I-TortScienee 9:29-30.

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Tables

Table I Rootstock treatment effects on trunk cross-sectional area (TCSA) of

Cresthaven' peach scions (1997-2003, Byron, Ga).

TCSA'(cm')
Rootstock Typ& 1997 2000 2001 2002 2003
'Nemaguard' Sdlg 0.46 a 42.5 a 58.2 a 85.9 a 98.7 a
'Guardian' Cutt 0.52 a 32.5 ab 47.6 ab 60.9 ab 82.9 ab
'Guardian' Sdlg 0.37 a 33.7 ab 39.9 b 47.7 be 61.2 be
'Lovell' Cutt 0.43 a 24.7 b 35.7 be 4.0 be 52.7 c
'Lovell' Sg 0.12 h 12.7 c 22.1 c 27.2 c 40.6 c
MSDX 0.16 11.2 14.4 29.7 29.3
'Calculated from trunk diameter measurements at spring planting, 30 cm from soil line. All other years
trunk diameter was measured following fall leaf abscission.
Sdlg = open-pollinated seedling. Cutt hardwood cutting
\1 SI) -= Mini mum Significant Di fhrcnce, Waller Duncan k-ratio / Test (k-ratio- 100)

1 able 2. Rootstock treatment effects on annual and cumulative total gross yield of
'Cresthaven' peach scions (1997-2003, Byron, Ga).

Yield (kg/tree)
Rootstock Type' 2001 2002 2003 Cumulative
'Nemaguard' Sdlg 3.0 4.9 15.3 h 23.2 h
'Guardian' Cuti 5.0 8.1 28.3 a 41.3 a
'Guardian' Sdlg 4.0 7.9 24.9 a 36.9 a
'Lovel]' Cutt 3.2 5.2 14.7 b 22.4 b
'Lovell' Sdlg 3.2 5.1 25.0a 33.3 ab
MSD Y ns ns 8.3 11.0
'dl g = open-pollinated seedling. Cult = hardwood culling
\ll) \lininium Siciiilicaiii l)illicn, \\ilIcr l)iriicun k-Tatio i I ei f k Ixio DO)

I able 3. Rootstock treatment eliects nit annual and cumulative y ield efficiency of
'Cresthaven' peach scions (1997-2003, Byron, Ga).

Yield efficiency (kg/cm2)

l/notstock Type' 2001 2002 2003 Cumulative
'semaguard' Sdlg 0.06 0.10 b 0.18 d 0.26 d
(juardian' Cutt 0.11 0.13 ab 0.34 be 0.50 be
(ivardian' Sdlg 0.12 0.18 a 0.43 h 0.65 h
I ovell' Cutt 0.08 0.11 ab 0.27 ed 0.40 cd
1 ovell' Sdlg 0.15 0.20 a 0.64 a 0.84 a
\IS]Y ns 0.10 0.14 0.19
di -- open-pollinated seedlin g , ( ' itli hurdu ood cutting
\iH) \gIHIII.III d j d Jiui :IL. \\,[ i)iiui iiIi!
Table 4. Rootstock treatment effects on weighted average harvest date of 'Cresthaven'
peach scions (1997-2003. Byron, Ga).

Weighted average harvest date'

Rootstock Typ& 2001 2002 2003
'Nemaguard' Sdlg 190 a 202 196 c
Guardian' Cult 198 ab 201 198 ab
'Guardian' Sdlg 189 ab 201 199 a
'Love!!' Cult 188 ab 201 197 c
'Lovell' Sdlg 187b 201 197 bc
MSD 1.4 -
'Julian day calculated per Stcmhridgc and Gambrell, 1974. HortSeicnce 9:29-30.
Sdlg open-pollinated seedling, Cult hardwood cutting
NISD Minimum Significant Dilference, Waller Duncan k-ratio (Test (k-ratio- IOU)

Table 5. Rootstock treatment effects on average fruit weight of 'Cresthaven' peach trees
(1997-2003, Byron. Ga).

Average fruit weight (g)

RootstockType'2001 2002 2003
'Ncmaguard' Sdlg 185a 126 173a
'Guardian' Cutt 175 ab 143 157 ab
'Guardian' SdIg 191 a 128 137b
'Lovell' Cutt 167 ab 132 161 ab
'Lovell'Sdig 142b148170a
MSDY 34 ns 33
Sdlg open-pollinated seedling. Cutt = hardwood cutting
MSI) = Minimum Significant Difference, Walter Duncan k-ratio! Test (k-ratio= 100)

Table 6. Rootstock treatment effects on rootstock suckering of 'Cresthaven' peach trees

(1997-2003. Byron, Ga).

Rootstockstickers(number/tree)
Rootstock Type' 2001 2002 2003
'Nemaguard' Sdlg 0.5 A1.0 1.8 ab
'Guardian' Cutt 0.0 b 0.1 0.2 b
'Guardian' Sdlg 1.1 a 1.4 1.3 ab
'Lovell' Cutt 0.0 b 0.0 0.1 b
'Lovell' Sdlg 1.0 ab 1.3 3.3 a
KIS DY 1.1 n 2.2
Sdlg = open-pollinated seedling, Cutt = hardwood cutting
MSD = Minimum Significant Difference. Walter Duncan k-ratio! Test (k-ratio--tOO)

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