Annual Report for NC-140 Annual Meeting

The NC-140 regional rootstock trials are a set of apple, pear, peach, plum and cherry plantings which characterize how newly developed rootstocks respond under varying climate conditions across North America. Kentville Research and Development Centre has been involved in these trials since 1983. Three plantings (cherry, Modi apple and Buckeye Gala apple) are currently in progress. During 2019 we can report that the whole tree renewal pruning method used on cherry in 2016 and 2017 results in excellent fruit set on moderate to high vigor rootstocks. Modi apple performs well on all of the rootstocks in the trial, particularly G.935 and G.890. Other rootstocks performing equally well to the current industry standard (M.9T337) include G.11, G.202 and G.214. The Buckeye Gala apple planting was just planted and includes 8 rootstocks currently in development.