Rootstock/root sprout

[buckvelvet]

So i have this Chestnut Crab i got from Wallace Woodstock in 2014. Its about 10 ft tall now, however it has prolly 12 good size (maybe 3/8) root sprouts at the base. I think they must like m7 or something.

If i dig out around the tree and snip them off are they viable to graft too? I guess what im askin is should i expect them to have their own roots attached?


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[buckvelvet]

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[yoderjac]

In the Apple grafting class I took, the master grafter said that when he was young and they ran out of rootstock, his father would send him out to the orchard to dig up root sprouts like that for grafting. He said he learn which trees worked best. If they ran out of root sprouts, he said he would dig up roots and graft directly to a root.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[sandbur]

My oldest mature chestnut crab get rootsuckers out to about 6 feet from the base. I have dug those and planted them for wildlife trees. They are reaching 6 foot in height, but no apples yet and I have not topworked them. I have no idea what rootstock they are. The leaf has a serrated edge somewhat like a maple leaf.

 

[NE PA QDM]

So i have this Chestnut Crab i got from Wallace Woodstock in 2014. Its about 10 ft tall now, however it has prolly 12 good size (maybe 3/8) root sprouts at the base. I think they must like m7 or something.

If i dig out around the tree and snip them off are they viable to graft too? I guess what im askin is should i expect them to have their own roots attached?


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M7 suckers a lot. You could use those for rootstock assuming yet can separate them and get a decent root mass. On my M7 trees I prune those root suckers back to dirt pretty aggressively to direct all energy of growth into the tree and not the suckers

 

[chickenlittle]

i took an itty bitty sucker off an M7 grafted tree I received 2 years ago. I clipped it off my tree's roots and planted the sucker. I was not sure it would survive but it was a vigorous tree ready for budding last summer. Not that I have much need for more trees on M7. I think I'll field graft it this spring but I am not sure what to put on it.

 

[Merle Hawggard]

BV, I grafted a leftover enterprise scion on a tiny mm111 sprout a few years ago and it's a nice growing tree now.
When I set it out I did plant it deeper than the graft hoping it will scion root and give me a standard tree.

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[Maya]

Yes you can BV, as the others have stated. However those close to the main tree generally are hard to get up with much of any good root ball. As Sandbur said, if you can find some farther away, they would be easier to dig up and you will generally have better roots. I haven't bought rootstock in years.

A couple other things..... Besides some rootstock being more susceptible to root suckering, the more stable they are the less suckering. Trees swaying back and forth a lot, sucker more. Stake em! Also, when you plant be sure to look over the root ball and pull out broken off pieces, they can result in some of this root suckering.

I really like Geneva rootstocks, they seem to sucker less.

 

[buckvelvet]

Yes you can BV, as the others have stated. However those close to the main tree generally are hard to get up with much of any good root ball. As Sandbur said, if you can find some farther away, they would be easier to dig up and you will generally have better roots. I haven't bought rootstock in years.

A couple other things..... Besides some rootstock being more susceptible to root suckering, the more stable they are the less suckering. Trees swaying back and forth a lot, sucker more. Stake em! Also, when you plant be sure to look over the root ball and pull out broken off pieces, they can result in some of this root suckering.

I really like Geneva rootstocks, they seem to sucker less.

Maya, great post, didn't know about a wind blown tree promoting new root growth. I too have switch to Geneva but Yes hindsights 20/20.


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[Maya]

Maya,

Do you do stool beds?

I have in the past, but with all the trees I have, I don't have a lot of trouble finding rootstock.