Growth and flowering of ornamentalMaluspollinators in apple orchards

SummaryFive ornamental Malus cultivars were grafted into 61 Cox’s Orange Pippin or Bramley’s Seeding orchards in England. Grafts of Malus cv Hillieri and त. χ purpurea cv Aldenhamensis usually grew well but M. cv Golden Hornet, M. cv John Downie and M. cv Profusion failed to grow because of latent viruses in the fruiting cultivars. Trees of Aldenhamensis and Hillieri on the rootstocks MM. 106, MM.l 11 and seedling crab were planted in a further 65 orchards. When planted in fruiting orchards of more than five years old, growth was very poor. There was little difference between the vigour of the ornamental Malus on the different rootstocks and all were weaker than cv Cox on MM. 106. Pruning treatments affected flower numbers, severe or no pruning treatments reduced flowering, but pruning soon after petal-fall ensured abundant regular flowering. A comparison of roostock effects on the flowering of Hillieri, Aldenhamensis and Golden Hornet failed to show any differences between MM. 106, MM.l 11 and seedling crab.