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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Byron, Georgia » Fruit and Tree Nut Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #105983

Title: COMPARISON OF GUARDIAN ROOTSTOCK SELECTIONS TO OTHER PEACH ROOTSTOCKS FOR USE ON PEACH SHORT LIFE SITES - UPDATE

Author
item EBEL, B - AUBURN UNIVERSITY
item WILKINS, B - AUBURN UNIVERSITY
item Beckman, Thomas
item Nyczepir, Andrew
item HIMELRICK, D - AUBURN UNIVERSITY
item PITTS, J - AUBURN UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: Experiment Station Bulletins
Publication Type: Experiment Station
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/9/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Guardian peach rootstock was released in 1993 as a bulked seed lot collected from a number of sibling selections. This was necessary because the original mother tree had been lost before it was determined that this line (BY520-9) displayed superior peach tree short life (PTSL) tolerance. However, this bulked line is substantially more variable in a number of important horticultural traits than is desirable. As a result, field trials evaluating the individual siblings as potential rootstock lines are continuing. This trial reported here was established in 1994 to evaluate the horticultural performance of an elite group of these sibling selections. In general, the horticultural performance of the Guardian selections has been as good or slightly better than that of standard commercial rootstocks including for comparison (Lovell, Nemaguard and Flordaguard). Given that in other studies all of the Guardian selections have provided significantly improved longevity on peach tree short life sites, this data supports their use as long-lived alternatives to currently available commercial rootstocks.

Technical Abstract: N/A