Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
When selecting a rootstock, we consider its compatibility with the scion vari-
ety, its precocity (time to fruit bearing), its adaptability to different soil and
climate conditions, and its resistance to pests and diseases. When choosing
pear, apple, and sweet cherry rootstocks, size is often an important criterion.
Seedlings and trees grafted to seedling rootstocks generally grow to be
about the same size as the seed tree. For apples, this might be 40 feet tall;
for sweet cherries, 60 feet. For grafted or budded trees, the size of the tree
varies according to the vigor of the rootstock, scion, and interstem (if used).
Fortunately, there are many good size-controlling and standard-sized
rootstocks for apples, pears, and sweet cherries. These rootstocks allow you
to grow small, medium-sized, or large trees. Many popular rootstock/variety
combinations today produce apple and cherry trees that are 40 to 70 per-
cent of the height of standard-sized trees. Some rootstocks produce even
smaller trees. The scion variety also influences the final size of the tree, par-
ticularly with sweet cherries — more vigorous varieties produce somewhat
taller trees than less vigorous varieties. Apricot, peach, nectarine, plum, and
tart cherry trees can be produced efficiently on non-dwarfing rootstocks, al-
though dwarfing rootstocks are sometimes available for these crops. (See
You can further reduce the size of trees by planting trees closer together,
cropping the trees heavily, and pruning to remove excessively vigorous
growth. The illustrations at left show typical sizes of apple and sweet cherry
trees that develop on selected commercially available rootstocks.
Before you buy any trees, ask the salesperson what rootstocks the trees
are grown on. If the response is a glazed look or gibberish about dwarfs
and semidwarfs, find a nursery where the people know what they are doing.
Again, select tree sizes that fit your needs. Don't be pressured into buying
trees that will grow smaller or taller than you are comfortable with.
