Knowing about apple rootstocks, asking the nursery which rootstock a tree is grafted on, choosing the rootstock most compatible with your site, and following the best cultural practices for each rootstock will help the ecological gardener to ensure that his or her trees will be healthy and productive. Rootstocks are one of the unique aspects of apple growing. There are about 100 rootstocks for the major tree-fruits, and more than 20 for apple. In this bulletin we describe the relative strengths and weaknesses of apple rootstocks commonly available from fruit-tree nurseries. This is necessary because the seeds of each apple are the result of pollination from a different apple tree species or variety.
Rootstocks are usually necessary for grafting and propagation of apple scion varieties.
In past times, seedlings that sprouted naturally in pomace piles around cider mills were often dug up, and buds from known scion varieties were grafted onto these seedlings for planting new orchards. Since the genetic traits of these seedling rootstocks were unknown, their performance was unpredictable. Fruit trees in seedling rooted orchards were usually large, vigorous, slow coming into production, and many died off because their roots were not adapted to the particular soil or climate conditions in each orchard. Clonal propagation ensures that the important traits of each rootstock will make the resulting orchard more manageable and productive. Most of the important apple rootstocks used today were derived from collections and selections by East Malling Research Station in England, during the early 1900s.