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olympia_gardener

Peach Redleaf as root stock??

olympia_gardener
11 years ago

I send e-mail to Stark Bro. asking type of dwarf apricot root stock. Their answer is " peach/apricot Dwarf: Peach Redleaf (seedling)". Does anyone know anything of redleaf peach as root stock? Is it cold hardy? can take clay soil? fruit early, disease resistant, or scion will be long lived on this root stock??

Comments (3)

  • olpea
    11 years ago

    Despite the email from Starks, Redleaf doesn't offer much, if any, dwarfing effect. Below is a summary of a trial from various peach rootstocks. In the trial, Redleaf is similar in both cross-sectional trunk diameter and yield to Bailey.

    I've not noticed any difference in seedling peach rootstocks. I've grown Bailey, Halford, Lovell, Tenn. Nat. and my own seedling peach rootstocks and not noticed any appreciable difference in any of them. Redleaf is a seedling rootstock similar to Tenn. Natural and probably performs the same.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Peach rootstock trial

  • olympia_gardener
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Olpea, Thanks for the link. The root stock effects the taste of the fruits, will this redleaf root stock on the peach and apricot make the fruits taste better or worst?
    In you opinion, what is the best peach/apricot root stock and where I can buy a tree with this root stock?

  • olpea
    11 years ago

    Olympia,

    I think rootstock has little effect on the flavor of peaches. The peach/plum hybrid rootstock Citation is supposed to produce a little sweeter peach, but I don't like that rootstock. It's more sensitive to drought than peach seedling rootstocks. I had one peach on Citation and it required considerably more babying than I'm used to. If flavor is what you are looking for, I'd focus more on the variety of the peach instead of the rootstock.

    For most people one seedling peach rootstock is going to be as good as the next. There are some rootstocks that address specific growing problems (i.e. Guardian addresses Peach Tree Short Life and Nemagard addresses certain nematode problems) but for the most part common rootstocks like Lovell, Halford, ect. behave the same.

    For growing apricots, seedling apricot rootstock (like Manchurian) is considerably more hardy than apricots on peach roots. For apricot trees, Manchurian is also less invigorating than peach roots. Or saying it another way, apricot trees on peach roots are larger than standard apricots on apricot roots.

    For peaches, in the long run, it probably doesn't matter what seedling peach rootstock your trees are on. If it's cold enough to kill the rootstock, it would probably kill the grafted portion of the tree, regardless of the roots underneath it. Nemagard is supposed to be especially winter tender, so I would avoid that one.