O wow 
that is a big difference between our microclimate conditions. My zone 4b can get snow 
all the way into the 3 & 4 weeks of April. My graphs from last year were my first attempts and I didn’t do as well as I had hoped I was 37 out of 85 only that took, I liked the G890 size of 3/8 caliber viruses the 1/4 of the M7 I worked with.
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I’m wondering how the 969 is working out for people - I don’t see any posts about mature trees. I’m concerned about graft union breakage, and wondering if all the G- series that I’m interested in are going to have similar issues. From what I can tell 969, 890, and 935 all come from a Robusta 5 x Ottawa 3 cross.
The newer Geneva rootstocks haven’t been available to hobbyists for very long so information is going to be scarce for mature trees. G202, G11, G41 and G30 have been out for quite awhile so more information is available for these rootstocks.
This is especially true for heirloom cultivar/rootstock combinations. Published trials only deal with popular commercial apples like Honeycrisp and Fuji. Guys in their backyards really are the researchers when it comes to heirloom cultivars.
The positive and negative aspects of Geneva rootstocks vary a lot from rootstock to rootstock same as the older Malling and Malling-Merton stocks. Hard to say in in advance how the newer rootstocks will do in the long term. But it probably would be prudent to use a mix of rootstocks (cultivars too) to insure your not wiped out by one particular problem whether it is fireblight susceptibility, graft union, etc., etc.
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I’ve personally worked with G890, G969 and G210 and of the three the most successful takes via cleft grafts was the G890, it’s a very vigorous rootstock up to this point. The G210 I did around 35 grafts and had only one take and the G969 I had around 8 of the 40 grafts take. These two rootstocks haven’t performed nearly as well as the G890. This coming late winter I’m going to give M106 a try to see if fairs better than the latest G series have.
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The only Geneva stock I’ve done a lot of is 890, did mostly modified V-tool grafts, plus some W/T and a handful of cleft grafts, and take rate was over 90% for all methods.
I was going to use 210 last year, but changed my mind to 890.
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I did a bunch on 890 this spring. Mostly modified cleft that I had to learn because scion that I ordered was not a match. I’m pretty happy with the results. I guess time will tell if the unions hold up under wind and fruit load.
I got only 40% survival (60% death) from a total of 125 G210 rootstocks from 2 different sources in 2 different years. Definitely won’t use them again. the previous year I grafted 100 on G30 and got 90% take. Ordered 50 G890 this year and will report my sucess with them later. THis year I ordered from Cummins because all the wholesale nurseries here in Oregon were sold out of G890 by Dec. When they arrived after more than a week in transit, the roots were dry. THey were not wrapped in damp newspaper, sawdust or any other moisture retaining materials to keep them in good condition during shipping. they also sent me an order of G30 that were more than 1/2 inch caliper and did not fit in my Omega grafting tool. I would not recommend ordering rootstock from CUmmins.
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I just got my order of G890 from Cummins- not very damp, but had sawdust and plastic. They are somewhat variable in size, which is fine since my scion varies quite a bit more than that. Cummins was the only place in stock for what I wanted, and they did ship quickly. I’ll post how well they do after the year.
I have three trees on G30, and can say they are very vigorous, although that may have something to do with the scion. But, two of them bore fruit for the first time after three years, and the other will bear this year after four, provided we don’t have any killing freezes.
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As long as they didn’t become dried out, I’m sure they will do fine for you.
@Ciderlady, Deborah, I had the exact same results with G.210, 2 years in a row, 100 root stocks each year, 60% death of the root stock (I’ve never even checked the rate of take on the remaining 40 for the 2 years).
@Heirloom Keith, I got my G.890 this year, after Cummins couldn’t deliver last spring due to an “inventory error”. I’m trying 60 of them and will see how I make out. I drove out and picked up G.890 and M.7 and while waiting for my order was talking to one of their guys who was grafting new trees. I mentioned my dislike for G.210 and he stated “yeah, we’re still not sure what to do with that one.” Apparently they have a difficult time getting the grafts to take, but once established they make a good tree.
I think of the Geneva rootstock that I’ve worked with ( G890, G969, G935 and the G210 ) and it’s ironic that with the least amount of a root system ie ( G890 ) I had the greatest amount of success with. This year I’m going to give the M106 a go and hopefully it’s a keeper. I’ve read a little on interstem rootstock grafting and may give it a try with the B9 grafted onto the M106 come next year.
Cummins is having a 35% sale including rootstocks. Not sure if they started with a similar number, but it interesting to compare the numbers remaining.
G11 over 11,000
G41 over 3000
G210 over 300
G969 over 800
G890 over 3000
Should add for comparison:
B9 267
B118 2844
Any of you all with lots of 210 experience, did you dormant bench graft, top work, or bud?
Looks to be an old dead thread, but it popped up when i was reinvestigating G210. Looks like it has good winter hardiness!? Tree Fruit: Apple Cold Hardiness Research Update – CCE Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture Program
I’m Finally ready to get a small orchard established but I’ve been rethinking everything that I’ve done and want to do. With the grafting hobby/experiments I’ve made an absolute hodgepodge of stuff and I’m hesitant to put that out in rows. Sparing my thoughts on that new hardiness zone map I think winter hardiness needs high priority. I think that Cornell research is pretty on point with what I’ve seen die after three winters getting down in the -30’s (and beyond). No Goldrush here, but I still have a Dabinett.
I bought a tree on G210, heavy clay in a frost pocket and the rootstock survived but Splendour is a z5… it died.
I’m thinking about M111, B118, or G210. Not interested in a 50% success rate but still deliberating because of dwarfing and fireblight resistance.
One update I would add regarding G.210 that may be helpful or discouraging: Any G.210 that I planted out, ungrafted in the nursery bed for a year responded to grafting much better than what I ordered and grafted in the same year. G.210 was often one of those root stocks received from the nursery with few or no roots. It seemed just one year of nursery bed growth established them enough to improve graft takes and ensure growth. However, I can’t say the survival rate of the root stock itself would necessarily be better when planting them out for that 1-year period, you may still see only a 40% survival rate. Also, the trees that did survive, and which did sustain a successful graft, have been nice trees in the orchard. Perhaps that’s the key with G.210, let someone else do the grafting and just buy established trees.
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I’ve decided that Buying ready trees is worth every penny but I guess I’m stubborn, penny wise, and pound foolish. Now that I have most of the varieties I want I think I’ll start learning to bud.
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I’ve bought a variety of rootstocks. I’m a back yard gardener. I don’t need my trees to look uniform. And this means that if one rootstock has a disastrous failure in my conditions, it won’t take out all my trees.
Fwiw, the tree that’s doing best (in no small part because i planted it first and it got a good spot) is Jonathan on M111. It took several years to bloom, and tends to be biannual. But it’s been a healthy, low maintenance tree with no suckering or other annoyances.
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My experience with G.210 was the same. A couple years ago I purchased some G.210 and when it arrived I bench grafted it with a number of different varieties and planted in my nursery bed. Almost none of my grafts took. The rootstock survived and the following spring I grafted them again in the nursery bed. Nearly all took. They seem to be doing well in my orchard now but they have been suckering some.
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Tiny sample, but I planted two g.210 from Cummins without a graft and they thrived. I planted them in final locations figuring I’d graft in the field. At the end of the season I t-budded one of them (old unknown tree on property).
The following year I whip and tongued the other (Akane scion from Cummins). Both the whip and tongue and and the t-bud took nicely.
My site is marginal-to-bad (6-8 hours full sun), but I got 6’ growth on both trees in year 1 post graft.
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