Major problem with Geneva rootstocks?

Zero I think. (But, I’m talking about containerized trees, not those in the ground.)

@BlueBerry Interesting. I had temps down to -5F this winter and my containerized G969s are all fine. Perhaps 890s are a little more sensitive.

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Can’t say, I have no 969’s.
B-10 and Antonovka are a couple roots I’ve had little trouble with. M-111 the most when grown in pots.

Seems most of the Geneva roots aren’t very tolerant of dry spells without irrigation. Perhaps G202 I’ve done the best with in that regard. (For if I lose the graft, usually the G202 pushes sprouts from below – something 890 seldom does.

I’ve trialed many rootstocks across ~20 years, some under just a few trees and others under larger numbers. I’m in the high desert of northern Nevada, so winters are cold(ish) and summers are hot during the day, and relatively cool at night. Humidity is always low, and we don’t get much precipitation (shadowed out by the Sierra directly to the west), so I irrigate.

The first major grafting I did was to G16 and G30 roots. I didn’t keep good notes back then, so I don’t have numbers grafted to each, but given the reported vigor of G16 vs G30, most the 16s failed within the first six or seven years. I’m fairly certain I grafted disease free scions from the Geneva repository, but I also graft new varieties to many of my trees over time, so it’s entirely possible I grafted infected wood above the original variety. I don’t know if this eventually works it’s way down to the rootstock, but the bottom line is that G16 is not a good choice in my environment. G30 has performed better, but I’ve also lost a number of those trees. Those that remain are healthy and vigorous.

I ordered 25 G890 roots and five G969 roots in 2017 (Cummins, I think) and ended up with more than 50 of the 890s. Somebody was clearing stock or couldn’t count, it seems. Anyway, 890 has performed better than 969 thus far, as the latter seem more prone to sunburn, a real issue in these parts. I’ve got around 30 trees on 890, and most will deliver their first good crops this year—the previous three years saw late frosts that removed 80-95% of my fruit, otherwise I expect many of these trees would have fruited by ‘21 at the latest. The 969 trees are all smaller, three have sunburn injuries, which doesn’t help vigor, and one died two or three years ago. They, too, will deliver crops this year, but far fewer apples.

Although we get high wind events here preceding winter storms and in thunderstorms, I haven’t had any trees break off in in the wind. My orchard is protected enough that the trees are rarely exposed to the worst gusts. I’ve staked most of these trees this year due to the fruit load, but should be able to remove that support in a couple more years as trunks and central leaders size up enough to carry such loads without leaning, although it will probably take the 969 trees a couple years beyond that before they’ll be sturdy enough to stand straight without support. The G890 in particular grows a pretty tree.

I also have trees on B118, M26, M106, and M111. I don’t like B118. True to reputation, many of my B118 trees have been slow to develop good anchorage in spite of vigorous top growth, so even trees in ground for more than a decade still require support else they’d topple in a strong wind when fully loaded with fruit. The graft union on many of these trees is also ugly, with the scion 50% or more larger than the stock…makes me think it will snap at some point, though none have up to now, so hopefully it’s just cosmetic.

M26 shows low vigor in my lean soil, a rocky clay loam with a tough, but not completely impermeable hardpan at 12-16”. I won’t use it again.

M106 is my favorite stock so far. It’s vigorous enough, precocious, and doesn’t sucker nearly as badly as M111, the recommended stock for this area (for good reason, since it’s drought tolerant and anchors well right away). My three issues with M111 are the previously mentioned suckering issue, it’s too vigorous for my tight planting scheme (8-9’ spacing, with similar spacing between rows), and it takes forever to start bearing here, 7+ years vs 3-4 for M106.

Time will tell in G890 proves as durable, productive, and appropriately vigorous as M106, but it’s a solid 2nd best thus far, and I’d happily add more trees on it if my wife would let me grow the orchard. :slightly_smiling_face:

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@blueberrythrill What kind of trellis support do you suggest for heavily loaded G11 to prevent previous problems you had?

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We are making a few changes as we plant new trees.

Moved the posts closer together. Now around 35 feet. 4 trellis wires or 5 wires on the 12 foot posts.

Replaced the Gripples with more traditional ratchet wire tightener at the end of the row so we can pull the wires much tighter. We noticed that our Gripples loosened over time.

Still plan to use the same clips to attach the trees to the wire. No conduit at each tree.

Here are the clips:

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I’ve never even thought about the difference in ease of grafting particular rootstocks, but I assume that as with trees on any given rootstock, the more the vigor in the tree the more the vigor of the grafts. Often the apple grafts that don’t take start off growing very slowly.

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So they say, but I’ve still not had my first apple from a G.30 rootstock.
Though I’ve grafted over a dozen varieties in the past 6 years to it.

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A year old but I just came across it recently - Some interesting stuff being looked at in regards to winter hardiness, but a little strange they didn’t include good control comparisons in the trial - no B118 or M111 for comparison:

https://blogs.cornell.edu/enychp/tree-fruit/apples/tree-fruit-apple-cold-hardiness-research-update/

I just posted my deliberations… leaning towards B118, but still considering m111 or G210

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I was lucky enough to have sugarwood fruit in its 3rd year on that stock. Thats the only tree I have on it so not a huge sample. Seems like maybe its variable in different locations. 6a, upper hudson valley ny; deep loamy sand here.

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