PERFORMANCE OF ADAFUEL AND ADARCIAS AS PEACH ROOTSTOCKS

Field performance of several peach x almond hybrid [Prunus amygdalo-persica (West) Redh.] rootstocks grafted with different peach cultivars [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] were tested for 11 to 12 years in three experiments. 'Loadel' scions were grafted on Adafuel, Adarcias, Albatarrech, Calanda, and GF 677 hybrids. 'Catherina' and 'Flavortop' scions were grafted on Adafuel, Adarcias, and GF 677 hybrids. Adafuel was the most invigorating rootstock for 'Loadel', after the 12 years of scion growth, but Adarcias also promoted higher scion productivity than other peach x almond hybrid rootstocks. Although there were no differences in 'Catherina' productivity when grafted on different rootstocks, this cultivar and 'Flavortop' grafted on Adarcias showed the least vigor. 'Flavortop' on Adafuel had more vigor than on the Other rootstocks. According to our results, Adafuel (a vigorous rootstock) seems to be suitable for peach production in low nutrient and calcareous soils unfavorable for peach seedling rootstocks. Adarcias seems promising as a peach rootstock for avoiding excessive scion growth, and it may be useful where tree size needs to be controlled.