Almond Rootstocks - Almond Board Australia

Almond Rootstocks:
Making the Right Choice for Your Orchard
Roger Duncan
Pomology Advisor
University of California
Cooperative Extension
Stanislaus County
The Best Offense is a
Good Defense
• Think of the rootstock as
your insurance policy
• Protect yourself from early
orchard decline
What is the best rootstock?
Rootstock choice should be site
specific and based on the physical,
chemical, or biological conditions
in your field
Nemaguard
 Advantages
 “Immune” to rootknot nematode
(Meloidogyne spp.)
 Vigorous rootstock
 Compatible with all almond varieties
 Performs well in sandy loam & loam soils
 “Decent” anchorage
Nemaguard
 Disadvantages
 Susceptible to:
High soil pH / high lime
Salt (sodium, chloride, boron)
Phytophthora / “wet feet”
Oak root fungus (Armillaria spp.)
Crown gall (A. tumefaciens)
“Heart” rot / wood decay fungi
Ring (M. xenoplax) & root lesion (P. vulnus)
Bacterial canker
Lovell
 Very similar to nemaguard in many ways
 About 90% the size of nemaguard in sandy
loam soils
 A little better than nemaguard in heavy soil
 Highly susceptible to rootknot nematode
 More tolerant to ring nematode than most
other commercial stocks
Peach / Almond Hybrids

Includes Hansen, Nickels, Bright’s Hybrid
Cornerstone, Titan Hybrid, GF-677
 Advantages
 Very high vigor
 Tolerant to alkaline / high pH soils
 Tolerant to high boron, sodium & chloride
 Very good anchorage
 Resistant to rootknot nematode
Peach / Almond Hybrids
 Disadvantages
 Very high vigor
 Highly susceptible to ring nematode and
bacterial canker
 Highly susceptible to most root diseases
Phytophthora
oak root fungus
crown gall
Nemaguard
Nickels
5th season
Effect of Rootstock on Hullsplit of Nonpareil Almond.
July 30, 2008
Nickels
E
Barrier 1
DE
Cornerstone
DE
Hansen
CDE
Cadaman
BCD
Paramount
BCD
Lovell
BC
Guardian
B
Atlas
B
Kuban
B
Viking
AB
Adesoto
AB
Nemaguard
AB
Penta
A
0
20
40
60
Percent hullsplit
80
100
Percent Bloom of Carmel Almond as Influenced by Rootstock.
February 24, 2006.
Barrier 1
Nickels
Hansen
Cadaman
Atlas
Paramount
Viking
Lovell
Guardian
Nemaguard
Julior
Nonpareil / nemaguard
0
10
20
30
40
50
Percent Bloom
60
70
80
90
Salinity Tolerance of P/A Hybrid Rootstocks
Na (%)
Cl (%)
Nemaguard
0.64
0.22
Lovell
0.72
0.26
Hansen
0.17
0.09
Brights
0.20
0.07
Critical level
>0.25%
> 0.3%
September 2013 Leaf Levels of Sodium & Chloride in
Nonpareil & Carmel Almond on Various Rootstocks
Carmel
Nonpareil
% Sodium
% Chloride
% Sodium
% Chloride
Nemaguard
0.99
0.51
0.76
0.28
Lovell
0.70
0.50
-
-
Guardian
0.76
0.41
-
-
Cadaman
0.38
0.25
-
-
Empyrean 1
-
-
0.09
0.07
Hansen
0.09
0.07
-
-
Nickels
0.28
0.15
-
-
GF 677
0.04
0.05
-
-
Cornerstone
-
-
0.04
0.05
Viking
0.29
0.21
-
-
Atlas
0.94
0.29
-
-
Krymsk 86
-
-
0.60
0.32
Penta
0.30
0.41
0.34
0.53
Julior
0.35
0.16
-
-
Adesoto
-
-
0.06
0.04
Nickels peach/almond
hybrid dead from
Phytophthora root rot
Crown Gall on Hansen Rootstock
Bacterial
Canker
•Highly correlated
to ring nematode
•Sand / loamy sand
•Replanted
orchards
Complex Hybrids
 Viking (peach x almond x plum x apricot)
 Similar in size to nemaguard
 Resistant to rootknot nematode
 Tolerant to ring nematode
 Bacterial canker tolerance is similar to Lovell
but with higher yields
 More tolerant to high pH, sodium & chloride
than peach rootstocks
 Good anchorage
Soil Numbers of Pathogenic Nematodes as
Influenced by Almond Rootstock
Escalon, CA. January, 2005
A Comparison of Almond Rootstocks for
Incidence of Bacterial Canker
Escalon, CA 2005 (8th leaf)
Percent Trees Affected
60
A
Peach / almond hybrid rootstocks are very
50
susceptible to bacterial canker
40
Viking, Lovell & Guardian are tolerant
AB
30
B
20
BC
CD
10
D
D
D
Lovell
Viking
0
Hansen
Nickels
Bright's
Atlas
Nema
Guardian
Complex Hybrids
 Atlas – (peach x almond x plum x apricot)
 May be more tolerant to high pH, sodium & chloride
than Nemaguard
 Has shown high yield efficiency in several UC trials
 Resistant to rootknot nematode
 Susceptible to ring nematode and bacterial canker
 Unknown susceptibility to other root diseases
Effect of Rootstock on
Almond Hull Boron at Harvest
Darpinian Almond Rootstock Trial, 2004
A
50
A
B
BC
C
D
D
30
20
10
N
ic
ke
ls
N
an
se
n
H
ik
in
g
V
Lo
ve
ll
Br
ig
ht
s
tla
s
em
ag
ua
rd
G
ua
rd
ia
n
0
A
(ppm)
40
B
Alternative Rootstocks Being Tested
in Stanislaus County for Almond
Krymsk 86 – Russia
Plum (Myrobalan) x peach
– 80 – 90% size of nemaguard (similar to Lovell)
• Reported to be…
– Tolerant to heavy soils, root rot.
– Very good anchorage
– Very little suckering
– Appears to be very compatible with almond*
Alternative Rootstocks Being Tested
in Stanislaus County for Almond
•Empyrean 1 (Barrier 1) – Italy
Peach
•More vigorous than P / A hybrids
•Resistant to rootknot nematode
•Tolerant to sodium & chloride
•So far, very few ring nematodes in local trial
Yield (kernel kg / ha) of Nonpareil & Carmel Almond Trees
in 2010 (8th Leaf) & Cumulatively (4th – 8th Leaf).
Paramount
Nickels
Hansen 536
Cornerstone
Empyrean #1
Atlas
Avimag
Viking
Guardian
Lovell
Nemaguard
Empyrean 101
Empyrean 2
Julior
Nonpareil
2010
Cumulative
(8th leaf)
(4th – 8th leaf)
--3204 a
14,719
3139 a
15,113
2907 a
14,460
2668 ab
14,194
2599 b
12,428
2328 bc
12,059
2235 bc
11,447
2143 bc
11,273
2103 bc
10,897
1946 c
10,884
1357
d
6,028
965*
5,182*
---
Carmel
2010
Cumulative
(8th leaf)
(4th – 8th leaf)
3600 a
17,075
3529 a
18,744
3549 a
17,415
--3405*
16,914*
3111 ab
16,140
3085 ab
14,786
2569 b
13,354
2398 b
12,391
2455 b
11,486
2614 b
11,884
--1268*
-924*
--
Specific Challenges…
• Alkaline / salty soil or water
– P/A hybrid (not if heavy soil or ring nematodes)
• GF 677, Hansen, Cornerstone, Nickels, Brights
– Empyrean 1
– Viking
– Cadaman
Specific Challenges…
• Poor drainage / heavy soil
– Marianna 26-24
– Krymsk 86
– Marianna 40
– Ishtara
}
More vigorous than
M 26-24 with little
suckering
– Hiawatha ? Empyrean 2? Tetra? Empyrean 101?
Number of Suckers / Tree
May, 2011
Rootstock Effect on Tree Size of Fourth-Leaf
Butte Almond Trees.
December, 2010.
a
a
ab
ab
bc
bcd
cd
cd
d
Specific Challenges…
• Oak root fungus
– Marianna 26-24 is the only known commercially
available almond rootstock with ORF tolerance
Rootstock Trial Planted 2012
Heavy soil, high pH, saline water quality
1. Lovell
2. Nemaguard
3. Empyrean 1
4. Avimag
5. HBOK 50
6. Hansen
7. Brights #5
8. BB 106
9. Paramount
10. Flordaguard x Alnem
11. PAC9908-02
12. HM2 +
13. Viking
14. Atlas
15. Krymsk 86
16. Rootpac R
P. persica
P. persica
P. persica x P. davidiana
P. persica x P. davidiana
Harrow blood x Okinawa peach
P. dulcis x P. persica
P. dulcis x P. persica
P. dulcis x P. persica
P. dulcis x P. persica
P. persica x Israeli bitter almond
(P. dulcis x P. persica) x P. persica
Hansen (P. dulcis x P. persica) x Monegro (P. dulcis×P. persica)
P. persica (Nemaguard) x (P. dulcis [Jordanolo] x [P. blireiana = P.
cerasifera x P. armeniaca)
P. persica (Nemaguard) x (P. dulcis x P. blierianna)
P. cerasifera x P. persica
almond x plum
Don’t ignore the bottom half of the tree!
Think about what specific challenges
your ground may have and select the
appropriate rootstock.
Your best offense is a good defense.
Thank you for your
attention