Field Performance of Micropropagated, Own-rooted Peach Trees
Four peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] scion cultivars, `Jerseyqueen', `Redskin', `Suncrest', and `Sunhigh', that were propagated by tissue culture techniques and by bud-grafting onto `Lovell' seedlings, were compared at Kearneysville, W.Va., and at Beltsville, Md. At Kearneysville, total fruit production was higher for tissue-cultured (TC) trees when compared with budded trees in the first 3 years of fruiting, whereas trunk diameter increases were generally larger for budded trees. In the following year, fruit production was similar for both TC and budded trees, although trunk diameter increases continued to be larger for budded trees. At Beltsville, fruit production was significantly higher for TC trees in 1987, the first fruiting season, but the same for both in the second season. Trunk diameter increases were larger for budded trees both years. Differences in tree growth and productivity in the early years of orchard establishment appeared to be related to the size of plants that were planted. Budded trees, which were smaller than TC trees at planting, increased in size faster than TC trees but were less productive. Crop efficiency was cultivar-specific, but differences among cultivars was less if trees were TC propagated. These results suggested that based on yield and growth, own-rooted TC trees should be an acceptable tree type for commercial orchards.