'Gala Fult', red, crunchy, juicy, and early apple – an Uruguayan cultivar

Apple is one of the main deciduous fruits grown in Uruguay. The selection of early cultivars is one of the main objectives for INIA and other partners in the Uruguayan fruit sector. Since 2008, the apple cultivar ‘Gala Fult’, obtained and protected by Los Sauces nursery (INASE Nº 1631) and owned by Agronomist Fernando Rocca, has been included in the National Register of Cultivars of the National Seed Institute (INASE) of Uruguay. ‘Gala Fult’ is an early red apple, obtained from a spontaneous mutation of a ‘Royal Gala’ apple bud that breaks bud and blooms earlier. The National Program of Research in Fruit Production of the National Institute of Agricultural Research, in agreement with Los Sauces Nursery since 2009, has been carrying out the agronomic evaluation of the apple ‘Gala Fult’ on two clonal rootstocks, M9-Pajam 2 and M7. This research was carried out at Wilson Ferreira Aldunate Experimental Station - INIA Las Brujas, Canelones Uruguay. The flowering of ‘Gala Fult’ was abundant and homogenous, occurring between October 5 and 12 with a period of full bloom to harvest of 100 days. Trees of ‘Early Red One’, ‘Scarlet Spur’ and ‘Rosy Glow’ were in the same plot, and it was possible that pollination occurred with these cultivars. ‘Gala Fult’ had a high percentage of fruit set and produced fruit on well-exposed young fruiting structures and in a smaller proportion fruit were observed in terminal buds of one year old branches. The fruit at harvest acquired an intense deep red color (blush without stripes). The appearance of this red overcolor in the fruits was often restricted by the leaves, branches and/or fruits. The combination of ‘Gala Fult’ on M9-Pajam 2 resulted in trees of lower height, less vigor, and with a better vegetative/reproductive balance than those plants grafted on M7 rootstock. No significant differences were found in terms of average fruit size. The accumulated yields were similar in ‘Gala Fult’ combinations with both evaluated rootstocks. ‘Gala Fult’ was productive with a potential of 50 t ha^‑1 and average fruit size of 140 g, with the evaluated rootstocks.