What the heck are they and why are they so important?

Surely you can just plant a pip and get a tree for free right?

Er...not quite.

You see, pips are like the child of the parent. If you have kids yourself then you know that one child is taller than the other. Or is one child more academically tuned in than the other? Perhaps one child is more 'sporty' ?

Pips carry the characteristics of the parents but do not duplicate the tree you got the pip from. It's not impossible to grow a tree from a pip but you need to realize that if you want to grow an apple from a pip, then you are going to have to accept that your tree will not be the variety that you got the pip from and you will need to wait many years before you get something approaching a fruit tree.

The best way to get a tree of the variety you want is to take a cutting of the branch of the tree. Then you need to join it (graft it) to another piece of wood (rootstock) and let it grow.

Welcome to the world of Rootstocks!!

If your not aware, go and have a look at fruit trees in your local garden center and look at the base of them. You will see the tree in a container and a knobbly bit a few inches up the tree stem. The bit of the tree in the soil is the rootstock, and the rest of the tree is the branch of the variety of fruit attached to it.....(the scion to those in the know ). The knobbly bit that joins the two together is where the rootstock and scion have been 'grafted' together.

Okay..so now we understand that for best results you should not grow a tree from a pip, and that instead, you should attach a branch of your tree to a rootstock.

So what rootstocks should you use?

Fortunately for most us this isn't an issue because that decision is made for you when you buy your tree. You wont know the rootstocks of the tree but there will be a label attached to it telling you the expected height and width when it matures.

But information about rootstocks is readily available so there's no reason for you not to know a little bit about them.

Different rootstocks are required for different fruits!!

There have been (and still are) some very clever people that have been making trials over the years to determine which rootstocks are best to use for which variety of fruit....yeah, you heard me right..for which variety of fruit. Unfortunately there is no such thing as a single rootstock type that you can use for all your trees. Different rootstocks are required for different fruits. And it's from here that our knowledge gets down to the specifics.

But as a beginner dwarf fruit tree grower I say leave the specifics to the experts, I would just like to know some facts about them to satisfy my curiosity. Rootstocks have been developed over the years to improve the yield of your tree, to introduce hardiness to the variety, to withstand attacks from aphids and deseases and of course determine the height and width of the tree.

The East Malling Research Centre (based in Kent, UK) was one of the first to really look into experimenting with rootstocks. They named them with the prefix 'M' (among others)....MM10626 for example. Over the years rootstocks have been developed privately from other parts of the world. Each having its own name. This has lead to many prefixes and types being available and they all ultimately strive to improve the welfare, growth and yield of your tree. 

Okay. Now that we know a little more about them and their importance what are the types and characteristics

The typical apple tree you buy from the garden centre is probably grafted on MM106 rootstock, and produces a nice-looking tree about 12ft-15ft in height and a similar spread.

But for our purposes this isn't what we want, MM106 is far too big for us. What we want is a tree that will be about 6ft high or less and because this site is specific to Dwarf Fruit Trees then that is where we will concentrate.

Some Available Rootstocks

M26
Used for Apples
The tree reaches a height of about 8 foot, crops in the second or third year and needs no staking unless you live in an exposed location. Trees can be planted around 12 feet apart.

The University was looking to grow winter hardy cultivars with high fruit quality. The seedling was planted in 1962 at the University of Minnesota Horticultural Research Center. But the original parentage posted at the University appears to be in doubt!

DNA tests have identified that their own records were defective and the parentage is at this point in time unknown. Some authorities believe Keepsake is one of the parents. Extremely embarrassing for the university!!

Anyway. in 1974 it was approved as a possible new and exciting variety.  Honeycrisp then known as MN 1711 was tested at locations Minnesota, Michigan and New York at the Cornell Research Station in Geneva.

In 1988 the plant patent was applied for and in 1991 the apple we know as Honeycrisp was released for commercial propagation by the nurseries around the Country.  Now Honeycrisp apples are known around the World.

Honeycrisp apple trees are not self-fruitful. Trees grown from the seeds of Honeycrisp apples will be hybrids of Honeycrisp and the pollinator. In 2006, the Andersen Elementary school in Bayport petitioned for the Minnesota state legislature to make the Honeycrisp apple the state fruit; the bill was passed in May 2006.

As a result of the Honeycrisp apple's growing popularity and recognition, the government of Nova Scotia has encouraged its local orchards to significantly increase their supplies through the Honeycrisp Orchard Renewal Program. From 2005 until 2010, apple producers in Nova Scotia can substitute older apple trees with Honeycrisp trees at a subsidized rate.

A good many of the orchards in the Annapolis Valley on the Bay of Fundy have mature trees and plentiful supplies of Honeycrisps during the harvest season.

Apple growers in New Zealand's South Island are aiming to start growing Honeycrisp to supply consumers during the US off season.

Honeycrisp is an appreciably vigorous tree with a rather spreading growth habit. It seems to be well suited to a central leader training system, though the leader may need staking or some fruit removal due to early bearing.

The tree is a dependable annual bearer and has shown good precocity on dwarf rootstock.

Honeycrisp fruit is defined by an astonishingly crisp and juicy texture. Its flesh is cream colored and coarse. The flavor is sub-acid and ranges from mild and well-balanced to strongly aromatic, depending on the degree of maturity. It has consistently ranked as one of the highest quality apples in the University of Minnesota sensory evaluations.

Honeycrisp fruit has also shown excellent storage characteristics and can be kept for at least six months in refrigerated storage without atmosphere modification.

Honeycrisp apples ripen evenly and hold well on the tree. They can be harvested over an extended period or in a single picking. Honeycrisp blooms in the early to middle part of the apple flowering period. It produces viable pollen that has successfully fertilized numerous other cultivars in experimental hand pollinations.

Yep!......there are cherry trees that are 'ornamental'. They have no fruit!....they look absolutely gorgeous but will not give you a single fruit that you can eat. Don't worry though. This is a well known confusion. If you thought that a Cherry tree was a tree that had cherries, well, you're not alone...and that goes for apples as well as other fruits......but that's getting ahead of ourselves.

You just need to be aware that when you order a cherry tree, you want something that will have cherries on it!!!

And like so many of the fruits on this site, you gotta decide if you want fruits that you just pop in your mouth and munch...Oh my god!... I was there this summer...I'm drooling already!......I think I harvested 10lb if memory serves me right.....or you can do what I did, and ordered a tree that was both an eater and a cooker.

Or you want a cooking variety

Or both??