An exposé on pome fruit rootstocks

1 April 2017 | John Wilton, AgFirst | Australian Fruitgrower / Future Orchards® article

John Wilton reviews the major apple and pear rootstock options available to Australian growers and explains why rootstock choice is fundamental to orchard performance. The article traces the shift from semi-vigorous stocks such as MM106 toward more precocious dwarfing material suited to intensive systems, while also highlighting disease, soil and support requirements.

For apples, the article compares M9, M26, Budagovsky 9, Ottawa 3 and Cornell-Geneva selections. It notes important trade-offs in vigour, precocity, union strength, susceptibility to woolly apple aphid, Phytophthora and specific apple replant disease. Wilton also highlights G202 as a productive option with woolly apple aphid and Phytophthora resistance, while cautioning that drainage and union strength still matter.

The article also covers pear rootstocks, from the traditional vigorous Calleryana D6 to BP1, BM2000 and several quince selections. The practical message is that rootstock choice should be matched to site, scion, soil, disease pressure, support system and orchard density. A rootstock can influence not only tree size but also time to bearing, yield efficiency, fruit maturity and long-term resilience.