Cherry Rootstocks

for the Modern Orchard

Lynn E. Long, Linda J. Brewer and Clive Kaiser, Department of Horticulture, Oregon State University
email: [email protected], [email protected] and [email protected]
Presented at the 57th Annual IFTA Conference, February 2014, in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada

Traditional rootstocks for commercial Five sour cherry rootstocks from Michigan series mentioned above and two new
cherry production include Mazzard and State University are still under evaluation, Gisela® rootstocks, all of these rootstocks
Mahaleb. These rootstocks support a but have significant potential to transform have been grown commercially for at
moderate crop load, and with routine cherry growing practices. least a decade. In that time a great deal
care, a proper leaf to fruit ratio is gener- has been learned about their attributes.
ally easy to maintain. However, none of All of these precocious rootstocks make
them confer precocity, and all can be very high-density plantings possible and en- Gisela 3
vigorous, making plantings more difficult able new systems that are easily trained, Prunus cerasus Schattenmorelle × Prunus
to manage and harvest. easily pruned and more easily harvested. canescens
Higher early returns and more sustainable
Growers today have the advantage of yields through maturity are also possible. Gisela 3 is the most dwarfing of the Gise-
many fully- or semi-dwarfing rootstocks In many cases labor demands are reduced la series. Although it has gained accep-
that offer precocity, allow for high-density and efficiencies are increased. tance by growers in northern Europe, it
plantings, and bring a faster return on has not been widely planted in the U.S.
investment. These precocious rootstocks Summary of rootstock or most other cherry production areas of
include the Gisela® series, the Krymsk® attributes the world. Due to its very dwarfing nature
series and MaxMa 14®, among others. With the exception of the MSU rootstock it is recommended for planting only in

Vogel Central Leader trees growing on five rootstocks.

24 Compact Fruit Tree • December 2014

Dormant pruning KGB trees.

deep, fertile soils. Reports from Germany accentuated when Gisela 5 is combined such as Lapins and Sweetheart.
indicate Gisela 3 provides high early yields with productive cultivars such as Lapins
and when intensively pruned and man- and Sweetheart. When properly pruned Gisela 6 is well suited for a wide range
aged can produce high-quality fruit. and grown on deep, fertile soils, Gisela of soil types from light to heavy; however,
5 may be suitable for very high density good drainage is essential. Anchorage can
Trees are free of suckers and produce plantings, especially when combined with be a problem, especially on windy sites,
wide branch angles. Trees should be sup- an extremely high-density system such as although most growers in the PNW do
ported. Gisela 3 is recommended for very the Super Slender Axe. not provide support.
high-density plantings such as the Super
Slender Axe system. Gisela 3 is particularly Gisela 6 Gisela 12
well adapted to covered orchards. P. cerasus x P. canescens (P. cerasus x P. canescens
Gisela 6 is the most popular rootstock Gisela 12 generally produces a tree with
Gisela 5 for new plantings in the Pacific North- slightly more vigor than Gisela 6 when
P. cerasus x P. canescens west (PNW) of the U.S. Even though it is combined with Regina and several other
Gisela 5 has gained wide acceptance in a relatively vigorous rootstock, it is easy to varieties, but it exhibits slightly less vigor
northern Europe and in the northeastern manage. Typical planting densities are 300 with Bing. Gisela 12 is both precocious
United States where summer tempera- to 500 trees per acre (740-1235 trees per and productive, producing heavy early
tures tend to be relatively cool. However, hectare). Although it exhibits medium-high crops, with full production possible by the
Gisela 5 has failed to gain widespread ac- vigor, it is also very precocious, producing fifth leaf. Good fruit size and quality is
ceptance in the major cherry production harvestable crops by the third leaf with full possible with proper pruning.
areas on the west coast of the United production possible by the fifth leaf. High
States, Chile or other hot summer regions. production potential continues on Gisela 6 Gisela 12 is adapted to a wide range of
Gisela 5 produces trees about 50% the into maturity, so proper pruning is essential soils and is somewhat better anchored
size of Mazzard. The medium-low vigor to maintain adequate leaf-to-fruit ratio and than Gisela 6 although there have been
of this rootstock coupled with very high good fruit size. High fruit quality is possible some reports of trees leaning in the wind.
fruit production means that trees must be with cultivars of moderate-to-low produc- The tree structure is open and spreading
pruned and managed intensively in order tivity such as Bing, Skeena and Regina, but and new branches form readily. Scion
to produce high quality fruit. This issue is more difficult with very productive cultivars compatibility has not been a problem.

Compact Fruit Tree • December 2014 25

The variety, rootstock and training system trial being pruned.

Gisela 13 leaf in Oregon indicates premium quality suckering. Tree form is good, with wide
Schattenmorelle x P. cansecens fruit can be consistently produced on this crotch angles. Like Krymsk 5, Krymsk 6 is
According to information provided by rootstock when properly managed. hyper sensitive to PDV and PNRSV.
Gisela, Inc., Gisela 13 is similar to or
slightly more vigorous than Gisela 6 with Krymsk 5 is adapted to a wide range of MaxMa 14
about the same yield capacity, although soil types, with reports it will grow well in P. mahaleb x P. avium
both of these traits varied with the evalu- heavier soils than Mazzard. Accounts from Although MaxMa 14 has gained broad ac-
ation site. These trees were reported to be Russia, where this rootstock originates, in- ceptance in southern France for its good
well anchored with few root suckers. dicate it is well adapted to cold climates. performance in calcareous soils, it has ob-
In addition, it has performed well in the tained only moderate acceptance in other
Gisela 17 hot climate production regions of the production areas globally. A perception by
P. canescens x P. avium western U.S. Trees are well anchored and growers in Chile that it provides some resis-
According to Gisela, Inc. (giselacherry. do not need support. Low-to-moderate tance to bacterial canker has encouraged
com/), Gisela 17 produces a tree some- levels of crown suckers have been noted. growers there to plant MaxMa 14. Some
what larger than Gisela 6 or Gisela 13 with Trees grafted onto Krymsk 5 rootstock growers in the PNW like its semi-vigorous
a yield potential similar to or somewhat are hypersensitive to prune dwarf virus growth habit and moderate precocity.
less than Gisela 6. They further reported (PDV) and Prunus necrotic ringspot virus
that Gisela 17 shows somewhat reduced (PNRSV). MaxMa 14 shows good scion compatibil-
potential to over-crop compared to Gisela ity and a broad adaptation to soil types
5 or Gisela 6, suggesting this rootstock Krymsk 6 and environmental conditions. Very little
would do well with the more productive P. cerasus x (P. cerasus x P. maackii) suckering has been noted.
self-fertile cultivars. Gisela 17 is reported Krymsk 6 produces a tree that is only 75
to be less demanding as to soil and climat- to 80% the size of trees on Krymsk 5 or MSU rootstock series
ic conditions than Gisela 5 and has per- Gisela 12, so higher density plantings Five sour cherry rootstocks are currently
formed well in replant sites in Germany. are possible with this rootstock. In one being evaluated in Michigan and the PNW
commercial orchard in Oregon, Lapins for their ability to serve as sweet cherry
Krymsk 5 and Skeena fruit size and quality on this rootstocks. The five rootstocks, Cass, Clair,
P. fruticosa x P. lannesiana rootstock has been excellent through the Clinton, Crawford and Lake, have each
Krymsk 5 has been used in commercial twelfth leaf. shown some very interesting character-
production in Oregon for more than 10 istics. In all cases these rootstocks are at
years. Tree size is similar to Gisela 12 but it Like Krymsk 5, Krymsk 6 rootstocks seem least as dwarfing as Gisela 5, while Clare
is neither as precocious nor as productive. to be adapted to both cold and hot cli- produces an even smaller tree. In addition,
Commercial production of Lapins and mates as well as heavier soils. Trees are all rootstocks trend towards more flowers
Skeena on Krymsk 5 through the twelfth well anchored, with low-to-moderate root per leader cross-sectional area than Gisela

26 Compact Fruit Tree • December 2014

5 or Gisela 6. However, after two years of
trials at Prosser, Washington, fruit size on Figure 1
all rootstocks was similar to Gisela 5 and
Gisela 6 (Personal communication, Dr.
Amy Iezzoni, Department of Horticulture,
Michigan State University).

However, similar fruit size was only ob-

tained in 2012 because pea-sized fruit
were thinned by 50%. In 2013 fruit were
thinned to achieve standard crop loads
for each selection. In many parts of the
world, high labor costs would constrain
growers from using hand labor to thin
flowers or fruitlets. The use of pruning
and chemicals could reduce the demand
for hand thinning and allow growers to
obtain consistently high yields and reduce
annual yield fluctuations.

In addition, Lake, Cass and Clare signifi-

cantly advance fruit ripening by up to one
week. For some markets, this may be a
considerable advantage, providing growers
with higher returns and greater revenue.

Variety, rootstock, training

system trial
In order to grow consistently high-quality FIGURE 1 – Relative tree size of Sweetheart grown on four rootstocks and trained to
fruit, these precocious rootstocks must three systems as expressed by trunk cross sectional area (cm2).
be well matched with the proper scion.
A trial was established in The Dalles, Or-
egon in 2006 with the goal of determin-
ing which rootstock, variety and training
system combinations produced the best
yields of high-quality fruit.
Figure 2

The first objective of this work was to as-

sess the influence of three training sys-
tems on fruit yield and quality of Bing,
Regina and Sweetheart trees. Training
systems included 1) a multi-leader bush
(Kym Green Bush (KGB)), 2) a spindle
system (Vogel Central Leader (VCL)) and
3) a tri-axe system (Steep Leader (SL)).
The second objective was to determine
the influence on yield and fruit quality of
up to five different rootstocks on Bing,
Regina and Sweetheart trees. The final
objective was to evaluate the influence
of the interaction of these cultivars, root-
stocks and training systems on yield and
fruit quality.

Regina scion-wood was budded onto

Mazzard, MaxMa 14, Gisela 6, Krymsk 5
and Krymsk 6 and planted in a commer-
cial orchard in 2006 in The Dalles, Oregon,
USA. Bing was budded onto rootstocks
Mazzard, MaxMa 14 and Gisela 6. Sweet-
heart was budded onto rootstocks Maz-
zard, MaxMa 14, Gisela 6 and Krymsk 5. FIGURE 2 – Fruit size on all training systems, Bing, Regina, and Sweetheart 4th
Each variety-rootstock combination was through 7th leaf.

Compact Fruit Tree • December 2014 27

 ratio and high-quality fruit. On Gisela 6
Figure 3 rootstock, Sweetheart bore fruits of excel-
lent size (Fig. 2).

The four rootstocks evaluated in this trial

with Sweetheart produced the largest
fruit on the following systems (Fig. 2):
Mazzard KGB, VCL, SL
Gisela 6 VCL, SL
MaxMa 14 KGB, VCL, SL
Krymsk 5 KGB, VCL, SL

Overall Gisela 6 was the best rootstock

selection to provide a balance of yield and
fruit size. Compared to Mazzard the fol-
lowing rootstocks, through the sixth leaf,
produced as follows:
n 2.3 times greater yield on Gisela 6;
n 1.5 times greater yield on MaxMa 14;
n 1.4 times greater yield on Krymsk 5.

Although Gisela 6 produced greater quan-

tities of high-quality fruit compared to the
other rootstocks, Sweetheart on Gisela
6 is a challenging combination for many
growers. The production of consistently
FIGURE 3 – Average per tree fourth through sixth leaf yield of three varieties high-quality fruit is made difficult by the
combined with four rootstocks. productive nature of both the scion and
rootstock. Both MaxMa 14 and Krymsk
5 provide greater precocity than Mazzard
trained to each of three systems: the KGB, pared to Mazzard the following root- while more easily maintaining the proper
VCL and SL. stocks, through the sixth leaf, produced leaf-to-fruit ratio than Gisela 6.
as follows (Fig. 3):
Tree size n 3.2 times greater yield on Krymsk 6; Summary
When combined with Sweetheart, Maz- n 3.1 times greater yield on Krymsk 5; With productive rootstocks, the impor-
zard produced the largest trees with all n 2.6 times greater yield on Gisela 6; tance of proper training and pruning can-
training systems (Fig. 1). Krymsk 5, MaxMa and not be overemphasized. If mismanaged,
14 and Gisela 6 produced trees that were n 1.7 times greater yield on MaxMa 14. trees can quickly become imbalanced,
relatively similar in size with Gisela 6 trend- producing small, poor quality fruit. How-
ing slightly smaller than other rootstocks. Bing is a variety of moderate productiv- ever, when properly managed, all of
ity with yields intermediate between the these precocious rootstocks can provide
Yield and fruit size: Select low-yielding Regina and the high-yielding early high yields of premium quality fruit.
a rootstock to match the Sweetheart. Highest yields were obtained This research helps to identify the best
variety and training system on Gisela 6 rootstock (Fig. 3). combinations of variety and training sys-
Regina. With a variety of lower produc- tem for a number of important, preco-
tivity, such as Regina, it is important to The three rootstocks evaluated in this trial cious rootstocks.
choose rootstocks and training systems to with Bing produced the largest fruit on
maximize productivity. Our trials showed the following systems (Fig. 2): Acknowledgements
that Regina grafted to any of the root- Mazzard KGB The authors would like to thank Greg
stocks produced fruit of the highest qual- Gisela 6 KGB, VCL, SL Johnson of The Dalles, Oregon for host-
ity (Fig. 2). MaxMa 14 VCL ing the trial and IFTA for partial funding
of this work.
The five rootstocks evaluated in this trial Overall Gisela 6 was the best rootstock se-
with Regina produced the largest fruit on lection to provide a good balance of yield Additional resources:
Long, L.E. 2007. Four Simple Steps to Pruning
the following systems (Fig. 2): and fruit size. Compared to Mazzard the
Cherries on Gisela and other Productive Root-
Mazzard SL following rootstocks, through the sixth stocks. PNW 592. Oregon State University Exten-
Gisela 6 KGB leaf, produced as follows: sion Service, Corvallis OR.
MaxMa 14 KGB, SL • 6.9 times greater yield on Gisela 6;
Long, L.E. and C. Kaiser. 2010. Sweet Cherry
Krymsk 5 KGB • 5.1 times greater yield on MaxMa 14.
Rootstocks for the Pacific Northwest. PNW 619.
Krymsk 6 KGB Oregon State University Extension Service, Cor-
Sweetheart is a highly productive variety, vallis OR. https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/
The greatest yields were from Regina on and proper pruning is critical on any root- bitstream/handle/1957/18464/pnw619.pdf
Krymsk 6, Krymsk 5 and Gisela 6. Com- stock to obtain a balanced leaf-to-fruit
 

28 Compact Fruit Tree • December 2014