Rootsuckers for rootstock

[sandbur]

In another thread we were discussing growing rootstock from seed. Big Bore mentioned it.

I have used rootsuckers to grow rootstock. Look for them around hardy wild crabs/apples or around older trees that you have purchased.

The first tree I planted in the home orchard was a chestnut crab and it now throws rootsuckers 5-20 feet from the trunk. Dig up a piece of root with the sucker, keep it moist, and many will grow. I prune the rootsucker down to one bud or so. It needs to match the rootsucker down size.

Some I plant in final location and tube them. Others are potted and nursed along for a year.

This rootstock produces fruit that is about 1/2 the size of a grafted dolgo. Ok for deer, but I have topworked them.

The original Big Dog is a rootstock at the edge of our garden. I have knocked the rootsucker down with a rototiller and noticed a bud in the roots. This tree doesn’t normally throw rootsuckers, but I nursed that piece of root along in a pot and now have a producing tree.

My best growing rootstock is from wild trees that grow in the swamp amongst the willows. Rootsuckers or pieces of root can be nursed along for a few years in pots. I tried to get seeds to germinate one year and had no luck.

Topworks of these after a few years have done great.

Experiment a bit with those hardy or wild rootstocks.

 

[sandbur]

In another thread we were discussing growing rootstock from seed. Big Bore mentioned it.

I have used rootsuckers to grow rootstock. Look for them around hardy wild crabs/apples or around older trees that you have purchased.

The first tree I planted in the home orchard was a chestnut crab and it now throws rootsuckers 5-20 feet from the trunk. Dig up a piece of root with the sucker, keep it moist, and many will grow. I prune the rootsucker down to one bud or so. It needs to match the rootsucker down size.

Some I plant in final location and tube them. Others are potted and nursed along for a year.

This rootstock produces fruit that is about 1/2 the size of a grafted dolgo. Ok for deer, but I have topworked them.

The original Big Dog is a rootstock at the edge of our garden. I have knocked the rootsucker down with a rototiller and noticed a bud in the roots. This tree doesn’t normally throw rootsuckers, but I nursed that piece of root along in a pot and now have a producing tree.

My best growing rootstock is from wild trees that grow in the swamp amongst the willows. Rootsuckers or pieces of root can be nursed along for a few years in pots. I tried to get seeds to germinate one year and had no luck.

Topworks of these after a few years have done great.

Experiment a bit with those hardy or wild rootstocks.

Old age on my part and dang spell check confused my post on the Big Dog.

I nicked a shallow root on the Big Dog with the roto tiller and it was exposed. A bud developed and I nursed it along in a pot.

The wild crabs also respond to injured roots and some exposure to the air.
When potting these, I usually leave only one bud above the dirt and keep the rest of the root buried.

 

[bigboreblr]

Any luck digging up a sucker and grafting it the same time?

Someone wrote on here about being on a farm as a kid. If they were out of rootstock, their dad told them to dig up roots and graft to them. Was a few moons back.

I wonder If an old tree can kind of be saved that way. Leave the sucker and cut down the old tree. My orchard is weekly mowed, so who knows if the old trees would of produced suckers. Maybe even cut a root, turn it up and graft something to it. Hate to fire up the chainsaw, but it was time for some. Gave a few 2 or 3 years to turn around.

 

[sandbur]

Any luck digging up a sucker and grafting it the same time?

Someone wrote on here about being on a farm as a kid. If they were out of rootstock, their dad told them to dig up roots and graft to them. Was a few moons back.

I wonder If an old tree can kind of be saved that way. Leave the sucker and cut down the old tree. My orchard is weekly mowed, so who knows if the old trees would have produced suckers. Maybe even cut a root, turn it up and graft something to it. Hate to fire up the chainsaw, but it was time for some. Gave a few 2 or 3 years to turn around.

Somewhere I posted a forked dolgo rootstock. I bench grafted to half of it and also bench grafted to the other piece of bare root. It took. I buried the graft and had to dig down later to remove the tape as it didn’t disintegrate.

 

[Hoytvectrix]

This is a pretty good video on harvesting rootstocks. I'm just getting into grafting and i have debated saving some of my rootstocks for the purpose of propagating more.

 

[PoorSand]

BigBoreBrl: I've dug up suckers, grafted them, and planted them all on the same day. It has worked fine for me.

One thing I'll note is that the different trees I've gathered suckers from have different rooting patterns. Some grow just one root, sometimes several feet long. Some grow roots in many directions and are shorter. Some grow roots numbering somewhere in between those extremes.

 

[bigboreblr]

A saw a video someone took a young B118, tipped it sideways and buried it in wood chips. Made suckers that way too.

 

[sandbur]

This wild crab that tipped over decades ago has yielded some rootstock.

 

[Dantana]

I've been doing this the last couple years. I havent dug up and grafted the same day yet, thought it might be too much shock. Instead, I have been digging up the root suckers and planting them in the garden for a year then grafting the following year. As soon as the snow melts I will start to take inventory of what is available this year.

There does not seem to be any rhyme or reason why a particular tree sends up suckers. I have a single 30-06 that I have taken several from, but the rest of my 30-06's don't produce any. I have a Red Delicious that always has a few each year. A few of my wild crabs as well.