Rootstocks

Apple Rootstocks

 

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Domestic Apple

Most rugged rootstock for apples. Vigorous, deep-rooted, tolerates wet soil, dry soil, poor soil. Cold-hardy. Unpruned tree height of standard varieties 18' to 30 feet. Trees on apple seedling may be held to any desired height by summer pruning.

M-111

Excellent all-around rootstock for apples. Tolerates wet, dry or poor soil. Resists woolly apple aphids and collar rot. Induces bearing at young age. Unpruned tree height 80-90% of standard, or about 15-25 ft. Trees on M-111 may be held to any desired height by summer pruning.

M-7 & M-7A

Dwarfs to 65% of standard. Induces early and heavy bearing. Resistant to fireblight, powdery mildew, moderately resistant to collar rot. Good anchorage. Very winter hardy, widely adapted. Disadvantage: prone to suckering (prune or break off at least once per year). Trees may be held to any desired height by summer pruning.

Geneva® 935 (Dwarfing)

A Cornell University introduction, unpruned height is about 1/3 to 40% of standard (8'-10'). Very cold hardy and very fire blight resistant. A precocious bearer of large fruit, this rootstock resists crown rot and root rot while suckering very little.

 

Cherry Rootstocks

 

Mahaleb

The most winter hardy of the commonly used cherry rootstocks. Sweet cherries slightly dwarfed, no dwarfing effect on sour types. Induces early, heavy bearing. Resists crown gall, bacterial canker, some nematodes. Not tolerant of wet soils.

Maxma® 14

Dwarfing rootstock for sweet cherries; trees dwarfed to about 2/3 of standard. Less dwarfing expected in fertile loamy soils. Induces early heavy bearing; crop management may be needed for productive varieties in early years. Good tolerance to wet soils, also performs well in calcareous soils. Resistant to bacterial canker and nematodes. Well anchored, very little suckering.

Mazzard

Standard rootstock for sweet cherries. Vigorous, more tolerant of wet soils than Mahaleb (but good drainage still required). Resistant to root-knot nematodes and oak-root fungus.

NEWROOT-1

Zaiger dwarfing rootstock for cherries. Dwarfs cherry trees to 8-12 ft. unpruned. Promotes early bearing. Ideal for container growing. More versatile than Mazzard and Mahaleb. Better adapted to clay soils than Mazzard and Mahaleb.

 

Peach, Plum & Hybrid Rootstocks

 

Citation (Dwarfing)

Peaches and nectarines dwarfed to 8 to 14 feet. Apricots and plums dwarfed to 3/4 of standard. Very tolerant of wet soil, induces early dormancy in dry soil. Very winter hardy. Resists root-knot nematodes. Trees bear at young age. (Zaiger)

Lovell

More tolerant of wet soils than Nemaguard. Also more cold hardy. Susceptible to nematodes in sandy soils. For plums, peaches, nectarines, apricots, prunes, almonds.

Marianna 26-24

Shallow root system, much more tolerant of wet soils than Lovell or Nemaguard. Resistant to oak-root fungus, root-knot nematodes. Mature trees comparatively small. For apricots, plums, most almonds.

Myrobalan 29C

Shallow but vigorous root system. Tolerates wet soils. Immune to root-knot nematodes, some resistance to oak-root fungus. Trees reach larger size compared to Marianna 26-24. For apricots, plums and prunes.

Nemaguard

Vigorous, resists root-knot nematode. Excellent for well-drained soils. In poorly-drained soil, plant on a hill. For nectarines, apricots, plums, prunes, almonds.

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If you are wanting one of our trees on a different rootstock than listed in the shop please email us.