A Short Guide to Dwarfing Rootstocks

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M-111 produces the largest apple trees of our group of rootstocks: They attain about 70% of standard, or 15 to 22 feet. The roots anchor well, are very droughttolerant, and do not often sucker. M-111 resists woolly aphids and collar rot, too, and is good in all types of soil. Spur-type trees do especially well when grafted to M-111, but—as is the case with all varieties grafted to it—will fruit more slowly than they would on any of the rootstocks above. Allow the big dwarfs an 18' X 24' spacing.

CHOOSE WISELY

When you're selecting a rootstock/scion combination, remember that the strongest varieties should be matched to the most radically dwarfing rootstocks . . . and that the better your soil is, the more you need to use a highly dwarfing root. Among the stronger-growing apples are (in order of decreasing vigor) Northern Spy, Mutsu, Summer Rambo, nonspur McIntosh, Empire, Stayman, Red Delicious, Red York, Greening, Winesap, Beacon, Cortland, and Lodi. Weak growers (in order of decreasing strength) are Yellow Delicious, Jonathan, Rome, Macoun, Ida Red, and the spur varieties.

If you're planning to budgraft onto either an apple branch or an already growing seedling or dwarfing rootstock, you can do so right away. But if you're ordering one of the Malling or Malling-Merton rootstocks now, you might have to plant the youngsters in a nurse bed in the garden for a year's growing. The dwarfers should, you see, be at least a quarter-inch in diameter at the point of the graft. If your delivered pieces are a bit too thin, simply plant the rootstocks in a protected bed, spacing them about a foot apart. Then, come next July, you'll have a supply of vigorous candidates for bud grafting.

THEY'RE ROOTINGFOR YOU

Dwarfing and semidwarfing rootstocks are available from several sources. Mellingers (Dept. TMEN, 2310 West South Range, North Lima, Ohio 44452, catalog free) offers M-7 at five for $7.15, MM-106 at five for $7.75, and M-26 at five for $9.75. Lee-Land Nursery (Dept. TMEN, Box 223, North Kingsville, Ohio 44068, catalog free) has M-9 and M-26 for $1.75 each, while M-7A, MM-106, and MM-111 sell for $1.50 each. Lee-Land also has interstem dwarfing rootstocks, which unite the strong dwarfing qualities of M-9 with the sturdy root systems of MM-111 or MM-106. These cost $4.00 each. Southmeadow Fruit Gardens (Dept. TMEN, Lakeside, Michigan 49116, price and variety list free, encyclopedic catalog of fruit varieties $8.00 . . . and worth it as a permanent reference) offers the following in packages of ten at $15 per package: M-2, M7, M-9, M-26, MM-104, MM106, and MM-111. Both Mellingers and Lee-Land can supply you with grafting equipment, including knives and rubber budding bands.

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