I’m new to thes (zero experience) & interested in adding some dwarf apples next year. I asked cummins to rank the three rootstocks for me, here is what they said:
“It’s hard for me to rank the dwarf stock. I treat them equally. If you had a nematode problem then G.41 would be best, but if you don’t, G.11 is a real workhorse of a dwarf stock. G.214 is fairly new and we have high hopes for it.”
My extension said nematodes are here but not a huge concern, fireblight is more common."
I have used G.214 on my keeper mother trees. So far the grafts are taking weĺl on it(not as fast as P.2 though).
I’m relying on it’s claims of broad disease resistance in a hot wet climate.
I noted most of the Heritage Gardens are using G.210 for their collections. But it was not avaliable in the size I wanted. So G.214 is what I went with.
Also did a fair amount of M111/G.214 Interstems as well.
Overall the girls and I ran an inventory and we made 133 grafts between the 3 root stocks.
I looked at G.11 and G.41 and felt they were too dwarfing. And G.41 sometimes has graft swelling issues.
G11 has been available the longest time and doesn’t seen to have significant disadvantages. G41 is used commercially in large numbers and is very productive but has weak graft unions especially with some cultivars like Honeycrisp. G214 is newer and trees/rootstocks haven’t been available to backyard growers for that long so there may be disadvantages that aren’t know yet.
I have trees on G11, G41, G16, G935, G222, G890, and G30. I had G214 benchgrafts in a fenced area but rabbits found a way under the fence and destroyed them. The only graft failure I have had is Honeycrisp on G30 but that was in the high winds of a “derecho” which knocked down many large oaks and maples.
I think in most cases G11 is best choice if you want to minimize your risks of things going wrong. I would look to G214 if you need higher vigor, higher replant disease resistance, or if you want higher fireblight resistance under a very susceptible scion. G11 has good fireblight resistance but G214 is better. G41 is a good rootstock except for the graft failure risk. Commercial growers use it a lot but the graft failure risk is real it mainly occurs on young trees but mature trees have failed too.
If I was grafting I would go with G11 or a mix of G214 and G11. I would avoid G41.
In buying trees it’s a bit more complicated. Trees on G41 have high availability, G11 less availability and trees on G214 are pretty hard to get right now. So your only option may be to get a tree on G41.
Here is a chart that shows the characteristics of Geneva rootstocks. Also as mentioned above dwarf trees need to be staked.