Question 1

What is a rootstock and why does it matter for fruit trees?

Accepted Answer

A **rootstock** is the root system a fruit tree is grafted onto. The **scion** — the variety you actually want, such as a Cox or a Bramley — is joined to it, and the rootstock determines much of how the tree behaves.

**Why fruit trees are grafted at all.** Apple, pear, plum and cherry varieties do **not come true from seed** — plant a pip from a Cox and you get a random new variety, almost certainly worse. The only way to reproduce a named variety is **vegetatively**, by grafting a cutting onto roots.

**What the rootstock controls:**

**Final size**, which is the main reason gardeners need to understand it. The same variety on different rootstocks produces anything from a 1.5m container tree to a 6m orchard standard.

**Time to first fruit.** Dwarfing rootstocks crop far sooner — often two to three years, against six or more for vigorous ones.

**Soil tolerance and disease resistance.**

**Anchorage.** Dwarfing rootstocks have weak root systems and **require permanent staking** for the tree's whole life. This surprises people who remove the stake after a few years and lose the tree in a gale.

**The common apple rootstocks**, smallest to largest:

**M27** — very dwarfing, around 1.5–2m. Containers and cordons. Needs excellent soil and permanent support.

**M9** — dwarfing, 2–3m. The commercial orchard standard.

**M26** — semi-dwarfing, 2.5–3.5m. A good garden choice.

**MM106** — semi-vigorous, 3.5–5.5m. The most common garden rootstock, tolerant and reliable.

**M25** — vigorous, 5m+. Traditional orchard trees.

**Other fruits have their own systems** — **Quince A and C** for pears, **Pixy and St Julien A** for plums, **Gisela 5 and Colt** for cherries.

**Two practical points:** the **graft union** — a visible bulge low on the trunk — must stay **above soil level**, or the scion roots and the dwarfing effect is lost. And **suckers** from below the union are rootstock growth and should be removed.

Question 2

What is grafting, and how does it work?

Accepted Answer

Joining part of one plant onto another so they grow as a single individual — the scion supplying the top growth and the rootstock supplying the roots. It works because plants can heal a wound between

Question 3

How do you take a cutting, and what are the different types?

Accepted Answer

By removing a piece of stem and inducing it to produce roots — and the type of cutting is determined by how mature the wood is, which in turn determines when you take it and how you treat it. Why it

Question 4

What is a bare root plant, and when should you plant one?

Accepted Answer

A plant lifted from the ground during dormancy and sold without any soil around its roots — cheaper, frequently establishing better than a potted equivalent, and available only for a few months a

Question 5

What are espalier, cordon and fan training?

Accepted Answer

They are methods of training a fruit tree flat against a wall or wires, and they exist because a two-dimensional tree fits where a normal one cannot, ripens better, and is far easier to pick, prune

Question 6

Why is my fruit tree not producing fruit?

Accepted Answer

Most commonly pollination, and the usual culprit is a factor most people do not know applies. Pollination groups. Many fruit trees — particularly apples, pears, plums and cherries — are not

Question 7

What is the difference between a plug plant, a seedling and a potted plant?

Accepted Answer

Size and stage of development, which determine the price, how much care they need, and how soon they will do anything. Seeds. Cheapest by a wide margin, greatest choice of varieties, and the most

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