Trees That Grow Multiple Fruits: Why Graft Trees and How

Fuse stems with rootstocks to form fast-growing, fruit-bearing plants. An old tree can be perpetuated by grafting one of its stems onto a young rootstock.

By Lee Reich
Updated on September 6, 2024
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by Lee Reich
An old tree can be perpetuated by grafting one of its stems onto a young rootstock.

Learn how to graft trees that grow multiple fruits and the benefits of why graft trees are worth it.

Grafting is the joining together of two living plant parts so that the whole grows as one plant. The rootstock provides the roots and a short length of trunk. The scion becomes the rest of the trunk, plus the stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits of the grafted plant. The graft union never moves; all growth above this union retains the identity of the scion, and all growth below the union retains the identity of the rootstock.

Grafting is useful for multiplying clones (genetically identical plants), whether the clone is a ‘McIntosh’ apple, a ‘Sargent’ cherry, or some nameless apple tree bearing tasty fruits. An old, dying apple tree can be perpetuated by grafting one of its stems onto a young rootstock.

Why Graft Trees?

Grafting is a way to multiply plants that don’t form roots readily as cuttings or come true from seeds.

The rootstock itself can also serve other useful purposes. It may influence the form of a plant. Weeping cherry growing on its own roots merely creeps along the ground; grafting it high on an upright trunk of a non-weeping cherry rootstock will bring the weeping head high off the ground. A rootstock might influence the eventual size of a plant, as attested to by my 10-year-old ‘Liberty’ apple tree, topping out at 8 feet high thanks to the M27 dwarfing rootstock onto which it’s grafted. Some rootstocks promote quicker bearing, or tolerance to soils that are too wet, too dry, too salty, or nematode-infested.

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