Budagovsky, Geneva, Pillnitz, And Malling Apple Rootstocks Affect ‘Honeycrisp’ Performance Over The First Six Years Of The 2010 NC-140 Honeycrisp Apple Rootstock Trial

One of the most critical elements of any apple orchard is the rootstock, particularly in high-density systems where the economic risks and potential returns are the highest. For more than 40 years, the NC-140 Multi-State Research Project has involved researchers from throughout North America to evaluate fruit-tree performance on different rootstocks, with the principle goal of helping orchardists optimize their rootstock selection. NC-140 greatly enhances the evaluation process with uniform trials at diverse locations including a wide variety of soils and climates.

Budagovsky rootstocks are from the Michurinsk State Agrarian University in Michurinsk, Tambov Region, Russia. The breeding program began with I.V. Budagovsky making crosses in 1938, with the principle goal of developing rootstocks with enhanced winter hardiness (Cummins and Aldwinckle, 1983). He released one of the best known Budagovsky Rootstocks, B.9, in 1962. NC-140 first tested Budagovsky rootstocks (B.9 and B.490) in the 1984 NC-140 Apple Rootstock Trial (NC-140, 1996) and has included Budagovsky rootstocks in numerous trials in the ensuing years (Autio et al., 2001; 2013; Marini et al., 2001a; 2001b; 2006; 2014; Robinson et al., 2007).