PERFORMANCE OF ‘CONFERENCE’ PEAR ON SELF-ROOTED TREES AND SEVERAL OLD HOME × FARMINGDALE, SEEDLING AND QUINCE ROOTSTOCKS IN SPAIN

I. Iglesias, L. Asin
Eleven pear rootstocks were evaluated on cv. ‘Conference’ pear (Pyrus communis L.) trees at the IRTA Experimental Station of Lleida over the period 1996-2003. The majority were quince rootstocks (Cydonia oblonga L.), some of which (EMC and EMA) had cv. ‘Comice’ as an interstem; the rest were Pyrus (clonal -OHxF-, seedling -Kirschensaller- and self-rooted trees of ‘Conference’). The trees were planted in Lleida in 1996 with a planting distance of 4 x 1.75m and trained in central axis. The most vigorous trees were the OHxF333 and seedlings, followed by the self-rooted and OHxF69. All the OHxF clones demonstrated greater vigour than the quince types. BA-29 and Comice/MA showed greater vigour than the other quince rootstocks and EMC was the least vigorous. The use of interstems increased tree vigour. The highest cumulative yields per tree were obtained on self-rooted trees and quince, and the lowest on seedlings, OHxF 69 and EMC. Interstems did not have a significant effect on yield. In general, yield efficiency was inversely correlated with tree vigour. The most efficient rootstocks were EMC, Sydo and Adams (Angers quince selections from France and Belgium, respectively), and the lowest were the seedling, self-rooted and OHxF clones. A good relationship was established between TCSA and the percentage of space occupied by the trees (R2 = 0.77). Self-rooted trees, OHxF clones and seedling induced smaller fruit size than quince and lower SSC. Amongst the quinces, EMC produced the smallest fruit size. Fruits from self-rooted trees were less affected by russeting. Trees on EMC showed the greatest sensitivity to iron chlorosis, intermediate levels of sensitivity were recorded on BA-29 and OHxF 69 and the lowest levels were found on seedlings, self-rooted trees and OHxF 333. Quince types, and in particular BA-29 and EMA, always produced the largest fruit size, while self-rooted, seedling and OHxF types produced the smallest. As far as fruit russeting was concerned, the fruit surface area affected was consistently smaller on self-rooted trees, followed by OHxF types and seedlings, with EMC proving the most sensitive.
Iglesias, I. and Asin, L. (2005). PERFORMANCE OF ‘CONFERENCE’ PEAR ON SELF-ROOTED TREES AND SEVERAL OLD HOME × FARMINGDALE, SEEDLING AND QUINCE ROOTSTOCKS IN SPAIN. Acta Hortic. 671, 485-491
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2005.671.69
https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2005.671.69
pear, clonal rootstock, quince, vigour, yield efficiency, quality, fruit size, iron chlorosis
English

Acta Horticulturae