What is a rootstock?
The rootstock is the part of a plant which is normally underground. It contains the roots which take up the water and nutrients in the soil and it influences the growing characteristics of your fruit tree. Nowadays a technique called grafting is often used to grow fruit trees with specific characteristics – although the original technique dates back to Roman times.
Grafting is where a stump of a tree, which is already established and interacting well with the soil, is chosen and a cutting (small, young twig or branch) from another compatible tree is attached to it. It takes a few weeks for the two separate sections to join together to form a single tree; after several years it is hard to even tell where the grafting took place.
(Photo from Joeysplanting at www.flickr.com)
This method tends to lead to faster growing, stronger trees which are more suitable for commercial and domestic uses in fruit production.
What to look out for....
When buying a fruit tree, the
rootstock used is a major factor in determining the speed at which the plant
grows and its final size. There are
generally 2 types of rootstock for apple trees.
- Dwarf – These are young rootstocks which are good for growing in most soil conditions. They are popular with domestic gardeners as they produce their first crops more quickly than some of the larger rootstocks and they are often easier to prune. The more dwarf the rootstock the more fertile the soil requirements.
- Vigorous – This is a larger rootstock that takes longer to produce its first crop and produces a much larger tree. It is often too large a fruit tree for the average garden, with wide-spreading branches. They are however very good in poorer quality soil conditions and as a feature in a large garden. The fruit from a vigorous rootstock does not tend to be as bright as that of a dwarf rootstock, although the taste is still delicious.
