Rootstock comments

[sandbur]

I have bench grafted onto three different rootstocks and would rate their performance in order as
1. Dolgo seedling rootstock that I purchased.
2. B118 have grown almost as well.
3. Ranetka slow to grow.

I am very surprised that commercial nurseries out east do not use more dolgo seedlings. I almost never see it listed as a rootstock from out east. I have heard that one of our major suppliers in Minnesota uses dolgo or Columbia as rootstock.

Ranetka will need more time for a full evaluation and I have them planted in a location that is slightly too wet.

For topworking, my wild swamp crab has done the best and some other seedlings have done ok as rootstock.

Is climate the big factor in rootstock selection? I lean towards crabs and my location is on the edge of the prairie with cold winters and hot summers, plus wind.

Not to mention those damned gophers!


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[Bowsnbucks]

Bur- I can only speak for myself here, but the 2 main considerations for me were: the mature size of the tree that the rootstock would produce, and the rootstocks best suited for our soil type. We don't have severe winters ( temperature-wise ) here like the upper Midwest. For our soil type, MM-111 was the recommended rootstock from the head of Penn State's fruit tree program, followed by B-118. We wanted bigger trees because of bears, so they were the 2 he recommended. He said Antonovka was fine too, but commercial orchards don't use it much anymore because they don't want giant trees and it takes much longer to bear fruit. He told me the MM-111 is a better-anchored rootstock and it has some disease & wooly aphid resistance. Antonovka is known to be one of the most cold-hardy rootstocks in the world.

All 3 of our rootstocks - MM-111, B-118, and Antonovka are all growing well for us. Antonovka and MM-111 are the best growers, with B-118 lagging slightly.

 

[Apple Junkie]

Your use of dolgo seedling rootstock is interesting and encouraging. I have not seen this rootstock listed, so it was not even on my radar. I have no clue why we don’t see this offered more often, so I have more questions than answers. It’s certainly something to think about.

 

[Prof.Kent]

I have bench grafted onto three different rootstocks and would rate their performance in order as
1. Dolgo seedling rootstock that I purchased.
2. B118 have grown almost as well.
3. Ranetka slow to grow.

I am very surprised that commercial nurseries out east do not use more dolgo seedlings. I almost never see it listed as a rootstock from out east. I have heard that one of our major suppliers in Minnesota uses dolgo or Columbia as rootstock.

Ranetka will need more time for a full evaluation and I have them planted in a location that is slightly too wet.

For topworking, my wild swamp crab has done the best and some other seedlings have done ok as rootstock.

Is climate the big factor in rootstock selection? I lean towards crabs and my location is on the edge of the prairie with cold winters and hot summers, plus wind.

Not to mention those damned gophers!


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Climate (cold hardiness) is one factor in rootstock selection. Final Tree Size, disease resistance (of the roots), soil tolerance (clay, sand, wet, dry) are other considerations. I always buy or clone my rootstocks instead of creating my own. (Of course, when nature provides a free tree to topwork I'm OK with that, too. Natural selection has already decided that the wild tree is strong enough to survive.) Much research and trials went into identifying and creating strong rootstocks. Plus they are relatively inexpensive.
Growing one's own rootstocks from seedlings can cause a lot of failed trees in one's future.
A lot of my land is just sand so I need a more drought resistant rootstock (B.118 or MM.111) for their vigor.

 

[Turkey Creek]

I have been impressed with the growth of 2 seedling Dolgo that I have at the farm. Our native soil where they planted is in the lower 7s on the pH scale, which is leading me to believe they might be useful in that pH range. B118 does not seem to like that pH range, while M7 and M111 seem to do alright. Probably experiment a bit with that in the future.

 

[sandbur]

I bought 100 dolgo seedlings from a supplier in WAshington state about three years ago. I got a catalog a year or so later and dolgo s were all sold out.

The rootstocks had lots of hair roots or whatever you call them.


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[Telemark]

Growing one's own rootstocks from seedlings can cause a lot of failed trees in one's future

I thought about that, and I'm just going to plant them around and see if they thrive before I do anything with them.

I send around and picked up all the Callery pears I could find, and I will try to start them as pear rootstock since they grow like gangbusters here.

 

[Jhoss]

Glad to hear it SandBur...got 5 Dolgo's going in next week. I should say, kinda glad to hear it as now I'll be thinking about grafting some over to a super-eater type.

 

[chickenlittle]

I don't see seedling rootstocks making any kind of comeback. Commercial orchards want consistent, productive, small trees and that means cloned rootstocks. They want the block of honeycrisp to flower at the same time, ripen at the same time, get fertilized the same and have similar growth and pruning each year. They can't get any of that from seedlings. So the only nurseries working with seedling rootstocks are those selling retail to more educated non-commercial grower - backyard enthusiasts, hobby orchardists, permaculture fans, deer hunters, far north/cold hardy, contrarians, etc. The rest buy what they find at big box stores or garden center with no more thought other than "Hey honey, they got Honeycrisp trees for $XX" and those trees are generally going to be sourced out of the commercial nursery supply chain. Even for the "standard" trees, the nurseries can manage their production better with MM106, MM111, and B118 than they can on Antonovka or Dolgo seedlings.

For a habitat tree, we can accept more variability and the potential for failure. As long as you don't end up with something really dwarfing, most any seedling rootstock has a good chance at making a suitable habitat tree. You can argue that it even means you can plant more and the best trees for your conditions will thrive. As long as you know how to graft, that all becomes achievable and affordable.