A rootstock is part of a plant, often an underground part, from which new above-ground growth can be produced. It could also be described as a stem with a well developed root system, to which a bud from another plant is grafted. It can refer to a rhizome or underground stem.[1] In grafting, it refers to a plant, sometimes just a stump, which already has an established, healthy root system, onto which a cutting or a bud from another plant is grafted. In some cases, such as vines of grapes and other berries, cuttings may be used for rootstocks, the roots being established in nursery conditions before planting them out. The plant part grafted onto the rootstock is usually called the scion. The scion is the plant that has the properties that propagator desires above ground, including the photosynthetic activity and the fruit or decorative properties. The rootstock is selected for its interaction with the soil, providing the roots and the stem to support the new plant, obtaining the necessary soil water and minerals, and resisting the relevant pests and diseases. After a few weeks, the tissues of the two parts will have grown together, eventually forming a single plant. After some years, it may be difficult to detect the site of the graft although the product always contains the components of two genetically different plants.
The use of rootstocks is most commonly associated with fruiting plants and trees, and is useful for mass propagating many other types of plants that do not breed true from seed, or are particularly susceptible to disease when grown on their own roots.
Although grafting has been practiced for many hundreds of years, even in Roman times, most orchard rootstocks in current use were developed in the 20th century.[2]
A variety of rootstocks may be used for a single species or cultivar of scion because different rootstocks impart different properties, such as vigour, fruit size and precocity. Rootstocks also may be selected for traits such as resistance to drought, root pests, and diseases. Grapevines for commercial planting are most often grafted onto rootstocks to avoid damage by phylloxera, though vines available for sale to back garden viticulturists may not be.[3]
The rootstock may be a different species from the scion, but as a rule it should be closely related, for example, many commercial pears are grown on quince rootstock. Grafting can also be done in stages; a closely related scion is grafted to the rootstock, and a less closely related scion is grafted to the first scion. Serial grafting of several scions may also be used to produce a tree that bears several different fruit cultivars, with the same rootstock taking up and distributing water and minerals to the whole system. Those with more than three varieties are known as 'family trees'.
When it is difficult to match a plant to the soil in a certain field or orchard, growers may graft a scion onto a rootstock that is compatible with the soil. It may then be convenient to plant a range of ungrafted rootstocks to see which suit the growing conditions best; the fruiting characteristics of the scion may be considered later, once the most successful rootstock has been identified. Rootstocks are studied extensively and often are sold with a complete guide to their ideal soil and climate. Growers determine the pH, mineral content, nematode population, salinity, water availability, pathogen load and sandiness of their particular soil, and select a rootstock which is matched to it. Genetic testing is increasingly common, and new cultivars of rootstock are always being developed.
Uses in agriculture
AxR1
AxR1 is a grape rootstock once widely used in Californiaviticulture. Its name is an abbreviation for "Aramon Rupestris Ganzin No. 1", which in turn is based on its parentage: a cross (made by a French grape hybridizer named Ganzin) between Aramon, a Vitis vinifera cultivar, and Rupestris, an American grape species, Vitis rupestris—also used on its own as rootstock, "Rupestris St. George" or "St. George," referring to a town in the South of France, Saint Georges d'Orques, where it was popular.
It achieved a degree of notoriety in California when, after decades of recommendation as a preferred rootstock—despite repeated warnings from France and South Africa about its susceptibility (it had failed in Europe in the early 1900s)—it ultimately succumbed to phylloxera in the 1980s, requiring the replanting of most of Napa and Sonoma, with disastrous financial consequences. Those who resisted the urge to use AxR-1, such as David Bennion of Ridge Vineyards, saw their vineyards spared from phylloxera damage.[citation needed]
Apple rootstock
Apple rootstocks are used for apple trees and are often the deciding factor of the size of the tree that is grafted onto the root. Dwarfing, semi-dwarf, semi-standard and standard are the size benchmarks for the different sizes of roots that will be grown, with the standard being the largest and dwarf being the smallest.[4] Much of the world's apple production is now using dwarf rootstocks to improve efficiency, increase density and increase yields of fruit per acre.[4] The following is a list of the dwarfing rootstock that are commonly used today in apple production:
Malling rootstocks
Malling 7 rootstock is slightly bigger than an M26 rootstock, and also requires staking in the first several years to establish a centre leader.[5] This rootstock is moderately susceptible to blight and collar rot.[5] The fruit size that M7 produces is good but not as large as an M26, or M9 rootstock.[5] This root is highly susceptible to suckering and leaning over in its later years of life, which is very annoying and causes issues for the producer.[5]
Malling 9 rootstock is the most common and well known dwarfing rootstock. This rootstock should be planted in a well-drained site, and requires staking for the duration of its life.[6] This rootstock is also very susceptible to fireblight and burr knots.[6] There have been many clones made of this rootstock, including M.9 NAKB 337, M.9EMLA and M.9. Pajam.[6]
Malling 26 rootstock will grow a larger tree than the M9 rootstock will, and is about 40-50% the size of a standard tree.[7] This root is considered very productive and early bearing, and requires staking in the first few years of its life.[8]
Malling Merton rootstocks
The Malling-Merton and Merton-Immune rootstocks[9][10]
Name
Selected year
Introduced year
Parentage
MM 102
1931
?
Northern Spy x M 1
MM 104
1930-31
1952
M 2 x Northern Spy
MM 106
1930-32
1952
Northern Spy x M 1
MM 109
1930-31
1952
M 2 x Northern Spy
MM 111
1932
1952
Northern Spy x MI 793
MI 793
Northern Spy x M 2
Malling-Merton 106 rootstock is slightly smaller than MM 111, but is a very productive tree and has early fruiting abilities.[11] It is a great rootstock to be used in a variety of soil conditions because it is very hardy with moderate vigour.[11] This rootstock must be planted in well-drained soils as it is susceptible to collar rot.[11]
Malling-Merton 111 rootstock is one of the biggest and vigorous rootstocks that is used today in commercial orchards, and is about 80-90% the size of a standard-sized tree.[12] It is generally quite winter hardy and produces few burr knots and root suckers.[12] This rootstock is much less popular than it once was, because many commercial producers are now planting higher density orchards, which M111 is not conducive to.[12]
↑ Hickey, M.; King, C. (2001). The Cambridge Illustrated Glossary of Botanical Terms. Cambridge University Press. ISBN0-521-79080-8.
↑ Mudge, K.; Janick, J.; Scofield, S.; Goldschmidt, E. E. (2009). "A history of grafting". In Janick, J. (ed.). Horticultural Reviews(PDF). Vol.35. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. pp.437–493.
Fruit tree propagation is usually carried out vegetatively (non-sexually) by grafting or budding a desired variety onto a suitable rootstock.
Specific replant disease is a malady that manifests itself when susceptible plants such as apples, pears, plums, cherries and roses are placed into soil previously occupied by a related species. The exact causes are not known, but in the first year the new plants will grow poorly. Root systems are weak and may become blackened, and plants may fail to establish properly.
Grape phylloxera is an insect pest of grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America. Grape phylloxera ; originally described in France as Phylloxera vastatrix; equated to the previously described Daktulosphaera vitifoliae, Phylloxera vitifoliae. The insect is commonly just called phylloxera.
Dwarfing is a process in which a breed of animals or cultivar of plants is changed to become significantly smaller than standard members of their species. The effect can be induced through human intervention or non-human processes, and can include genetic, nutritional or hormonal means. Used most specifically, dwarfing includes pathogenic changes in the structure of an organism, in contrast to non-pathogenic proportional reduction in stature.
Cider apples are a group of apple cultivars grown for their use in the production of cider. Cider apples are distinguished from "cookers" and "eaters", or dessert apples, by their bitterness or dryness of flavour, qualities which make the fruit unpalatable but can be useful in cidermaking. Some apples are considered to occupy more than one category.
In botany, chlorosis is a condition in which leaves produce insufficient chlorophyll. As chlorophyll is responsible for the green color of leaves, chlorotic leaves are pale, yellow, or yellow-white. The affected plant has little or no ability to manufacture carbohydrates through photosynthesis and may die unless the cause of its chlorophyll insufficiency is treated and this may lead to a plant disease called rusts, although some chlorotic plants, such as the albino Arabidopsis thaliana mutant ppi2, are viable if supplied with exogenous sucrose.
Vitis riparia Michx, with common names riverbank grape or frost grape, is a vine indigenous to North America. As a climbing or trailing vine, it is widely distributed across central and eastern Canada and the central and northeastern parts of the United States, from Quebec to Texas, and eastern Montana to Nova Scotia. There are reports of isolated populations in the northwestern USA, but these are probably naturalized. It is long-lived and capable of reaching into the upper canopy of the tallest trees. It produces dark fruit that are appealing to both birds and people, and has been used extensively in commercial viticulture as grafted rootstock and in hybrid grape breeding programs.
Vitis rupestris is a species of grape native to the United States that is known by many common names including July, Coon, sand, sugar, beach, bush, currant, ingar, rock, and mountain grape. It is used for breeding several French-American hybrids as well as many root stocks.
The Malling series is a group of rootstocks for grafting apple trees. It was developed at the East Malling Research Station of the South-Eastern Agricultural College at Wye in Kent, England. From about 1912, Ronald Hatton and his colleagues rationalised, standardised and catalogued the various rootstocks in use in Europe at the time under names such as Doucin and Paradise. Their first list had nine rootstock varieties, assigned the "type" numbers I–IX. The list later grew to twenty-four, and the Roman numerals gave way to Arabic numerals with the prefix "Malling" or "M.". From about 1917, collaboration between East Malling and the John Innes Institute, in Merton Park in Surrey, gave rise to the Malling-Merton series, which were resistant to Eriosoma lanigerum, the woolly apple aphid.
Aramon or Aramon noir is a variety of red wine grape grown primarily in Languedoc-Roussillon in southern France. Between the late 19th century and the 1960s, it was France's most grown grape variety, but plantings of Aramon have been in continuous decline since the mid-20th century. Aramon has also been grown in Algeria, Argentina and Chile but nowhere else did it ever reach the popularity it used to have in the south of France.
Grafting or graftage is a horticultural technique whereby tissues of plants are joined so as to continue their growth together. The upper part of the combined plant is called the scion while the lower part is called the rootstock. The success of this joining requires that the vascular tissues grow together. The natural equivalent of this process is inosculation. The technique is most commonly used in asexual propagation of commercially grown plants for the horticultural and agricultural trades. The scion is typically joined to the rootstock at the soil line; however, top work grafting may occur far above this line, leaving an understock consisting of the lower part of the trunk and the root system.
Shield budding, also known as T-budding, is a technique of grafting to change varieties of fruit trees. Typically used in fruit tree propagation, it can also be used for many other kinds of nursery stock. An extremely sharp knife is necessary; specialty budding knives are on the market. A budding knife is a small knife with a type of spatula at the other end of the handle. The rootstock or stock plant may be cut off above the bud at budding, or one may wait until it is certain that the bud is growing.
Annona mucosa is a species of flowering plant in the custard-apple family, Annonaceae, that is native to tropical South America. It is cultivated for its edible fruits, commonly known as biribá, lemon meringue pie fruit, or wild sugar-apple, throughout the world's tropics and subtropics.
Vitis berlandieri is a species of grape native to the southern North America, primarily Texas, New Mexico and Arkansas.
An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree. Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus Malus. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, Malus sieversii, is still found. Apples have been grown for thousands of years in Asia and Europe and were introduced to North America by European colonists. Apples have religious and mythological significance in many cultures, including Norse, Greek, and European Christian tradition.
This glossary of viticultural terms list some of terms and definitions involved in growing grapes for use in winemaking.
Tomato grafting is a horticulture technique that has been utilized in Asia and Europe for greenhouse and high tunnel production and is gaining popularity in the United States. Typically, stock or rootstock are selected for their ability to resist infection by certain soilborne pathogens or their ability to increase vigor and fruit yield. The scion of the grafted tomato represents the upper portion of the plant and is selected for its fruit quality characteristics. There are several methods for grafting tomatoes and they have certain advantages and disadvantages. Once the grafts are made, the plants are moved into a chamber or environment with high relative humidity (>90%) and low light levels to reduce water stress in the scion while the graft union forms.
The propagation of grapevines is an important consideration in commercial viticulture and winemaking. Grapevines, most of which belong to the Vitis vinifera family, produce one crop of fruit each growing season with a limited life span for individual vines. While some centenarian old vine examples of grape varieties exist, most grapevines are between the ages of 10 and 30 years. As vineyard owners seek to replant their vines, a number of techniques are available which may include planting a new cutting that has been selected by either clonal or mass (massal) selection. Vines can also be propagated by grafting a new plant vine upon existing rootstock or by layering one of the canes of an existing vine into the ground next to the vine and severing the connection when the new vine develops its own root system.
Nurse grafting is a method of plant propagation that is used for hard-to-root plant material. If a desirable selection cannot be grown from seed, it must be propagated asexually (cloned) in order to be genetically identical to the parent. Nurse grafting allows a scion to develop its own roots instead of being grafted to a rootstock.
Vitis 'Ornamental Grape', also known as ornamental grapevine, Ganzin glory, glory vine and crimson glory, is a nonfruiting ornamental plant that is a hybrid of Vitis vinifera and Vitis rupestris.
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