Rootstock - what is this interesting word, known, perhaps, only to gardening lovers? And here people who grow apples and pears on their plots can agree with the Russian biologist and breeder I. V. Michurin, who said that the rootstock is the basis of a fruit tree, which determines its varietal characteristics: shape, size and taste. Let's figure out how it works.
Apple rootstock: the secret to growing the best varieties
Fruit trees can be grown from seeds. But new plants will differ in terms of yield, frost resistance, fruiting time, etc. Even if they were grown from the seeds of one apple. Therefore, preference is given to vegetative propagation, i.e. grafting a cutting or bud of a plant of the desired variety on the selected seedling.
Rootstock - this is exactly the seedling on which the cuttings and shoots (graft) are rooted. It is he who determines the entire life of the future tree, its longevity and the quality of the fruit. Therefore, the rootstock must be adapted to local conditions.climate, resistant to pests and diseases. But for this, it is still necessary that the scion grows well to it.
Growing a seedling takes 4 years:
- 1 year - grow seedlings from seed;
- 2 year - add a scion to them;
- 3 year - one year old seedling grows;
- 4 year - two-year-old seedling is transplanted to a permanent place.
Seeds for seedlings are carefully selected, and in order to be planted in the spring, they must be stratified. What is this?
How to prepare seeds for the best rootstocks
To obtain hardy seedlings, seeds of well-developed, strong and ripened fruits are used. They usually choose such cultivars as Moscow Grushovka, Antonovka, Borovinka. Before autumn sowing, they are carefully selected, dried and then planted. The first sprouts appear next spring.
If the seeds are going to be sown in the spring, they must undergo preliminary stratification - ripening at a certain temperature, otherwise there will be no germination.
To do this, they are laid out in a box with peat and sand, moistened and placed at a temperature of 5-7 ° C in a dark place. On average, the seed aging process takes 80-90 days. It depends on their variety. Periodically they need to be watered so that they do not dry out. If they began to germinate ahead of time, the box should be moved to a place where zero temperature will be stable.
Dwarf apple rootstock
Seedlings for fruit trees are vigorous,medium-sized, semi-dwarf. Each has its own productive characteristics and content requirements.
But dwarf ones have become especially popular. Why?
The advantage that the dwarf rootstock for apple and pear has is the high quality of the resulting fruits (large, tasty, bright), they begin to ripen as early as 2 or 3 years. In addition, seedlings inhibit the growth of trees that reach only two meters in height. Therefore, it is easier to take care of them and treat them with pesticides, and the harvested yield from one unit of area is 3 times more than from a plot of the same size where vigorous seedlings were planted.
But the dwarf stock also has disadvantages. This is a shallow root system that is prone to freezing and requires support to support the tree, as well as frequent watering during the hot season.
Some types of dwarf seedlings for apple trees
Paradise IX is a dwarf rootstock for apple bush forms. It is well grafted, has high economic and biological indicators. The shoots of the bushes grow thick, brown in color with a yellow tint, covered with thick oval leaves. Up to 10 layers are obtained from one bush. Due to their superficial root system, when placed in the garden, they need to create a reliable support. Seedlings are whimsical to the soil, it is better to grow in palmette and trellis-dwarf gardens.
Another popular dwarf apple rootstock isParadiska red-leaved. It has a high resistance to frost, so it can be grown in the north-eastern regions. Shoots and leaves with a characteristic red pigment. The soil for them should be loose and moist. Fruiting begins early, the harvest is large. One major downside is the brittle wood that causes apple trees to lean towards the ground.
How to plant seedlings
Dwarf rootstock for apple trees is placed on fertile and nutrient-rich loose soil. The site should be well lit and protected from the wind. Mineral fertilizers can be added to planting pits measuring 100 by 70 cm. For this, supports are inserted into them, humus or potassium chloride is covered with a mound, covered with a layer of earth without mineral additives (5-6 cm) on top.
The rootstock is planted so that its roots reach the soil layer with fertilizer and are covered by the top one. If clay or groundwater is close to planting, they make bulk hills up to 50 cm high. Care must be taken that the grafted shoot does not end up in the ground. The scion must be 5 cm above the ground, otherwise it will go to the roots and dwarfism will be lost.
And finally…
A rootstock is a seedling to which another plant is grafted. A new tree will grow with the necessary biological and economic qualities, but only if a he althy and productive seedling is selected, grown from full-weight selected seeds. But even this is not enough. In order for the future apple tree to please with its harvest, it is necessary for a seedlingcarefully monitor and care for it at all stages of its growth, shaping and correcting its crown in a timely manner, feeding it with mineral fertilizers and protecting it from bad weather and pests.
