Malus domestica

[Yarg]

If you ask someone what rootstock they're using and they tell you this what does that mean?

 

[chickenlittle]

Most any apple seedling.

 

[chickenlittle]

To go further, malus domestica is common apple, anything you might buy at the grocery store. However, any apple you buy at the grocery store was probably pollinated by a crabapple.

Regardless of pollination, some common apple varieties and some crabs are said to have true to type seedlings...or truer to type. Depending on your goal, the variation you get from seedling rootstock might actually be a good thing.

 

[yoderjac]

This fit with my objectives of having some full sized trees and some genetic variability. I purchased some domestic and crab apples from the local orchard and started apples from seed. I planted the seedlings in the field. Some I just let grow. Others, I top worked with known varieties but left a "nurse branch" of the original tree so I can eventually see what kind of fruit the seedling produces but still get a known crop. I used all DR varieties for topworking. In my second year, I grew many more seedlings and bench grafted them with known varieties. Many were susceptible to disease and culled them. The ones that were disease free after a year get transplanted in the field. My hope is that this group provides full sized long-lived trees for me. This winter, I'm grafting to M111. I chose it because the tree size is still large enough for a wildlife tree (not as easily damaged as smaller trees when mature), and because M111 is the best fit semi-dwarf for my heavier clay soils. My hope is that this group provides somewhat faster fruit than the other groups.

Others will have different objectives. My hope is to have enough volume of low maintenance trees with a wide enough drop time to feed deer as opposed to having a few well maintained trees for attraction.

Thanks,

Jack