Good point John. In fact, when I was leaving Cummins last spring after picking up my order, I photographed pallet crates with Williamette and Copenhaven stenciled on the side. There were a couple others I recognized as well.
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I saw those, too, but didnât think much about them.
So in the first case, the 25 G210 that I ordered from Cummins were likely shipped from Copenhaven in Oregon to Cummins in NY, then shipped back to OR with my order. The following year when I ordered directly from Copenhaven they had minimal transit time in shipping within the state of OR. So it was not likely to be packing and shipping that were responsible for the poor survival. I am going to try a few more G210 this year and keep the newly grafted trees in a bucket of moist sawdust in an storeroom that stays around 50 degrees until I see evidence of bud swell. If you can get them to take, the trees seem to grow vigorously and do well.
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Have you tried G969? I am grafting some this year. I have not found anyone growing it yet, and the only grafted tree I have seen for sale is Crimsoncrisp sold by Cummins. What grafting method are you using? I wonder is there could be a difference between chip graft in late Summer vs a whip & tongue in early Spring etc. I generally do not see these specifics in the publications I have found.
The info I have found on G969 shows promise, but I tend toward pessimism. When things go well, I am pleasantly surprised. When things go badly, I have some consolation in my suspicions being confirmed.
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I have ordered 100 G969 rootstocks for this spring. I plan on using Whip and Tounge and cleft grafts for them. I have no prior expierence with G969 though.
I did chip bud 25 G41 and 25 G890 last summer. It did appear that most of the buds took, we will see this spring though. I do plan on keeping back some scions incase the chip buds failed.
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I have grafted G30, G210, and G890 using a mechanical grafting tool in early spring. I was surprised that I got about 90% with the G30, 80% with G890 and less than 20% with G210. For each the total number of grafts was about 100. I do like the G30 because of the high rate of graft take and the fact that the branches seem to spread themselves. But G30 doesnât seem to be popular for some reason
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G30 is being phased out mainly because itâs hard to propagate. Itâs mainly a supply issue. Although some of the later rootstocks have some improvements like low suckering that counts in their favor.
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G 30 doesnât root well. So unless youâre using test tubes to grow the rootstocks, G30 isnât as profitable to produce as the othersâŚmoney, itâs at the root of a lot of decisions.
Some were discussing 969. I got 30 from Cummins last year and only got 11 to take. Its about par for my nursery which I think has a lot of fireblight pressure. 1-3 year mix, Iâm at about 50% with m111, G890, G935, P18, B118 My worst so far is G11 at 20%. Z4
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Isnât that the one with a reputation for brittle graft unions, that needs solid support for its life? I decided I didnât want to try it for that reason.
Think Iâve heard it had poor connection when grafted to Gala ( the top selling apple now ).
And I snapped one off when I dropped a limb or something on it. But, Iâd order G30 again for personal use as a M7 sized tree.
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No G30 doesnât have a reputation for brittle unions. You are thinking of G41 I think. G30 may need support. It depends on how you train it, the cultivar and the age. For central leader trained trees they will be self supporting at some point. The tree bears really early for a semi-dwarf and the high crop load will mean it will need support for a period of time. But M7 needs support too in many cases.
A thread about G30 needing support-
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My experiences with Geneva rootstock. Planted 15 G202 trees in 2014. All have grown well. All but 2 (Hog Sweet and Hubberson Nonesuch) have fruited. Planted 8 G969 trees in 2015. None have impressed me. Small spindly trees but 6 of the 8 have fruited. Planted 7 G30 trees in 2016. All have grown well and are free standing but have not produced fruit yet. Planted 1 G11 on trellis in 2014 have produced fruit the last 2 years. Planted 1 G11 in 2015 free standing produced a few apples last year. Planted 4 G41 on trellis 2015 all have produced fruit the last 2 years. If I were to plant any more Geneva rootstock it would be G202. Your mileage may vary. 
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Hi. I donât know if this is the appropriate thread on which to ask this question but here goes⌠Some of the Geneva rootstocks (g935 in particular) are said to be susceptible to latent viruses. Presumably this means that in the nursery they would need to be sure that their scion material was virus free. Does it also mean that if one wants to make a frankentree later in life by top working a tree grown on a virus sensitive rootstock, one would still need to be sure that the scion wood is virus free? Do viruses travel between branches and the roots?
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Huh, I had always assumed they would travel, but I guess that I donât actually know that.
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I have not heard of a virus that was not systemic.
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Yes the scionwood would need to be virus free. G935 is not suitable for a frankentree since as home grower getting virus free scionwood is very difficult and for rare cultivars it is impossible to get certified virus free scionwood. Some geneva rootstock have this problem and some donât. I would look at this chart since it covers virus susceptibility.
https://ctl.cornell.edu/wp-content/uploads/plants/GENEVA-Apple-Rootstocks-Comparison-Chart.pdf
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The more I read about the Geneva rootstocks the more I am not interested in trying out any more of them. So many sound like they are brittle and will break at the graft.
The problems I already have encountered with the few I am growing now enough to say âNo thank youâ to any more. I have wasted about 5+ years with them. Time to cut my losses and get different rootstocks to put in those spots the Geneva rootstocks are in now.
Splitting rootstocks above the ground, stunted growth, low vigor, scrawny branching. A growers nightmare.
Not trying to start a fight, but there has to be a reason that hundreds of thousands of Geneva rootstocks are planted each year. Commercial growers wouldnt continue to plant them if there were no benefits to them over bud or malling rootstocks.
I have trees on Geneva, Bud and Malling rootstocks, but am going to more Geneva stocks all the time.
Ive had grafted trees break, but not Geneva. There are freak things like derechos, that no one can account for. I dont think its fair to put breaks on the rootstocks when it wont withstand 100+ mile per hour winds.
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