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john_in_sc

What rootstocks will produce good fruit?

john_in_sc
12 years ago

Hey guys,

I have been poking around some - and it turns out that quite a few rootstocks out there are known for producing pretty good fruit.... and others aren't...

Question - has anyone here inadvertently gotten any fruit off "rootstocks" that you considered good enough to keep?

I have a Krymsk 86 that the graft died.. It's supposedly a Peach/Cherry plum hybrid... I let it grow up so I could graft stuff back onto it.. It grew up like crazy last year qne flowered like crazy this spring - but doesn't look like it set any fruit. It's real healthy and is a prime candidate for getting top worked this year.... If it bore good fruit - I would consider just letting it be, though...

Thanks

Comments (10)

  • fruitnut Z7 4500ft SW TX
    12 years ago

    John:

    Weren't you saying lately that Lovell, a seedling peach rootstock, produces generally poor fruit? I think you could expect even worse fruit off a peach/cherry rootstock. I won't waste time on them myself. But if you have one flowering it shouldn't take long to find out. If it won't even set fruit that's worse than poor fruit.

  • murkwell
    12 years ago

    I've read from Lon Rombauh that St. Julian may have good, albeit small, fruit.

    Below is a link to a thread with a picture of the fruit.

    Here is a link that might be useful: scroll down to see picture of St. Julian fruit

  • copingwithclay
    12 years ago

    Thomasville Citrangequat. The operative word is 'good', not 'super duper'. Some people classify grapefruit as 'delicious' rather than 'very sour'.

  • john_in_sc
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    That St Julian sounds interesting... I will have to see if it looks like it will grow around here...

    I am not really sure that I can say I have actually tasted fruit off of a bona fide "Lovell seedling"...

    I have tasted Feral Peaches around here - and the vast majority of them are small, white, and very sour/bitter until fully ripe - which doesn't fit the description of "Large, Yellow Clingstone Canning Peach" very well....

    Perhaps it's fine proof of Natural Selection at work because nothing, and I mean NOTHING bothers those particular feral peaches.. not fungus, not animals, not bugs... until it's TOTALLY ripe... and this guarantees plenty of viable seed that sprouts and grows...

    Unfortunately, it also means that I gotta give it a couple years to decide whether it's worth growing or not.... I have no doubt that it would be a fine candidate for top working otherwise...

    Thanks

  • fruitnut Z7 4500ft SW TX
    12 years ago

    John:

    Lovell is a seedling rootstock. Each rootstock is grown from a Lovell seed, a different seed. Therefore each rootstock is different from every other. They will differ from each other in all characteristics including quality of fruit. And the fruit will be different from grafted Lovell. If those feral rootstock fruits are from Lovell seedlings the fruit will not be Lovell.

    A vegetatively propagated rootstock like Citation should all have the same fruit. I say should because after time there are usually slight variations that develop. There are many strains of M9 apple rootstock because it has been so widely grown for so long. M9 is vegetatively propagated, not seed grown.

  • carolync1
    12 years ago

    I've read that Blenheim apricot seedlings are sometimes used as rootstocks (supposed to be nematode-resistant). Fruit might not be too bad.

  • john_in_sc
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Interesting on Blenheim... It seems like around here - every creature under the sun eats Apricot trees... Perhaps a seedling would do better because it's on it's own roots...

    I would have guessed that these white, bitter peaches were likely a seedling of one of the Nematode resistant rootstocks like Nemaguard or Guardian... I think I read on here that someone (Olpea?) had one come up and it was small, white, and bitter... My prediction is that it won't make the cut - but it might be interesting if it could provide some disease/pest resistance to seedlings... I'm not really in the Peach Breeding business, though...

    Now... There is a 5 or 6 year old Feral seedling peach that I found the area that's a Yellow clingstone.. Very healthy - bugs and fungus really don't mess with it... It's actually pretty tasty when it's fully ripe - I would buy that this one came from a seed off of a Lovell seedling (Or a grocery store pit)... but there's really no way to tell.. The tree is a lone tree under a power line in a vacant lot by a local convenience store... and there weren't any peach trees there 7+ years ago...

    Thanks

  • mrsg47
    10 years ago

    I found this thread. I lost my 'Harglow' apricot in our last hurricane last Oct. The two inch high trunk is sprouting new leaves. It is supposedly Lovell. What type of fruit is Lovell? A Peach? For a long while I thought it was Krymsk, but its not. What fruit is Krymsk? Thanks Mrs. G

  • drew51 SE MI Z5b/6a
    10 years ago

    If a tree of mine died, and the rootstock survived I would be happy, as it means I could graft something else there! One often head cuts new trees, and there you go, fresh scion wood! Or maybe you have a 3 n1 or a 4n1 and that one cultivar is great, you could make a full tree of it! I have never grafted anything, but would try if this happened.

  • john_in_sc
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I believe Krymsk is a peach/plum intergenic...

    I have a Krymsk rootstock bush - it's totally full of flowers in the spring, but so far hasn't made any fruit... Could be lack of proper pollination, could be sterile... Don't know...

    If you read about Lovell rootstock peaches - the general consensus is that they are OK for canning, but not sought after for much else...

    Thanks