Rooting Scionwood

I’ve rooted Hollywood plum, quince, and figs. Plus hazelnut, Rosemary, blueberry and black currants. I must have done others, but they aren’t coming to mind.

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With apples it varies by variety, I believe. Many have root primordia on well above ground bark wood which is an indication that sprouting roots from scions is possible. A (former?) member, Applenut, used to write about rooting N. Spy to create new rootstocks for trees he was helping locals grow in tropical Africa, believe it or not.

Some others that come to mind that have this primordia are Gala, Red Delicious (at least some older strains)… shoot, that’s all I can recall at this moment, but there are several other varieties that have this trait.

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Most Pomme and Stone fruit (i have less experience with peaches/apricots) can theoretically root from a scion.

Think of it this way. If the plant was unable to root on scion wood. You could bury the graft union without loosing the rootstocks “effects”

You will likely run into problems rooting a lot of scions though.
A lot will eventually root if you can keep them around long enough. But most will likely take months not weeks to root.

for example
If i remember correctly, Pyrodwarf pear rootstock had specifically as 1 of the parents Bonne Louise d’Avranches. Because that pear is know for it’s ability to more easily strike hardwood cuttings. And still i think my pyrodwarf rootstock came from tissue culture.

It is certainly possible. If had pruning’s from B9 apple rootstock that i dropped in the garden, self-root. But rootstocks are usually selected for that property. And the rootstocks that root more easily from hardwood cuttings, in my experience are also a lot more sucker and burr knot prone.

A more reliably technique would likely be a “nurse root graft”
where you dig up/cutt off some roots from rootstocks/older tree’s and directly graft a piece of root to the scion. Do make sure you stay within the species/genus. Apple to apple. Pear to pear etc. (although some rare exceptions are possible)

i would estimate quinces to be probably easiest to root.

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On apples I have compiled an amalgam of varieties rootable by cuttings. I keep updating it if I find another:

Trees and rootstocks that burr knot:

Apples are normally propagated by grafting a known variety onto a specific rootstock, but some older apple cultivars (cultivated varieties) can be propagated by rooting pieces of branch with burr knots, known as ‘pitchers’. This was once common propagation practice in south-west England (particularly Cornwall) and south Wales. Apple cultivars that produce a lot of burr knots include ‘Ben’s Red’, ‘Burr Knot’, ‘Cornish Aromatic’, ‘Lord Burghley’, ‘Small’s Admirable’(syn ‘Captain Broad’), ‘Winter Banana’ , Ballyvaughan Seedling , Meile d’Or , Poor Man’s Profit , Reinette de Brucbrucks , Forest Styre , Fréquin Tardive de la Sarthe .

Certain rootstocks, such as the dwarf M.9 rootstock and semi-dwarf M.7, M.26, MM 106, or MM.111 rootstocks are genetically predisposed to developing burr knots, as are some scion (grafted) apple cultivars, such as Gala and Empire, which can produce burr knots on the undersides of their limbs.

Also P.1 is rootable

On edit. Appletown Wonder is said to be rootable.

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Red Delicious is one of the believed parents of Empire and grandparents of Gala. I’m guessing that is where they inherited the bur knot trait. I call it root primordia.

The literature cautions about how burr knots can be disease or insect (borers especially) entry ways, although I’ve not seen the connection here in S. NY. Where I often find borers is on black not galls on plums. What is amazing is that I cannot find a compiled list of susceptible varieties given that the trait is generally considered undesirable.

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I’m resurrecting this post with a similar / side question.

I had a lot of pluot and plum scionwood that wasn’t big enough to trade (no where near pencil thickness) so I threw the ends in compost/garden soil pots to see if they would root. To my surprise a lot of them did and are now putting on green leaves. But after reading the above posts, it sounds like they aren’t good to be trees that fruit, so once they go dormant, should I cut off all the new growth for scionwood next year and dispose of the rootstocks? My goal wasn’t to gain a lot of trees that are only good for scionwood.

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I’m confused, why wouldn’t they be good trees that fruit? Can you cite the post(s) that gave you that impression?

Hopefully you labeled or kept track of which variety each one is.

One strategy my wallet wishes I had tried more is not buying stuff until I was ready to use it. But, then, half of what I know about propagation is mostly because I usually tried something with anything extra I had. I have yet to go back and harvest anything I grafted “for later” and those grafts tend to be more likely to have tags succeptible to theft and destruction by wind, rain, or critters brave enough to remove the scary, flappy thing that won’t go away from their yard.

I have had significant success with sticking flowering quince in decent soil mix and just sticking the pot where it was left in the shade. The ones I lost were mostly due to putting them so far under other bushes that the rain didn’t find them often enough. And most of those I lost were even second winter that were still in pots. (Note that rain is a popular visitor in my region.)
Hawthorn scion has worked for me this way, too. Medlar has not. Apple is pretty forgiving, but I cannot say for sure how much I’ve sprouted has been dormant scion and how much has been fresh trimmings. The stuff on its own roots does better with in-pot winter neglect for me than grafts.

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Yes I have them labeled. My memory doesn’t allow me to do much actual remembering anymore so everything gets laser engraved tags zip tied to it in my garden. My husband has a huge laser and does tags for machines as a side business.

When I was shopping for my pluot trees which I ultimately bought in 2022 from Bob Wells (Flavorosa and Flavor Grenade) then Flavor King in 2023. I researched rootstocks for my area and I found Myro 29C which Bob Wells Nursery had. The biggest issue I could see for that rootstock in my area was nematodes - and so I’ve been planting marigolds near them since 2022.

I can’t quote a specific thread because that understanding was formed back then. If it is wrong, yay! It would make me growing things a little easier. I thought that you wanted specific rootstock for traits that were beneficial to your area. If I grow out the scions from Flavorosa and Flavor King wouldn’t they potentially have issues? Potentially not thrive? That is what I was referring to. Sorry if it wasn’t clear or if my information is misinformed.

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Oh, I get it now.

Here in WA state I haven’t heard of nematodes being a concern for plum trees. I don’t know how much of a concern that is for your area. I’ve paid no attention to them and don’t think about them. I don’t know how common resistance or susceptibility is or how much better the selected rootstocks are than typical seedling or cultivar.

Perhaps you have limited space and are trying to optimize for maximal chance of success for each planting.

BTW, super nice tags, and cool to be able to see hobbies and activities crossover with spouses interests.

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Thanks. I think I’ll try growing some out to see how they do. I’ll let my hubby know you like the tags. :slightly_smiling_face:

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