What’s the difference between Standard (Peach) rootstock and Lovell for the Northeast? (z 6a). Is Lovell more dwarfing and does it have more tolerance for wet soils?
lovell is a rootstock which is grown from seeds from the lovell peach which are known to come true enough to type to have certain qualities. it’s a standard size peach rootstock. as far as the properties of lovell I’m not familiar
“standard” could mean any peach rootstock or it could mean something else like nemaguard which is a peach hybrid seedling. I think more and more vendors are growing out peach seeds from other varieties because lovell seed is going up in price and rarity. if they’re unidentified peach seedlings then they may be less well characterized than lovell but could still work. and they may be lovell anyway since a lot of vendors are just vague about rootstocks
2 Likes
There is no difference between a Lovell and a standard because Lovell is a standard, but so are all non-dwarfing rootstocks for peach including Nemaguard. St. Julian is a dwarfing rootstock for peaches, as an example of a non-standard.
3 Likes
Interesting as I was told by a nursery that the tree I was interested in was planted on Lovell and was therefor somewhat dwarfing. I didn’t think that sounded right.
Peaches on seedling rootstock are frequently referred to by nurseries as semi-dwarf. I assume this is because they want people to know that peaches don’t get as big as an apple tree on seedling rootsock although apples are no longer often grafted on it. It may just be history’s momentum.
4 Likes