Ben Dor rootstocks

Stone fruit rootstocks

Almond
Peach / Hanson – Rootstock of a hybrid almond-peach. Resistant to most nematodes, resistant to dry conditions. The rootstock is extremely suitable for replanting.
The tree is 125% the size of Marianna, suitable for plum, almond, peach and nectarine. Good in drained soil without excess water. Good productivity, large fruit, strong growth.
GF-677 – Medium soil, strong tree, 120% the size of Baladi, good for replanting, sensitive to nematodes and gall nuts, suitable for plum, almond and nectarine, productive.
749 – Medium soil, tree 120% the size of Baladi, the fruit on plums from this stock is particularly large. Suitable for almond, peach, plum and nectarine.
Plum
Peach / Citation – A rootstock developed in the US by Zeiger, a hybrid of plum, peach and almond. Medium-size tree – 70% of Marianna. Slow development in nursery in first year. Very large fruit. Suitable for plum and apricot. Yellows in the first years with excess water and iron deficiency, later has good resistance to excess water in soil. Fruit from this stock ripens about a week before the others.
Isthara Ferciana – A medium-size tree, weak in the first 3-4 years, later it grows stronger, good yield, significantly large fruit. Grafted on Ferciana, the tree does not grow offshoots, the rootstock is sensitive to chlorosis and nematodes, less sensitive to lack of ventilation. Suitable for plum, peach, nectarine and apricot.
Myran – Develops well in first years. Moderate yield in first years, increasing later. Size and color of fruit are better than stock for sowing peaches. Initial observations indicate better fruit than varieties grafted on the GF-677 rootstock. Myran does not grow offshoots. Suitable for medium soil. Suitable for plum, peach, nectarine and apricot.
Plum / 27-29 – Suitable for medium soil, sensitive to chalk, superficial root system – rich in capillaries, no sharp ends. Large fruit. Suitable for plum, peach, nectarine and apricot.
PIXY – Weak growth, suitable for dense planting, heavy soil, large fruit. Suitable mainly for plum.
Saint Julien 655 – Medium rootstock, suitable for heavy soil, good productivity, large fruit. Suitable for plum (solution for nectarines in heavy soil).
Sorted Marianna 24-26 – The most suitable for heavy soil and excess water in soil. The rootstock is extremely popular in Israel; its prominent disadvantage is the fruit size. Suitable for plum and apricot.

Saplings with Exposed Roots

Types of Saplings, EntireRange of Rootstocks and Varieties

1Annual Sapling, Root Exposed / A shoot of Hashbi or Molling Morton from the root in winter and grafted in the summer (May-August). This sapling has a healthy, well-developed root system, and is disease-free because of its brief growth period. The sapling will develop strong growth. In most varieties the annual sapling creates a system of offshoots at an obtuse angle, and in winter the sapling is shaped naturally.
The rootstock in saplings from shoots is straight and uniform. This method is advantageous for rootstock that are sensitive to aphids (?), such as Hashbi, because the material in its first reproduction does not touch the ground.
2Sapling with Exposed Root from Rootstock from the Mother Orchard / This is the most common method for Molling Morton. The sapling is an annual and straight.
The sapling is head grafted (?) and it is uniform. The branching off of the branches begins higher than saplings grafted in the summer.

caption: Annual sapling, branched out and shaped

3Sapling from a dormant bud / This method is not in common use in our nursery, but exists in most nurseries throughout the world. In the fall, it is grafted on a rooted stock brought from the mother orchard (in the majority of cases), or shoots (extremely rare). The rootstock grows for an entire season before being grafted. In the following Spring, it is cut down and the seedling grows another season in the nursery.
•Advantages of the method: the size of the sapling that grows is good and uniform.
•Disadvantages of the method: 3 years of production: 1 – in the mother orchard; 2 – the rootstock; 3 – growing the graft.
•The rootstock is usually not straight, there is no branching off in the sapling.
4Biannual sapling / The common method in cold European countries.
Year 1 – mother orchard
Year 2 – planting in a nursery and grafting a dormant eye.
Year 3 – growing a shoot to a height of 1.5 meters
Year 4 – moving, cutting to creating branching and shaping the sapling.
5 – Saplings from Shoots / Not produced and not recommended

Saplings in Sacks (Hothouse)

1 – Sapling in sack: 21/35 / A sapling up to 1.5 meter high – small sack.
Advantages:
For the planter: easy transportation, size of planting hole, amount of planting work, the sapling grows on a sterile bed, ensuring cleanliness of roots from disease and nematodes.
Planting date prior to harvest – from late March to July.
For religious community: Saves 1 year of orla if planted before Tu Be’av.
For the sapling grower: Economy of space in nursery, in filling and growth time.
Disadvantages: a smaller sapling, no branching out.
2 – Summer saplings – Large sack: 40/31 / Supply late July, a head-grafted rootstock grown from January in a hot house and reaching a shoot of 1.5-2.5 meters high without branching. The sapling resembles the winter sapling and reaches its size.
Advantages: Developed root system, developed shoot.
For religious community: Saves 1 year of orla if planted before Tu Be’av.
Disadvantages: expensive sapling, expensive transportation and expensive planting.
3 – Shaped summer saplings / Large sack, developed sapling, from a seedling planted in the sack in January after receiving doses of cold. The seedling is cut down to 50 cm, with at least 3 shoots under the cut. This year we will try to induce branching on the central axis as well, at a height of 80 cm.
Advantages: A shaped sapling is planted, saving work in field; for religious community - saves 1 year of orla if planted before Tu Be’av. (as previous 2 types) without losing size and branching as in the former ones. The sapling should grow into a tree at the end of the first year, like the winter sapling planted 7 months earlier, after 4-5 months of growing in the orchard.
4Winter sapling in sack on boards / The same sapling as the one with the exposed root from rootstock grown in the mother orchard (no. 2, Exposed Root Saplings), but marketed in winter, 6 months later, with the sapling in a sack on planks. There are two holes at the bottom of the sack.
For religious community: This method is recognized by the rabbinate; the age of the tree is counted from its growth in the nursery, so that a year of orla is gained. (The sapling is planted in the winter; on the day of planting, the age of the orchard for the purpose of calculating orla is 1 year.)
The convenient method affords these saplings an advantage over the winter exposed-root saplings.
Disadvantage: The method is currently accepted only by the Chief Rabbinate and some ultra-Orthodox rabbis; the Badatz does not yet accept it.
5Biannual Sapling in Sack / The large sapling is in a large sack, and is planted at age 1.5 years, when it is branched out and shaped. The fruit is picked two years from the date of planting, and the orla is not calculated (?). As in sapling 4, the saplings are grown on planks and the count for this purpose begins when they are planted in the sacks with holes. This method yields a large, branched out sapling.
Thus the shaping of the tree is saved and production is achieved with maximum speed. Disadvantage: not recognized by the Badatz, bit only by the Chief Rabbinate and some ultra-Orthodox rabbis. Another disadvantage is the danger of curling of the roots in the sack.

Saplings in sacks

Saplings in hothouse – peach