Performance of interstocks in the plant development and fruit quality of plum trees

Abstract

The production of compact plants, which are slightly lacking in vigor and as productive as conventionally sized plants, is a trend in fruit growing. The objective of this study was to evaluate the vegetative performance and fruit quality of Gulfblaze and Reubennel plums intergrafted into two peach genotypes (UFV 186 and UFV 286). The experiment was arranged in a randomized block design using a 3x2 factorial arrangement (interstocks x cultivar) with four replications and one plant per plot. The non-intergrafted treatment was considered the control. Ten fruits were collected per plot for physical and chemical analyses. The evaluations were performed in the years 2014 and 2015. The interstock UFV 286 produced Gulfblaze trees with lower height in the two years of evaluation. When using the UFV 286 interstock, the trunk diameters were 50.2% smaller in Gulfblaze and 44.25% smaller in Reubennel than the control cultivars. Intergrafting had no influence on the fruit mass of Reubennel. In general, the peach genotypes UFV 186 and UFV 286 can be recommended as interstocks for reducing plant size in the plums studied. Intergrafting had no effect on fruit quality of Reubennel plums.