Dwarfs and semidwarf is meant to be with vigorous scions. Not sure it would be a good espilier tree though.
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G11 should be plenty dwarfing for Jonagold. If you are doing a multi-tier espalier, you will want to build it 1 row at a time, starting at the bottom. If you do not, your top tier will be thick and your lower tiers will be spindly. It is a delicious variety if you can get the Brix up to 15, and still pretty good at a Brix of 14. It also bears from both tips and spurs.
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I guess when I say espalier I really mean highly restrictive training. I definitely donāt mean espalier in the traditional sense. Thatās why I mentioned a tall spindle.
I hear ya though, about training one tier at a time. Would you say this also applies for a spindle type training? I guess I could keep the leader and train the lower branches and work on a second tier next year?
Google Jonagold diseases; you may want to cancel your order.
@hambone Agh, yeah I knew Jonathan is quite susceptible and so is Gold Del.
You really think itās not worth trying?
In that case, do you think anything on M26 would be a good bet for a restrictive space?
Iāve got Liberty, Dayton, and Williams Pride coming all on M26
I suppose Iāve got a good mix of trees this year, I canceled Jonagold after seeing many sites list it as a highly susceptible disease vector.
Google M26 fireblight. I wouldnāt grow anything on M26 if you paid me.
M26 gives a tree about 40% of seedling.
I have a Novamac on B9 espellar trained.
It is rated as very resistent to big 4 apple problems.
We had an awefull fire blight year last yearā¦ Novamac got some FB but survived it and still produced a few very nice apples for us.
They dropped from the tree when ripeā¦ around Aug 1.
They were deliciousā¦ very nice flavorā¦ sweet and tart. The texture was firm but not crisp.
A pretty apple.
TNHunter
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Man youāre making me rethink my whole apple growing life now Steve. 
I bought five trees on M26 this year and three others on M7ā¦ Then one G214 and one on G935.
If these roots are so damned terrible why are reputable nurseries still selling them?
Your M7, G214 and G935 are fine rootstocks that will serve you well. I got angry at a good nursery years ago for selling a local friend of mine Goldrush on M26. Only tree out of 40 to die in his orchard. So even the best nurseries mess up sometimes. I urge everyone: do not order anything until you have researched disease resistance.
AI is coming up with decent answers to questions Iāve asked it about disease. Blight is unpredictable so your M26 might work out. Cummins Nursery seems to do a good job of revealing accurate disease resistance info.
I would keep bare ground around base of M26 trees- keep mulch and grass/weeds away from trunk so it can stay dry, maybe prevent crown rot. (A good idea with all rootstocks).
If a grower is in blight country I suggest making every major decision with blight in mind: cultivar; rootstock; tree spacing; pruning timing; whether to fertilize; pruning for airflow/sunshine into tree interior, how much to prune, etc. It took some of us a decade or more to figure this out, so youāre ahead of the game.
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That is something that bugs me. I am getting free rootstock sent to have a grafting class at a Seed sharing event. Part is disease resistant. But part is M26. I will have to warn folks M26 and M7 are not very resistant.
Iāve never had disease issues with M7 but I only have 2 trees on M7. I had big blight and crown rot problems with MM106 that needs well drained soil.
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I have a grafting class to attend. I knew ahead of time they were using M-7 rootstocks so I purchased some M111 to use instead. M7 all lean that I have planted in my orchard. Perhaps I needed to thin the head of the M7ās I planted and not kept them so big. That may be why they are leaning, too top heavy. A little late for the ones I planted. The M7ās are a nice height though.
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I double checked, I have three trees coming on M26. Williams Pride, Dayton, and Liberty. I thought I had another couple, but I was wrong.
Should I try to cancel this order then too?
I figured they were disease resistant trees so it would be fine. I also have received so much conflicting information on rootstock lately Iām exhausted and have no gage of what is a good root and what isnāt. I ended up switching Liberty from G.11 to M26 last week for this very reason. I guess I shouldnāt have.
I may just cancel these three M26 and wait till next year to try again. Everything I want is out of stock for this year.
Okay I canceled Wills Pride and Dayton on M26, Liberty already shipped so I guess Iām gonna press my luck with that one. Liberty is moderately resistant to fireblight so maybe it will work out alright?
In the future though I really do want to get Williams Pride and probably another PRI selection like Dayton. What dwarf root should I get? Is G11 a good choice, perhaps Bud9? I do want something quite dwarfing mainly because I donāt have anything like that and theyāre fascinating.
Bud9 seems to have gotten some hits on this thread. Does anybody else have a favorite rootstock they prefer?
Yes your Liberty is resistant so that helps chances of success, but also be sure to keep base of trunk dry. Iāll let others suggest best dwarf rootstock. If it were me Iād phone Cummins Nursery after spring rush is over and ask them. I just bench grafted G 890ās (semi-dwarf) for a friend, that rootstock comes highly recommended- free standing, some drought resistance, neither of which full dwarf rootstocks have, as far as I know.
I always wondered why so many commercial orchards plant on M9 or itās clones. So many things can infect them.
Talking to folks in the PNW and growers are having big problems with Anthracnose.
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So is it that the roots induce a higher susceptibility into the whole tree or is the root somehow more susceptible of contracting blight?
If you have a resistant rootstock and the fruiting variety on top dies itās not a huge deal. You can have the most resistant fruiting variety in the world but if the rootstock dies of fireblight the whole tree dies
Of course, I understand that. But how does a rootstock contract it without the top too? Is it soil borne?