Three case studies where growers discuss their rootstock, soil, scion combinations.
Text Transcript and Description of Visuals
| Audio | Visual |
|---|---|
| Title slide. Video title: Matching Rootstocks to Scions, Soils and Site. | |
| So Dave, thanks so much for talking with us. | Two people stand, facing each other, in the row of an apple orchard. Text on screen reads “Tianna Dupont, WSU Extension Specialist” and “David Taber” |
| So obviously matching the scion to the rootstock and the soil and production system is always a tricky business for folks. So we thought we came and talked to people and saw some situations where they feel like, okay, this is a good combination or things to think about that might be helpful for folks. | The text on screen fades and disappears. |
| So you said this might be a good block for us to look at. So tell us a little bit about this block. What’s our, you know, rootstock, scion, what do we got going on here? | Text appears at the bottom of the screen which reads “WA 38 on M9.337 3rd leaf. 10.5 x 2.25 feet. Pouge gravely fine sandy loam.” |
| Well, yeah, we get to, it’s WA38 and our plantings in the past had been 11 by 2.75, and all that I learned from the guys down south, it felt like the tighter the blocks that I looked at, the better their production and their yield was. So we decided to go with 337, just a proven rootstock. We felt that it’d be a little more compact, being that this is a type 4 variety. And so we decided to go from 11. Some of our blocks are 10, and this particular one’s 10.5 by 2.25. and the 1,843 trees of the acre, we just felt that density of the tree. And once again, that scion with that root would keep it compact. Our biggest hurdle was trying to get to the top of that. | Text remains on screen over a slow panning shot of a row of small, trellised apple trees. |
| Very anxious about it, knowing that that one may not push as hard. But yeah, that’s why we chose it. | The camera shot changes back to Tianna and Dave standing in the orchard row. |
| Cool. So you said some of your production system reasons for choosing this, but tell me what was kind of your number one reason for choosing this route with this scion and what were you looking for? | |
| We were looking for precocity. We wanted the number of fruit per tree to be there year in and year out. I don’t know if this variety alternate bears or not. I just know that it’s a tip bear and it’s going to want to stretch out and get further and further. And we were wanting to keep it once again, higher density and compact. And therefore we felt 337 for us was a good solid choice. | The camera shot changes back to the slow panning shot of the orchard row. Ripe fruit is seen on each tree. |
| Perfect. So is there one or two things you did when you’re growing this block that you felt like were just really essential to get it to look the way it does? | The camera shot changes back to Tianna and Dave standing in the orchard row. |
| Well, look the way it does, the weeds we haven’t mowed, we’re afraid of hitting, or we haven’t sprayed here lately, we’re afraid of hitting fruit, whatnot. No doubt, the number, number one, hands down, we don’t have a growing high density for a whole lot of years. We’ve only got X amount of acres of them in our portfolio, but what I’ve learned number one for me and our soil that undulates it’ll change in 200 feet will change three times, water water. And excessive water for us is better than being where we think it’s just right or behind. So that was the number one thing, and we did fumigate, you know? We did soil samples and obviously fertilizer, you know? | Dave gestures to the tall weeds growing in the orchard. |
| We’re at approximately 200 pounds in the first year, these are third leaf trees by the way. | The camera shot changes back to the slow panning shot of the orchard row. Ripe fruit is seen on each tree. |
| Well, thank you so much. That’s helpful, and we’ll be looking at more of these, and we’ll get to compare and contrast what people did. | The camera shot changes back to Tianna and Dave standing in the orchard row. |
| Well, thanks, Dave, for showing us another block on our tour of looking at how to match these rootstocks to scions and soils. So tell us a little bit about the block we’re standing in here. | The camera shot changes to Tianna and Dave standing in the row of a different orchard. The trees are younger and smaller than the previous block. Fruit is not seen on the trees. |
| Well, it’s a block of SugarBee, and this is the first leaf. We have some SugarBee that are on grafted trees, and this is our first high density block that we did. And we chose 337, once again for precocity. From what little we knew about the variety, we thought that may help. | Text appears at the bottom of the screen which reads “SugarBee on M9.337 1st leaf. 10 x 2.25 feet. Cashmere fine sandy loam and Pogue fine sandy loam.” |
| We wanted to go tighter, so we went 10 by 2 1⁄4, 1,936 trees to the acre, to once again help on that precocity. And replant scenario, so we did fumigate. Yeah, we had grapes in here before. And yeah, once again, just to get bins per acre was our goal, along with quality target fruit. | Text remains on screen over a slow panning shot of a row of small, trellised apple trees. |
| Okay, so in terms of your management goal, the number one thing then was probably precocity for that bins per acre? | The camera shot changes back to Tianna and Dave standing in the orchard row. |
| Precocity was, but we wanted to fill our space, and that’s what did make me anxious about a 337, is will we fill our space? I don’t have a lot of experience in high-density stuff, so I was very anxious about that. But with my work with NIC-29, yeah a little more vigorous but you know fire bite issues, root suckers, just some different things. | The camera shot changes to slowly move down the orchard row, showing the trees and the trellis system. |
| Okay and anything that you did particular in here that you think is helping it look nice this year? | |
| Well, you know, we tried to do a lot of little things. We tried to plant on time, and on time means a lot earlier than I was ever used to planting. So we were kind of goofy about that, but we got it in as early as possible so everything was prepped ahead of time. | The camera shot changes back to Tianna and Dave standing in the orchard row. |
| I really think everyday, every week for sure counts. So we got in as early as we could. And then we tried to do everything, all the little details during planting, right? Spread the roots out, all the little things. | The camera shot changes to a still shot of several trees in the orchard row swaying in the breeze. |
| We tried to have the trellis up as soon as possible to keep them straight and lots of the little details. And then other than that, it came down to irrigation once again, water. Water, water, water. So we’re trying once again to bring the density of the trees up, match that scion and rootstock to that. And then, but we got to build the factory. | The camera shot changes back to Tianna and Dave standing in the orchard row. |
| Thank you so much, Marty, for being here, giving us some information, some examples that you have in the block about the importance to match the scion and the rootstock with the soil type. | Two people stand, facing each other, in the row of an apple orchard. Text on screen reads “Jenny Bolivar-Medina, WSU Extension ITT” and “Marty Robinson”. |
| Thanks for coming. So this is WA38 planted on Geneva 41. | Text appears at the bottom of the screen which reads “WA38 on G.41 3rd leaf. 10 x 3 feet, 1,452 trees per acre. Sandy loam.” |
| It was planted as a quick start in the summer of June of 2018. So they were, you know, they were 18 inches tall. It’s planted on a 3 by 10 spacing, single leader. The trees grew very well. This is finishing their third leaf. They’re to the top wire. It’s a great combination. We haven’t seen any fire blight issues, ground rot issues. | Text remains on screen. The camera shot changes to slowly move down the orchard row, showing the trees and trellis system. |
| Like I said, the trees have filled their space and hopefully we can pick a nice crop off them next year. | The camera shot changes back to Jenny and Marty standing in the orchard row. |
| What is the soil type? | |
| We have very good soil. It’s a sandy loam. No rocks. Very grower friendly. Cosmic is a very grower friendly variety. It was a good match. Like I said, you can see they fill their space and they look good. | |
| Probably our biggest thing we look at was trees filling their space and having the ability down the road of mechanization. A lot of orchards we use platforms. We have a hedger, so next spring we’ll probably come in summer and hedge this. We just have to get away from labor as much as we can. | The camera shot changes to slow panning shot of a row of small, trellised apple trees. |
| So that’s part of our goal is to plan everything, whether it’s robotic picking down the road, working off platforms, keeping our labor costs down. | The camera shot changes back to Jenny and Marty standing in the orchard row. |
| So this is Premier Honeycrisp, planted in, as a quick start again, as planted in the summer of 2019. So where we’re standing now, these are Geneva 890. And on past me, you see the white, white pole, anything past the white paint is G41. | The camera shot changes to Jenny and Marty standing in the row of a different orchard. The trees are younger and smaller than the previous block. White paint is visible on the trellis structures. Text on screen reads “Premier Honey Crisp on G.890 2nd leaf. 3 x 10 feet, 1452 trees per acre. Ewall loamy fine sand.” |
| 3×10, it’s the reason I was choosing 890s, this is really sandy soil and in the previous blocks we’ve always had trouble getting them to grow, fill their space. | The text on screen fades and disappears. Marty kicks at the soil. |
| So I thought we’ll take these 890s and put them in this really sandy area and see how they perform. And they’ve done quite well, not that the G.41s haven’t done well, but comparing to the 890s, they haven’t grown as much. | The camera shot changes to show the orchard row at the division between the G.890 and G.41 trees. The G.41 trees are visibly smaller than the G.890 trees. Text on screen labels the tree sections by their rootstocks. |
| Now these trees were bigger quick starts. They were 18 inches taller when we planted them than the G.41 so it’s not a true comparison but they’ve both done very well. My fear is, you know, being able to crop the 890s earlier than the G.41s because we’re in the same row, so we’ll learn from our mistakes. | The camera shot changes back to Jenny and Marty standing in the orchard row. |
| Thank you. So tell us, what is the management goals that influence your choice? | |
| Filling our space is our number one goal. It was a real concern here just because, like I said, the sandy soil and not being able to give enough water. So I thought the 890 would help that and fill our space. | |
| Thank you so much, Marty. | |
| You’re welcome. | |
| Hi Tom, thank you for having us. Please tell us about this block. What are the varieties that you have here, the rootstocks and the soil type? | Two people stand, facing each other, in the row of an apple orchard. Text on screen reads “Jenny Bolivar-Medina, WSU Extension ITT” and “Tom Auvil”. |
| This is a WA38 block that we planted in 2018. We have G.890, G.969 and G.41. We have three distinct soil types in this block that starts with sand, evolves into clay loam and then into loamy clay. So we have the G.890 in sand, the G.41 in the clay loam and 969 in the heavy loamy clay. | Text appears at the bottom of the screen which reads “WA38 on G.890, G969, G.41, 3rd leaf. 12 x 1.5 feet, 2,420 trees per acre. Burch loam and Cashmont Sandy loam.” |
| This is our second crop in these third leaf trees and we did not chemical thin or hand thin this crop. | The text remains on screen over a slow panning shot of the orchard row. Fruit is visible on the trees. |
| What is the tree spacing? | |
| The tree spacing is 12 feet by 1.5 feet. We have a pollinizer every 25 trees, and they alternate with Mount Everest and Snowdrift. | The camera shot changes back to Jenny and Tom standing in the orchard row. |
| Thank you. | |
| Hi, Tom. Please, give us an explanation of what are the management of your goals that influence the setup of this block? | Jenny and Tom appear, facing each other in a different part of the orchard. |
| I had the opportunity to plant three different Geneva rootstocks, G.969, G.41, and G.890. | |
| We put 890 in the sand, we put 41 in the clay loam, and 969 in the loamy clay. And so as we look at the trees, it’s very hard to see where one rootstock starts or ends because the rootstocks were able to make up some of the differences in the soils. | The camera shot changes to a slow panning shot of the orchard row. The trees appear to be similar heights throughout the row. |
| We were hoping not to have to do any special irrigation or soil amendment program to manage these wildly different soil textures in the same row. Our irrigation system is set up to irrigate every night. And so we try to make up some of the wild differences in soil moisture capacity by just watering for the sand. And we water fairly short sets every night. | The camera shot changes back to Jenny and Tom standing in the orchard row. |
| Thank you Tom. | |
| A credit slide appears with videography and funding information. |
Link to YouTube video: Case Studies in Matching Rootstocks to Scions and Varieties
