I read that apricot varieties of European origin tend to be self-fertile, while those of Central Asian origin are not. Orangered has Lasgerdi Mashhad (a Persian variety) as one of its parents and is described as requiring pollination from another apricot. Tomcot is described as partially self-fertile, and it’s a heavy cropper, so it can probably do ok as a single apricot tree.
I called Van Well Nursery about a Tomcot and they, without being asked, indicated that it is not self-fertile.
You should consider Methley over Shiro. Almost as reliable and much better tasting… and it is early. Does well in our area. Resistant to some diseases though you have to prune out any black-knot it might attract- its only detraction.
I’ve had success with Whitegold cherry, as have others. The Gisela stocks are reported to do best around here, though so far I’ve had good luck with Krymsk.5 (while others say it is a canker magnet).
I am also a fan of early-ripening fruit, so this year I planted the Blackpearl cherry. Supposed to be the earliest ripening cherry well-suited to the humid East. We’ll see…
I had Tomcot and Moorpark both on Citation and they abruptly died this past spring for no obvious reason, but probably due to the warm winter followed by that diabolical late April freeze we had. @Alan says Hargrand is a rugged survivor, so I ordered one from Cummins on the hardier Manchurian rootstock- hoping for better results. I will multi-bud other varieties onto it, including Early Blush which is supposed to be… early (duh). I planted a Moniqui on Citation around the same time the other two died. It is still alive… but here comes the winter…
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Other early cherries I’m trying are Sam and Black Tartarian. Waiting for fruit…
Matt, I ordered a Tomcot on Citation for spring delivery and now after seeing your post, I’m a bit nervous. Do you think the rootstock led to its death, and if so, why?
If it’s just a “too cold” thing, I might be ok since I’m in 8a, but if the rootstock just doesn’t like the temperature changes in the east, that won’t bode well for me at all.
I think I could also get the Tomcot on Lovell. Do you have any on Lovell, and how has it done for you?
I’m getting 3 different apricots, all on different rootstock (Manchurian, Myro, and ??) since no one can say specifically what will do best here, but I’m not wanting to kneecap myself from the beginning either…
Thanks if you can provide any insight.
VSOP,
I don’t know but I suspect so. That’s why I’m gonna try Hargrand on Manchurian.
It might have something to do with scion to stock compatibility enhancing or threatening the likelihood of successful growth and “good flow” recovery from dormancy.
I have some plums kicking ass on Citation at my mountain property, but the apricots bit the dust.
Lovell is a fantastic stock for peaches but I have no idea how apricots would perform on it.
Despite being in Maryland, my weekend property is up at 1,600 feet above sea-level and tucked behind the front range of the Appalachians… so its winters and springs are more like a northern climate’s. Late freezes can be nasty up there, and any warm spell in winter can fool my trees into breaking bud too early.
Desicating drying winds probably are a key factor too. Last April’s freeze events were not only cold but very windy.
Hargrand was bred in Canada.
I’ve heard that @Appleseed70 has had trouble with cots too, and he flat out gave up on them. He is in the western Maryland mountains.
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By the way, @scottfsmith is in Baltimore and he’s had success with apricots.
You might be fine. You don’t know until you try.
I like the idea of trying different varieties on different stocks to see what succeeds at each location.
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Hargrand - that’s a new one to me
Matt- Thanks for the recommendations, I will look into them more closely. My current thought process has me adding adding a Glenglo peach (starting peach season slightly earlier), two apricots (Tomcot and Early Blush), and tart cherries (Montmorency and Carmine Jewel Bush Cherry). I have been a bit wishy-washy deciding between Montmorency and a sweet cherry. Oh, and I had given up on plums (for now).
Since you brought up the “pearl” cherry series, I recently read that Ebony pearl is self-fertile (Cummins description), which was a surprise to me. Most references do not list it as such. A possible alternative for Montmorency?
I have three (3) sweet cherries in bloom now!
Blackpearl on Gisela.6 (first time this tree has bloomed):
Blackgold on Gisela.12 (first-time bloomer as well):
Whitegold on Krymsk.5 (repeat bloomer!):
I hope these flowers turn into fruit fast. Can’t wait to try these cherries!
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I had my robada die, well in the process of dying now. My apricot blooms all got zapped this spring, but they all leafed out and about a week ago it just started shriveling up. It’s on citation, I had my Canadian white on citation do the same thing 2 years ago. So far the cots on myrobolan have been fine, I’ve got several on both citation and myrobolan including some apriums so I will see how they do on each type of rootstock.
Can you update us on the performance/survival of your various cots on various rootstocks, please?
Yes. The apricots and apriums on myrobolan are much healthier trees. I have Monique on mariana it looks good as well. I have 3 tasty rich apriums on myrobolan that I just grafted this spring and they are literally 8 feet tall now and the leafs look perfect still. The 3 year old tasty rich on citation is about the same hight, but has lost most of its leafs and the leaves never looked as healthy as the myrobolan trees did all summer. I have tomcot, orangered,tasty rich,Monique, and leahcot all the same age. The tomcot, leahcot, and tasty rich are on citation, and If you could see the trees you would see the obvious difference. So for me I will never use citation on apricots again. My plums and pluots on citation are great. Also peaches and nectarines on citation here are no good at all, almost no growth, and not healthy looking
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Interesting about Citation. I know you’re in Missouri, but UK does not recommend Citation rootstocks for anything in these parts. They do like Myro and Marianna in some cases, on plums/cots, and Lovell or Bailey for peaches/nects. For cherries it’s Mazzard, or a few of the Gisela RS.
They really don’t say why Citation hasn’t done well in their trials. Because of their suggestions, all my peaches are on Lovell. I’m interested in trying some cots or pluots, and if I do, they’d be on Myro.
Thanks for your report.
Pluots and plums are just fine on citation here, even thiugh this summer we had virtually no rain from the end of jully until a few weeks ago, they did fine, most were 4th year in the groung. Never had to water them, but I did water the apricots and apriums on citation. Defenetly don’t use on peaches, nectarines, or apricots
I just read that Citation was developed by Zaiger, so I wonder if it’s more suited to warmer locations, not fringe areas like we’re in. Your location is prob generally warmer than here, so maybe that’s why UK doesn’t recommend it in these parts. Maybe a hardiness issue? Just speculating…
Just wondering, but has anyone else in the forum had good results with Citation that are in this part of the country?
First year apricots had a 50% failure rate: Early Blush on Myro looks very nice, but Tomcot (Lovell) did not make it. Actually, the rootstock is growing quite vigorously still. The Tomcot issue can be read here: No tomcots this year from Raintree!
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Yeah. Apricots bloom so early in the Mid-Atlantic, and then get WHACKED by late frosts and freezes. Alan has theorized some sort of “cambium burn” occurs. It seems Citation is unable to help apricots recover and plow through these springtime setbacks.
All of my apricots on Citation died in spring cold events.
All my plums on Citation are fine.
I am trialing Manchurian understocks for cots…
I would love to hear others’ continued experiences with cots grafted on Manchurian, Myro, and various Marianna.
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Citation acts like it is soil sensitive - I have heard many reports over the years on it and have seen no consistent pattern in terms of location. Some studies have shown it has trouble with uptake of Zn and N. Its always been fine for me, maybe because I am good on those guys.
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Bob Purvis sent me a first-year graft of a Jerseycot on Manchurian last fall. It was an absolute twig. Maybe a quarter to a third of an inch in diameter for the rootstock. The scion was tiny. I think overall it might have been 1.5 ft tall. The graft union looked wonderful.
From that point until right now, the ‘cot has grown to 5 feet tall, has the start of several good scaffolds, and the trunk is wider than my thumb.
I just planted it in my native soil (which is a sandy loam), top dressed with compost, then put a layer of freshly-chipped wood chips. One fertilization at mid year with fish fertilizer, the recommended amount. So I had good conditions for a ‘cot to grow, but certainly not perfect ones.
My other trees on Myro and Citation that I planted this spring grew as wel, and I’m not disappointed by them, but nothing like this cot on Manchurian.
You probably can’t judge much by one experience, but I hope this will add to your data set. Maybe it shows how much fall planting can make a difference instead of how superior a rootstock Manchurian is. But this far the experience with Manchurian has been excellent. No borers or any kind of disease issues. I’m planning to turn this into a Franken-apricot and it seems like I chose a good rootstock to do it on.
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